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Description edit
The winner of a 1990 Hugo Award follows seven pilgrims on a voyage to the world of Hyperion--dominated by the all-powerful creature, the Shrike--where they hope to learn the secret that will save humanity. a very deep, thought provoking and stirring book.
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
Characters/People edit
- The Consul: Add a description of this character.
- Father Lenar Hoyt: Lenar Hoyt is a Roman Catholic priest in his early 30's, in a universe where Catholicism has shrunk to a shadow of its former self, claiming only a few thousand followers.
- Corporal Fedmahn Kassad: Fedmahn Kassad is a colonel in the Hegemony of Man's FORCE military, of Palestinian descent.
- Brawne Lamia: Brawne Lamia is a private detective.
- Het Masteen: Het Masteen is a Templar -- a nature priest of sorts -- who captains the Treeship Yggdrasil that brings the pilgrims to Hyperion.
- Martin Silenus: Martin Silenus is a foul-mouthed poet. Born on Earth before its destruction, he is incredibly old.
- Sol Weintraub: Sol Weintraub is a Jewish scholar.
- Shrike: The Shrike is the monster and anti-hero of the novel.
- Rachel Sarah Weintraub: Sol Weintraub's daughter and other character I won't mention as to avoid spoiling it for anyone.
- Johnny Keats: Brawne Lamia's cybrid lover, a reconstruction of John Keat's persona.
- King William XXIII: Also: Sad King Billy. Patron and Founder of "City of Poets" near the "Time Tombs".Also known as Sad King Billy, he is the monarch of the Kingdom of Windsor-in-Exile, traditionally ruling the planet of Asquith. He sells the planet in order to settle on Hyperion to start an artist colony and usher in a new Renaissance.
- Mike Osho
- Sarai: Sol Weintraub's wife, and mother of Rachel.
- Merin Aspic: A Shipman who carries on a storied long-term romance with Siri of Maui-Covenant.
- Grandmother Siri: The Consul's grandmother and leader of the revolt against the Hegemony.
- Meina Gladstone: CEO of the Hegemony.
- Hyperion: The planet on which the pilgrims make their journey.
- Sol Weintraub: A scholar, and one of the seven pilgrims of the tale. He is the father of Rachel, a girl aging backward into infancy.
- Tyrena Wingreen-Feif
- Brawne Lamia: A detective from Lusus and one of the seven pilgrims. Her father was a famous senator.
- John Keats: An 18th century English poet of some distinction, for whom a city is named on Hyperion and after whose work much of Hyperion takes its name.
- Shipmaster Singh
- A. Bettik: An android resident of Hyperion.
- Barnard
- Abraham
- Theo Lane: Current governor of Hyperion and former aide to the Consul.
- Father Hoyt: A Catholic priest and one of the seven pilgrims.
- Moneta
- Mello
- Don Balthazar: Tutor of Martin Silenus in his childhood on Old Earth.
- Saral
- Bikura: The mindless drones created by the parasite known as the cruciform.
- Father Paul Duré: The priest that discovered the Bikura and thus, the cruciform.
- Sira Rob
- Crawford
- Alpha: A member of the Bikura.
- M. Orlandi
- Templar
- Poulsen
- M. Brawne Lamia
- M. Poneascu
- Aunt Tetha
- Bressia
- M. Weintraub
- Linna McKyler
- Sarai Weintraub
- Shayla Toyo
- Ephraim
- Asquith
- M. Herrig
- Semfa
- Escher
- M. Rushomin
- Stan Leweski
- King Billy
- Beatrice
- Izzy
- Niki
- Bush Masteen
- Al
- Betty
- Donel
- Ginnie Paul
- Richard
- Henry
- M. Hoyt
- Magritte
- Horace Glennon-Height
- Bussard
- Bertol
- Grendel
- George Wu
- Muir
- William Butler Yeats
- M. Masteen
- Nadia Oleg
- Shipman Merin Aspic
- Thomas Hawk
- Pete Garcia
- Roger Sherman
- Amalfi Schwartz
- Gresham
- Lusus
- Andil
- Tanya
- Salmud Brevy
- Helenda
- Devon Whiteshire
- Merlin
- Robert Frost
- Dr. Melio Arundez
- Judy
- Dr. Clark
- Tuk
- M. Keats
- Cicero
- Fox Kassad
- M. Silenus
First Sentence edit
The Consul awoke with the peculiar headache, dry throat, and sense of having forgotten a thousand dreams which only periods in cryogenic fugue could bring.
Glossary edit
- Hawking drive: Hawking drive enables faster than ligh travel. It was named after Stephen Hawking.
- Farcaster: A farcaster is an instantaneous transportation device. Farcasters allow two points separated by a vast distance to be brought together at a Farcaster Portal.
- EMV: Presumably standing for Electro-Magnetic Vehicles, EMVs are variable-sized transports which use a planets magnetic field to fly above the surface.
- Autosurgeon: The Autosurgeon is a (non-sentient) AI assisted system capable of diagnosing and treating illness and injury.
- Treeship: Living trees that are propelled by ergs (spider-like solid-state alien being that emits force fields) through space.
Series & Lists edit
This is book 1 of 4 in The Hyperion Cantos. (standard series)
Followed by The Fall of Hyperion.
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 51 of 99 in National Public Radio's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy. (authoritative list)
This book is in Significant Speculative Fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror). (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Dan Simmons (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Zoltán Boros (Illustrator)
- Gábor Szikszai (Illustrator)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Doubleday
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1989
ISBN: 0-385-24949-7
Page Count: 481
Publisher: Doubleday
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1989
ISBN: 0-385-24949-7
Page Count: 481
Awards edit
- Hugo (1990: Best sciencie fiction novel)
- Locus Science Fiction Award (1990, Winner)
- Arthur C. Clarke Award (Finalist, 1992)
- BSFA (British Science Fiction Association) (Finalist, 1990)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 818'.54
Subjects edit
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