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A review by atoningunifex
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The world of Hyperion feels like a well-thought out world that was inhabited and developed before the plot of this first story. I liked the mystique of the Shrike, Time Tombs and Labyrinth Worlds which kept me hooked and wondering what would happen.
I honestly didn't like the characters a bunch, but most of their stories held my attention for finding out how it related to their pilgramage. Sol/Rachel's story was my favourite, along with (surprisingly) Martin's (Martin is written intentionally as an annoying character but his story shows you a perspective from his underdog days, making me empathize with him).
Some of the stories dragged on with unneccessary descriptive fluff though, and I found myself skimming through those sections because I was really just interested in the pilgrammage. The sex scenes were a constant issue for me because it just felt like I was reading the author's wet dream journal and it really didn't need that level of detail to still be relevant.
On that note too, I feel like maybe with the exception of Brawne Lamia, every important woman in the book kinda just felt like the same projection of the author's ideal fantasy woman: adventurous, confident, sexy, playful/flirtatious. But even then, Brawne is just more of a tomboy instead of being playful and sitll has all of the other traits. Like... if it was one or two women then fine, but it felt like they were all just mentioned to set up for a good sex scene which distracted from telling a proper dark sci-fi story.
Though there was some politics here and there, I like how it didn't feel overly political which other stories I've consumed in the the space-opera/sci-fi genre tend to do. I'm not opposed to future books being more political, but it was refreshing to read something that wasn't. The focus was really on the characters' decisions and through their adventures I got to play witness to the detailed world.
I honestly didn't like the characters a bunch, but most of their stories held my attention for finding out how it related to their pilgramage. Sol/Rachel's story was my favourite, along with (surprisingly) Martin's (Martin is written intentionally as an annoying character but his story shows you a perspective from his underdog days, making me empathize with him).
Some of the stories dragged on with unneccessary descriptive fluff though, and I found myself skimming through those sections because I was really just interested in the pilgrammage. The sex scenes were a constant issue for me because it just felt like I was reading the author's wet dream journal and it really didn't need that level of detail to still be relevant.
On that note too, I feel like maybe with the exception of Brawne Lamia, every important woman in the book kinda just felt like the same projection of the author's ideal fantasy woman: adventurous, confident, sexy, playful/flirtatious. But even then, Brawne is just more of a tomboy instead of being playful and sitll has all of the other traits. Like... if it was one or two women then fine, but it felt like they were all just mentioned to set up for a good sex scene which distracted from telling a proper dark sci-fi story.
Though there was some politics here and there, I like how it didn't feel overly political which other stories I've consumed in the the space-opera/sci-fi genre tend to do. I'm not opposed to future books being more political, but it was refreshing to read something that wasn't. The focus was really on the characters' decisions and through their adventures I got to play witness to the detailed world.