The Sword and Laser discussion
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Hyperion
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Hyp: Prologue - story setup
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I agree that there was a lot shoved in there, which came through even more when I read through it a second time.Still, as far as setting up a story, Simmons kept things vague enough for me, while still planting seeds to look forward to and keep in the back of my mind.
I've felt a very strong Agatha Christie or Clue vibe from early on. It's that "I suppose you're wondering why I've called you all here" thing. I like it as a way to frame a story. I just keep looking for the butler.
Jules wrote: "I had a hard time getting into the prologue. Not only does the literary style gear up hard and heavy (as discussed in the other prologue thread), the prologue seems to have the nasty job of setting..."Most of your questions will be answered and many in ways you probably don't expect.
Ooh, that's good to know! :)
The prologue is vague with a purpose. The whole book is built like a puzzle where you keep adding pieces not knowing what they represent until suddenly you have that EUREKA moment where you understand what the actual story is about. Keep reading, it's an amazing story.
Powbear wrote: "The whole book is built like a puzzle where you keep adding pieces not knowing what they represent until suddenly you have that EUREKA moment where you understand what the actual story is about."I mentioned this before in the other Prologue thread about sci-fi language, but there is absolutely nothing I love more than that moment where everything falls into place. I'm now even more eager to read this book than I was before.
Is that "Eureka" moment somewhere past the end of the book? Because I never hit it.
Really? Then go for Fall of Hyperion, the structure is simpler to follow. But i got the point during the detective's story, everything after that just made it clearer.
Maybe I'm just dim. As it is, I'm kind of enjoying treating Simmons' book like so much of the Romantic poetry it references, as an unfinished fragment. I may reach a frustration point in which I have to see
P. Aaron wrote: "Is that "Eureka" moment somewhere past the end of the book? Because I never hit it."Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are really just one long book split in two parts. You have to read the 2nd understand. Some things do remain unexplained but are then picked up in the 3rd and 4th books after which pretty much all questions are answered.
I have a question for all of you: I was warned that the prologue was heavy in techno babble and vague, so I read it, but didn't really retain anything. I'm well into the priest story so far, and I'm not confused. But will I be missing out on some plot points if I don't re-read the prologue? Should I re-read it?
I was really disappointed with the start of this book. I did not retain much but what I did retain sounded like the set-up for a joke:A Jew, a priest and an Atheist walk into a s spaceship, sit a the piano while drinking Whisky.......
Whisky and a piano 700 years into the future. It made me feel sad for the future. I really hope to gets better.
So far everything mentioned in the prologue seems to get worked out in the other chapters, so you should be fine. I'm getting some background on the infamous "space barbarians" now, for example :)
Dooby10 wrote: "Whisky and a piano 700 years into the future. It made me feel sad for the future. I really hope to gets better."Whoa, whoa, back up a sec. As both a whiskey lover and a piano player, I take offense! What's wrong with both of those things? Even in space you gotta take some time to relax. :)
Agatha wrote: "Dooby10 wrote: "Whisky and a piano 700 years into the future. It made me feel sad for the future. I really hope to gets better."Whoa, whoa, back up a sec. As both a whiskey lover and a piano play..."
I love Jameson Whisky and my father loves his Pianos but they do not put me in the future nor do they show me the author was trying very hard. If this is a straight commentary on current society drop the science fiction aspect, since it is only transportation and location, and get on with a normal novel. I expect more from a science fiction novel. Go deeper, at least call it "Romulan Ale".
Yep - the second I heard the piano riff in the movie "Casablanca"' my first thought was, "the screen writer was not trying very hard"Who would put a 200 year old music device in a modern story about war and people fleeing prosecution ?
It was very atmospheric for me. I could imagine a man, alone on a planet, his loneliness only brought to the forefront even more with the use of alcohol and music in storytelling. I liked it.
If humanity has a future without whiskey and musical instruments, I don't want to know about it.The harpsichord is called out by the other characters as a rare antique and not something most people have on their spaceships in this time period. I think its presence says more about the Consul himself than about the sci-fi universe he's living in.
I could not keep my attention on the prologue, the beginning of the first chapter, and nearly all of the second chapter. I think I'm going to have to actually read these rather than listen in audiobook.
The prologue seemed to set the stage perfectly for the character of the Consul for me. He is used to being alone with his own thoughts, however deeply drowned in whiskey they may be. The piano added the sense of a man who has found the ability to adapt to his situation and entertain himself through a medium that touches us to our very soul. It makes him seem very astute and detail oriented, the perfect character through which to visualize the other characters. I'm just not sure how his time alone will affect how well he works with the others as a group.
The 'interstellar barbarians' seemed laughable, as did the casual mention of a spy amongst the seven pilgrims. Without background or hint as to where this information comes from, the spy angle seemed to be shoehorned into the plot. The Consul assumes he doesn't receive more information because they are not even sure of him. Which is reasonable but it still seems as if the writer wants to get all this info out of the way fast.
The setting up of the story didn't impress me, but the character sketch of the Consul worked <>very well for me. I'm dying to know why he is, at the story's beginning, 'the only sentient being on an unnamed world'.