Book Review: Hyperion by Dan Simmons

12/30/2015

Alright, so I recently finished the book "Hyperion" by Dan Simmons. Let me just say... this book was a great read! I have now been to the Time Tombs and lived! So let me tell you how that was. This will be my first book review... so, work with me here while I stumble my way through organizing this post! I plan to keep this super brief. I like brief.

Concept:

Alright, so for this book... just pretty much imagine the Canterbury Tales innnnnnnnnn spaceeeeeeeee. A group of pilgrims heading on the last pilgrimage to the planet Hyperion all share their tales about how they ended up where they are now -on the journey. Pretty neato.

Structure:

Simmons does a masterful job of weaving the plots together. There were many points in the book where I was just left thinking --Whoa. From a writers perspective, as you read through this book, it is a great lesson on structuring. You can see as you go, and especially at the end, how Simmon's knowingly placed each travelers story in an order which would give the reader the highest pay off. What I'm saying in other words is, There is a reason that Traveler A had their story told before Traveler B... and Simmon's did a great job in planning that out.

Another thing I really enjoyed, is that each story pretty much was written in a different style. I hope that is the right way of catching what I mean. But each travelers story appeals to a different audience. Ex. One story is a mystery, while the other one is a romance with the old timey noir feel to it... Granted the whole story is sort of a mystery... but I hope you get what I mean. It is also really great to see the occasional reference to something we recognize from our culture today, since the story does take place in our "world".

Final Thoughts:

I give this book a solid 9/10. It really blew me away, I wasn't ready for the intensity that Simmon's brought. Woo. I learned so much from a writers aspect that I really think it helped my craft, while also being very enjoyable. Once the car left the station, I was in for a wild ride with an abundance of twists and turns. This book has become one of my favorites, if not my absolute favorite. I can't wait to get to the others in the series.

9/10
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Author

Matthew Taylor was born February 13, 1991 in Simi Valley, California. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from California State University Channel Islands, where he served as treasurer and briefly President of one of the campus's two political clubs. While earning his degree he continued to write and hone his craft, eventually releasing an initial few short stories on Kindle.

In 2017 he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a Cyber Operations Specialist, but has continued to make time for writing even throughout busy training cycles and the rigors of military service.

In his spare time he enjoys painting models ranging from Malifaux to Warhammer 40k, reading (his favorite book is Hyperion by Dan Simmons), and playing video games.