Sci Fi Audiobooks: Ongoing column reviewing classics of sci fi and fantasy as well as current works available in audio format.
Book Summary:
The tale of these two books—which spans across Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion—begins centuries in the future on the eve of an impending confrontation between the Hegemony (a Roman Empire-like, galaxy-wide human civilization) and the Ousters (“interstellar barbarians” who live apart from this society) over the possession of the planet of Hyperion. This world, which contains the mysterious Time Tombs, is considered by many to be a crucial factor in the course of human events. Seven diverse people have been brought together for a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs, where they will each ask the Shrike (a mysterious, vicious, deity-like creature) one wish. As they make their way to the tombs, they each tell their story of why they were selected for this pilgrimage and what connection they have to the Shrike and/or Hyperion. In the second book, the action shifts to the leaders of the Hegemony and their strategy sessions involving the war with the Ousters, which takes a turn for the worse. This book also covers the pilgrims’ encounters with the Shrike as their journey comes to fruition. And as the outcome of the war starts to look bleak, the Chief Executive Officer governing all of the human planets is forced to make a decision with dire consequences.
Hyperion
Book Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars
Audio Book Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
The Fall of Hyperion
Book Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars (Highest Rating)
Audio Book Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Bottom Line:
Dan Simmons’ Hyperion story starts out slow with the first book in the series which can be rather long and plodding at times. Things pick up quite well with the second entry, though, delivering an epic space saga and really pulling together the whole tale as a science fiction classic. The audio versions do a good job of bringing the story to life, with multiple narrators for the first book and one for the second, and turn this into an enjoyable listen.
Historical Context:
These two books emerged at a time when sci-fi was evolving beyond pulp adventure into deep, literary, and philosophical storytelling, reflecting Cold War anxieties, early digital-age questions, and a growing appetite for more complex narratives. Concerns about nuclear annihilation and global conflict were still very real at that time, as were fears about rapid advances in computing and artificial intelligence reshaping society, and those themes certainly find their way into the Simmons stories. These books also veered away from classic space opera that focused more on adventure and heroic exploits, as they helped push the genre toward something more literary and complex. They brought in hard sci-fi concepts, deep philosophical questions, and character-driven storytelling while also revealing strong literary influences (particularly John Keats and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales). Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion represented a maturing of the genre and would go on to have a notable influence on sci-fi authors in the coming decades.
A Closer Look:
Dan Simmons’ Hyperion novels have garnered much acclaim in the science fiction community, with the first one winning a Hugo and other awards, and the second getting nominated for a Hugo and a Nebula. These books also regularly appear on “Best Of” lists and are often cited as exemplary genre works from the last few decades. And they do provide a galaxy-sprawling story, with the first using a Canterbury Tales-style framing device of multiple people each telling their own tale, and the second expanding into a full-blown space saga. They also establish a vast universe that Simmons would elaborate on with two more entries in his Hyperion Cantos series—Endymion and The Rise of Endymion—as well as several short stories. But take note that his saga gets off to a rather tedious start, and you have to wade through the entire first book before the story really hits its stride.
The print edition of Hyperion runs close to 500 pages (depending on which version you buy), and the audiobook runs past twenty hours. That’s a heck of a commitment, and it had me wavering at several points. I understand the trend over the past few decades has been toward longer books, but you shouldn’t pad the story just to increase the page count, and I definitely felt that several times while making my way through Hyperion. It’s rare that you find a long book like Dune that makes efficient use of pretty much every word through its 400-plus pages (more on that one at this link), and the first Hyperion book, despite its accomplishments, falls well short of what Frank Herbert achieved.
In truth, every one of the six separate stories, apart from the Consul’s tale, could have been shortened by as much as half and still conveyed the same message. Simmons tended toward verbosity here, and that works against the grander story in my opinion. In fact, if Wikipedia had not provided some pretty decent summaries of each of the tales, I would have forgotten several of the earlier details by the time I got to the later stories. Admittedly, when I reached the end of Hyperion, I found it a rather interesting and enjoyable tale with all of its interweaving stories (each person’s tale overlaps with at least one other at some point), but what a long journey it was! And also note that this first book does not deliver a complete tale in itself, as six of the travelers tell their stories (the seventh disappears mysteriously) and then go prancing off into the horizon singing “We’re Off to See the Wizard!” (no, really).
After finding that Hyperion did not quite live up to its reputation, I wavered on whether to continue to the second book in the series. And it was fully two years before I did eventually commit myself to this twenty-plus-hour audiobook. But this one delivered the payoff that I expected after originally hearing all the hype about the series. The Fall of Hyperion focuses more on the war—while still covering the events on Hyperion—and delivers a grand space saga with few peers. The book also ventures into some mystical and philosophical territory, more so than the first, and challenges the reader’s perceptions of reality on multiple occasions.
The second book is about the same length as the first, but it never feels padded out like its predecessor. And like Dune, it makes good use of pretty much every word; in fact, Simmons probably could have expanded it and made a trilogy out of the Hyperion tale. And also unlike the first book, the sequel can almost stand on its own. It gives a brief recap of the first book and revisits parts of some of the pilgrims’ tales at times so that you don’t necessarily have to trudge through all of Hyperion to understand and enjoy its sequel. As I mentioned, I had a two-year gap between listening to the first and second books, and after rereading the synopsis of Hyperion on Wikipedia, I had no problem following The Fall of Hyperion. I’m sure purists would consider it sacrilege to suggest you could read the second and skip the first, and I’m not necessarily recommending that. But you can skim through the first to expedite your journey onto the second—and better—of the two novels.
I can easily see placing The Fall of Hyperion near the top of a list of the best science fiction novels, and if that involves tacking on Hyperion as well, I’m fine with that. But it is the second book that really delivers the meat of this tale and the one that I plan on revisiting because the action was coming fast and furious and I had a hard time keeping up at times. And there are also two follow-up novels as well, which makes for a heck of a commitment to Simmons’ grand tale. But The Fall of Hyperion suggests to me that it is worth it.
Comments on the Audiobook:
Both audio adaptations are by Audible Frontiers, and they do a decent enough job of bringing the books to life. The first audiobook uses multiple narrators for each of the seven characters. This lends an additional dimension to the production and makes it a bit easier to venture through the twenty-one-hour-long recording. The second book is read completely by Victor Bevine (who was one of the contributors to the first adaptation), and it actually makes sense when you consider the shift in narration for The Fall of Hyperion. A friend of mine suggested that these books are not a great fit for the audio format, and I would tend to agree because you really need to reread some parts several times. But that doesn’t make these bad audio productions—just a bit more challenging to approach, sort of like the audio version of the rather dense Neuromancer (more on that in an upcoming post). If you are new to audiobooks, this is definitely not the place to start. Go with an easier book like World War Z or The Time Machine or the Lovecraft adaptations from Audio Realms. But whether you listen to or read the books, you will definitely want to encounter these at some point (especially The Fall of Hyperion) as an excellent example of an epic space saga with plenty of substance to challenge your brain. Both are available from Audible, along with Endymion and The Rise of Endymion.
