The Fall of Hyperion (Hyperion Cantos, #2)

by Dan Simmons

I showered twice, first with water and then with sonic,

“The thing is a fucking killer, a sheet-metal Grendel forged in hell,” he said. “But it’s my muse.”

“I don’t know,” says Hunt. “That doesn’t sound like something a poet whose reputation has lasted a thousand years would have written.”