Anna’s review of The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #2) > Likes and Comments

i really enjoyed my time with both hyperion and fall of hyperion, but in a very reactive way. it embodies some of my most hated tropes, such is when scifi is just america-in-space. i didnt find the social situation very believable, and yea you're right its view of art is very pessimistic.

i attempted endymion, but its a very different book to the first two, more of a schlocky private adventure with weird age difference sexual relations, so not really my thing.

@k I know what you mean about America-in-space! Magical interstellar teleportation technology is used for... an absolutely gigantic shopping mall and quick commuting to the office.

It's useful to hear that Endymion is very different and potentially off-putting. I'll be rereading Hyperion for my book club soon, which will be sufficient Dan Simmons for a while.

I think the Catholic Church crops up in a lot of scifi simply because it’s humanity’s longest enduring institution (so far) and is therefore tempting fodder for any futurist to use as an anchor of realism.

FWIW I enjoyed both Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion despite their many flaws, and enjoyed Endymion also despite its many flaws and its shift in gears - it’s more of a low-key small group adventure rather than a huge galactic blockbuster like the first two books. Rise of Endymion I didn’t like largely because it bored me to tears with hundreds of pages of worldbuilding about a Tibet-themed planet that Simmons became way too obsessed with (you can tell it was written in the 90s).