Hyperion (original 1989; udgave 1990)

Time of Death is at the end of CD 1 ( of 18 ):
So many people seem to like it, I thought it would be something I'd like also. :/ I feel kinda pissed, kinda dumb.

Prologue was interesting, a bit confusing. For one reason, who would name a character console? (on audio that is what it sounded like) but I figured it would sort itself out as I kept going. (I even listened to most of the prologue twice. Second time it made so much more sense :)

Premise starts off good and then I hear the priest's story... wtf! Like I am to retain any of that, with the whole thing being an out of context, with unfamiliar worlds and terms, and not related to anything I read up to that point? This will be repeated for each "Pilgrim" AND the story ends on a cliff hanger... Nope, not interested.

Mysteries, religion, character driven stories that are started in an odd spot, and most operatic science fiction are not my preferred reading so I guess it's no surprise. I won't rate it, I'll leave that for people that like this type of storytelling. People like Jo Walton: https://www.tor.com/2009/05/27/better-to-travel-hopefully-dan-simmons-hyperion/

Maybe if I had known more about it before going in, or maybe if I didn't try on audio or maybe if he didn't start with the Priest's story.... maybe I could of enjoyed the story, maybe not.
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I'm also going to remove his collection PRAYERS TO BROKEN STONES (1990) from my catalog and pass the book on. It's the COVID years and my reading has changed. I'm moving away from horror, I'm not strong with SF and I am not interested in the overly slow pace & ambiguity of some stories at this time. It pains me but I must cull my collection if I want to read all I own before death and this one is out.

While parts of this dragged, it was overall an intriguing tale with a story-in-a-story motif that I just adore. It is not a self-contained story, and one must continue on to the next in the series for closure. The bits where the sensuality of an "almost sixteen year old" (i.e. 15) girl's body is described made me quite uncomfortable. Nice anti-colonial vibe though. ( )

I nearly abandonned this. I stuck with it but only by speedreading and skipping lots of detail. Sadly it finishes on a cliffhanger and there's no way I can bear to read the next one. So I'll have to use community reviews to find out what happened.... The ideas are great and the detail does paint a great picture of future worlds so I can see why it is necessary - but it was all too dry and dated for me. ( )

Wowzers!
That was awesome.
Really nice to read, writing is smooth and delicious and absorbing. Story is gripping and thought provoking.
Do it. ( )

I have really mixed feelings about this book. Parts of it were gripping and imaginative; parts of it felt like hack writing. Sometimes I liked the frame tale aspect and the nods to literary forebears; sometimes I found it annoying or inconsistent or distracting. I'm glad I read it, and I'll likely read the sequel, but I'll go into it with a little hesitation. ( )