REIGN of Books Podcast discussion
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The Fall of Hyperion
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Fall of Hyperion
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I wonder how Meina and Brawne's father were able to defect from the core without the core knowing about it. Simmons hints at Ummon playing traitor and alerting Brawne's father to rebel, but it seems to me if the Core can predict everything to near certainty, wouldn't they predict a traitor amongst their ranks?Who do you think is the human UI?
Mod
I have questions about why Hyperion can't be predictable for them. I don't think we've had a completely solid explanation on that yet, and I've been accepting that limitation under a couple of assumptions. I would ask more specifically, but it might be a spoiler. They seem to be directly involved in the reason it can't be predicted.
Mod
Until the end of Fall I was hoping the human UI would be the Consul. He seemed like the perfect mesh of humanity and technocore - his grandmother was a purist trying to be free from super technology, his grandfather was fully connected into the Technocore and was even building a farcaster. Then couple that with the Consul's conflicting emotional past - he has both committed the ultimate sin and in some sense the ultimate redemption and he is the most dynamic character that can embody the full range of human and perhaps machine emotions. As Simmons states the UI must be able to empathize with all and who better to do it than an individual who has experienced all.I like your idea of the human UI infiltrating the techno core. Perhaps, Brawne's child is the one. Her pregnancy somewhat models Mary and the birth of Jesus.
As far as Brawne's father I'm uncertain. The TCore killed him so is it a rebellious faction within the TCore (Ummon) supporting humanity for Ummon's own freedom? or what I'm not sure... Not sure if the story is headed this way, but I think it would be neat to explore the distant future with characters resurfacing (Meina, Brawne's father) - as early in book 1 Simmons suggests ships full of people travel to the time tombs and simply disappear - to assist Kassad with his battle against the Shrike.
Mod
The Consul as the Empathy Godhead? He was one of my favorite characters, but he was too broken, too disconnected from humanity, (which he voiced) but he did want to survive if only to help his friends. His tragic background made him the perfect martyr (his family is full of those!), but I'm glad his final redemption was living in the universe he'd helped to changed forever. That's kind of a main theme...living with the consequences of your actions.
The Technocore motives was an easier plot point that I could grasp. Ummon and his Stables wanted to survive, not to be junked in the scrapheap for the sake of the UI project. The Ultimates and Volatiles still needed the Stables to get to their final goal so, just like in the human world of politics, there was a lot of separate plotting by each faction. Could they totally predict each others' moves?; not yet, not without the UI, and hence how the Stables could subtly play their agenda over centuries. They always talked about timing in playing the Hyperion variable, which really could have just been the trigger for war and creating that future where survival and freedom was still an option.
Send us your questions for the Fall of Hyperion and we'll discuss them on the show!