Hyperion Cantos: The Most Terrifying Creature In Science Fiction

Warning! Some book spoilers! It has often been said that nature is cruel. All life on Earth is believed to have evolved from the same single-celled organism. Over the course of 3.5 Billion years those single cells, diversified, multiplied, became multiple celled organisms, developed organs, bones, and limbs. Life eventually filled every niche on the planet, each species learning to survive in its own way while constantly being tested by mother nature. But the cruelest fact about life has always been that in order to survive it must feed upon itself. Life consumes life. And there are many ways of doing it.
A butcherbird is a type of bird found mostly in African and Eurasian countries. It is a type of bird known as a Shrike. Once a Shrike captures its prey it impales the body upon sharp thorns or spikes. This allows the Shrike to bit by bit, tear the flesh from the creature it has captured, eating it in small chunks. These birds are also known to be territorial, they defended their claimed areas against rivals. The Idea of a Shrike has been used in fiction multiple times. But Dan Simmons’ Hyperion in my opinion makes the most interesting use of the attributes of the Shrike bird, within a fictional creature.
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[@DonVigaDeFierro]

"People talk sometimes of a bestial cruelty, but that's a great injustice and insult to the beasts; a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel. The tiger only tears and gnaws, that's all he can do. He would never think of nailing people by the ears, even if he were able to do it." - Fyodor Dostoevsky.

[@neo-filthyfrank1347]

"There is meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the Devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make a machine. And evil that can run itself for 1000 years, no need to tend to it."

[@trellnebula]

I feel like Orcas would if they could

[@sld1776]

Fyodor was wrong about this. Plenty of animals kill for pleasure.

[@1221-o7e]

@@sld1776 but humans are the very best of it

[@jurekmc]

@@1221-o7e yeah but only because we have the way to do it, the capacity, if they could the would

[@Trollificusv2]

Isaac Arthur has a wonderful description of evolution, noting: "We know aliens will be tough, because you don't claw your way to the top of the billion-year-deep corpse pile of Darwinian evolution by being wimps."

[@noahporteus8913]

That is a fantastic quote, but Shrike isn’t an alien…

[@Archonsx]

not exactly, we are not the roughest creatures, yet we stand at the top because of our intelligence, creativity and the ability to evolve and adapt, life is complex and complicated

[@AstronautaVerdadeiro_77]

*laughs in porifera*

[@EnzoDraws]

@@Archonsxwell, outside of our biology, I would count "being able to negatively affect countless species on your planet by just existing daily"+"being able to drop nukes that would change the planet and possibly extinguish your own civilization" as being pretty tough traits for humanity.

[@certaindeath7776]

@@Archonsx we are pretty tough. f.e. we can hunt the fastest land species on earth just by beeing much more endurant, and thats just one trait

[@tbone551]

The Thing was the most terrifying in my opinion. Having to kill your friend because he might be already dead and just an alien in disguise. It’s psychologically horrible.

[@GayForklift]

I stopped myself from making an among us joke. Just wanted to let you know

[@therealmr.incredible3179]

@@GayForklift Good.

[@MrCaretucker]

Very good

[@tbone551]

@@GayForklift thank you

[@lienomzekon4763]

sus

[@Wumbo85]

He’s just trying to fill his scream canisters to meet his daily quota.

[@Ry-bo9hi]

.

[@theexcaliburone5933]

He decided to become a stand up comedian soon after the end of the series

[@dontkickmychick6076]

He would be an entrepreneur then, seeing as the tree of pain isnt connected to monsters inc.'s system

[@sobersplash6172]

didn't he hear that laughter's what's on the market now? imagine the Shrike except he has a laughter quota but goes about this the most horrifying way possible, and is still terrifying

[@akish302]

He recently starred in “put that thing back where it came from or so help me”

[@Lawlietftw30]

I remember when I first watched "Return of the Jedi" as a kid, and Jabba the Hut said that the Sarlacc would digest its victims over the course of a thousand years. I comforted myself from the horror by thinking that the victims would just die of starvation, instead. I grew up to find that the sarlacc supposedly keeps its victims alive somehow for that thousand years. Like, there's supposed to be something about the insides of its body that keeps people alive far longer than Republic Medical Science, just so that they can be digested for a millenium. Bruh.

[@sitfish1113]

They are barley alive after just a short period of time in cannon. It's not really keeping them alive but just preventing the body from dying.

[@thetsarofall8666]

Its almost like the body is absorbed into the sarlaac directly like a fat cell instead of being digested, the body slowly withering away giving up energy to the larger organism.

[@ZergIingLover]

Starving, while likely a slightly better fate than spending a thousand years being digested (Spending a millennium in a dark stomach being slowly dissolved by stomach acid), starvation is still one of the worst ways to die. There are three stages of starvation, and your much more likely to die to a disease, virus or something similar than to actual starvation. This is because starvation breaks down your body for sustenance- First fat, then more necessary things like muscles. It weakens your immune system alot- it's probably the reason why, in almost every country, the starvation deaths are low.

[@ASlickNamedPimpback]

That’s stupid

[@ZergIingLover]

@@ASlickNamedPimpback no u

[@alessandroverganti9992]

The shrike is literally the most fascinating and interesting "character", or narrative instrument, I've ever seen. It creates so many memorable moments throught the series, and leaving its appearance to the viewer's imagination enhances the terror. Everytime it appears, it's impossible to understand it's motives, and what it wants to do, or wether it will just kill or capture it's victims. And sprinkled in, sometimes, there are moments where it comunicates. Just incredible.

[@Nony_Amous101]

Would you enumerate some of those moments? Or at least the most interesting ones you could think of? There's no place for me to purchase the books where I'm from.

[@presidentuwu3206]

Yo add me on fortnite @daddystop346742

[@emilspasov4356]

He kinda got less fascinating and terrifying after nemes whooped his ass

[@samraizshoaib585]

@@emilspasov4356 I have not read the books but from what I have glimpsed from the respevct threads people seem to say that the Shrike does not put much effort into their cvonfrontations outside of the times he destroys her.

[@Lawrence_Talbot]

Wow way to restate what the narrator said in the video. Here is your cookie 🍪

[@TiaanBurger]

In Afrikaans the shrike bird is called a "laksman", literal meaning "executioner".

[@FarTooFar]

I can still picture my dad with his new pellet gun trying to execute a few butcher birds that were terrorising the other nesting birds in our garden. I guess this made my dad a Laksman laksman.

[@Shadow90Cvijetin]

@@FarTooFar you could say he was a Laksman marksman

[@Malygosblues]

That makes sense. The Latin genus name for shrikes is Lanius which means butcher. The Northern American shrike is Lanius excubitor meaning sentinel or watchman butcher

[@mainmanbumfuzz8983]

Which is funny, because that means "cod-man" in Norwegian. As in the fish.

[@FarTooFar]

@@mainmanbumfuzz8983 a definite fish out of water 😀

[@andruism7]

"Earth was destroyed in an experiment gone wrong." Sounds about right.

[@patrickcharzin3062]

Psyke! The evil robots teleported earth away and then lied, and told everyone it was destroyed

[@strider_hiryu850]

@@patrickcharzin3062 could've been one of the evil robots' experiments. hey! guess i'll have to read the books too!

[@darksteelmenace595]

@@patrickcharzin3062 Nope they reconstructed earth, the original is destroyed

[@patrickcharzin3062]

@@darksteelmenace595 Nope, they told the humans they reconstructed it but they lied. Actually they teleported it

[@darksteelmenace595]

@@patrickcharzin3062 Did they reveal that in a later book?

[@johns1625]

The Shrike moves backwards through time, so every person that is killed or captured by the Shrike was killed or captured the last time the Shrike actually encountered it. The Chapter from The Soldier where Kassad fights the shrike for the first time, turns out it's actually the very last time they fought from the perspective of the Shrike. So if you survive your first encounter with it, you survive all encounters. And this really messes with how you interpret it's choices throughout the later books too, because it's actually a protagonist at that point.

[@svenlauke1190]

if the shrike moved backwards, wouldn't it kill/capture you the last time it met you, but the first time you met it?

[@myboatforacar]

What if it doesn't know it's going backwards in time? "Hey, where am I? Oh shit, better start getting these bodies offa this tree" 😂

[@lucasporto9285]

@@svenlauke1190 I think this is what he meant, right? last time the shrike encountered you, but the first time you did it

[@lucasporto9285]

are the books worth it? I only read thefirst one because I read somewhere that the others were not as good

[@svenlauke1190]

@@lucasporto9285 if that is what he meant he worded it strangely. basically means if you survive it the first time, you are always safe.

[@MorroTreece]

I'll have to read these books to understand why in book 3's cover he's just chilling on a raft with some of people like he's a murder monster version of Huckleberry Finn

[@EmperorDoom]

Rofl, for book 3 you're not too far off.

[@Sssilk84]

Hahaha i was wondering the same thing

[@kentallard8852]

Just read the original hyperion, which is really 1 book split in 2, don't bother with the sequels

[@rogeriopenna9014]

@@kentallard8852 the sequels are awesome and the seies has one of the most satisfying ends ever

[@rcredmon]

I agree with Rogèrio. They are very good. You just have to stick with them. There's a lot of esoteric type stuff but it is a great series.

[@nahtesalinas1917]

They'll NEVER makes these into movies. And that's a good thing. Leave them to the reader's imagination.

[@jeffreysugar5709]

One of the authors other books was made into a tv show

[@singaporeghostclub]

Xenomorphs IMO are the best creature designs to have ever appeared on film.

[@leonardogamboa1901]

Agreed

[@tommyzDad]

*The Terror* was adapted into a mini-series.

[@jimtroeltsch5998]

Yeah, if they make it into a film it probably would suck. If they do decide to do that they should just use it as an inspiration to do something different.

[@ColonelSanders17]

I met Dan Simmons. I helped build his vacation home a few years ago up in the Colorado Rockies. He is a really nice dude. He has a sculpture of the Shrike in front of the house I helped build.

[@joshcarlton9184]

Thats delightful. Ive framed some homes for celebs; never had an author though. Imagine seeing that name on the blueprint. That shrike sculpture has got to be fucking amazing

[@Kaptnkrnch]

kind of ugly sculptor clee

[@Dexroid]

A... are you sure it's just a sculpture?

[@brightleviathan]

if you create some horrific and iconic sci fi creature, you absolutely NEED a sculpture of it for the front yard. i love that.

[@Quonzer]

This Shrike feels like something that the Dark Eldar would make.

[@Revanchist2]

As a pet

[@ulose5909]

Is that heresy I hear?

[@Aoz0901]

Should I get my bolter?

[@Wataru917]

Slaneesh would approve

[@Aoz0901]

@@Wataru917 heretic

[@Nugnugnug]

I'm pretty sure what the Shrike does is considered an intern-level requirement in Commorragh.

[@mechanomics2649]

WH40K is just absurdity for absurdity's sake.

[@Nugnugnug]

​@@mechanomics2649 What's so bad about that? And also, HERESY!!!!!!!!!

[@Didermann]

@@Nugnugnug it means it's hard to take seriously. Almost juvenile tongue-in-cheek kinda horror.

[@stnicgglemploy2794]

@@Didermann uhhh maybe to someone who lacks cultural perspective. For the vast majority of human history people have been incredibly cruel and violent, even as cultural factors. Its ethnocentric to assume every culture values life or taboos violence, torture or causing suffering. Ritual violence is very real. This is not a value judgement, in fact, I stand in defense of these cultures.

[@Didermann]

@@stnicgglemploy2794 I get it. But that doesn't take away the fact that WH40K pushes these to ridiculous levels that it becomes a meme rather than horror. More of a galactic action-thriller, in this case.

[@RenneAtha]

This video single-handedly got me to read Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion and they are my absolute favourite books of all time. Thank you so much!!!

[@songbird7450]

When I heard "Shrike", I immediately heard Sam'o'nella's voice in my head

[@huskpl3yz358]

Shit and spike

[@aj1046]

I miss him

[@aceankan137]

@@aj1046 he will be back towards the end of 2021. Well i hope

[@minimaleffortname2758]

He is the true scariest creature

[@raymundoaustria5821]

Me too lop

[@sirgalah4d20]

I heard these books read on an old cassette series years ago. I have asked so many people hoping I could figure out the name of the book series. You have brought me back to one of the greatest sci-fi experiences ever created.

[@zonenknautsch]

one of my favorite SciFi series. Simmons playing fast and loose with the concept of time itself is probably my favorite aspect of the cantos. that and the way this sets up the conclusions and explanations at the end is almost more terrifying than the shriek character itself not sure I'd call the shriek the most terrifying creature in SciFi, but he's definitely up there, and scores extra points for style and uniqueness.

[@mattkennedy9308]

I think the terror of the Shrike comes from the fact everybody knows it's nigh unstoppable but no one knows what it's goals are as it changes over the series. The sequence in Endymion where it protects Aenea from the Church Fleet by single handedly wiping out 1000's of ground forces then teleporting into space and butchering the ship crews was both an incredible sequence... and completely unexepected by anyone who read the first two books where it's an antagonistic force to the main cast and Humanity in general

[@DH33.0]

@@mattkennedy9308 Yeah vs Nemes was good too

[@Trollificusv2]

Most terrifying? AM, from Ellison's "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream". A god-like AI with absolute power over you, and it develops the singular motivation of torturing you. Forever. Horrible to the point of being depressing, when I first read it as a kid.

[@zonenknautsch]

@@Trollificusv2 completely agree. I am looking at a copy of this and Deathbird Stories, and I'm very tempted to pick up both and reread them after reading your comment.

[@yasserbostan7156]

@@Trollificusv2 what a stupid concept. Why is it torturing you? It's just torture porn for some twat with too much time on his hands.

[@zarquondam]

6:49 - Funny how the artist for the book covers failed to notice that the Shrike is supposed to have four arms until the fourth cover.

[@recursiveslacker7730]

I just imagine him as being kinda like general grievous in that he can split his arms.

[@chrismas9448]

I’ve never read the books but I’m 99 percent sure that’s not the shrike

[@charliecampbell6851]

@@chrismas9448 that's the shrike in all of the covers. It can connect its arms together.

[@laxtobuttgroyn1193]

How did that get past the editors?

[@NowioFel]

Probably not the fault of the artist due how book covers in publishing works.. It was probably a bored out of her mind art director of a publishing company going “oh great, another scifi with some alien cyber monster…. Lemme give that job to some newbie with a halfassed brief on what to paint.” We illustrators LOVE working on some cool covers… but if we get a commission from a publishing company… the art directors are the bottlenecks to coolness. For some reason they always have enough extra budget to commission extra covers for feminist or rainbow titles… but never enough budget to commission a proper fantasy or scifi cover (how many covers with a generic weapon/character in a hood or starship have you seen?)

[@rottenmeat5934]

As many better men have said : the opposite of love is not hate but indifference.

[@reculture]

Id say *fear* is opposite of the love, but then again I'm hardly one of those better men.

[@bicheiroparadoxo4894]

@@reculture love, hate and fear can all be seen as obsessions towards something or what's perceived of it, indifference truly is the opposite of it all. It denies interest to appreciate, destroy or avoid.

[@WastePlace]

Love and hate go hand in hand and fuel one another, apathy and indifference is a different beast entirely

[@DraculaCronqvist]

And it's still wrong. Indifference is the middle ground between love and hate. It is apathy.

[@reculture]

@@bicheiroparadoxo4894 that's a good perspective, i haven't thought of it that way

[@codylakin288]

Every single time the Shrike appeared in the story, it felt like Simmons went into overdrive with his epic writing, and I was flooded with chills and a cold, cold feeling of quieted awe. Every single time.

[@WillyDIreland]

The best thing about the shrike is that no matter how an artist interprets how it looks, they nail it.

[@cookiemumncher5808]

Oh you~

[@dwhutto]

The Shrike is definitely my favorite monster. I love leaving nods to the Hyperion Cantos in my table top games. Wonderful books.

[@femmedracula6857]

Same actually

[@watcher171]

I recommend Olympos and Illium by the same author…excellent read

[@femmedracula6857]

@@watcher171 It had some weird anti-Islam messaging in it, clearly informed by post-9/11 paranoia but otherwise it had a lot of good bits.

[@gickygackers]

Lol forreal??

[@femmedracula6857]

@@gickygackers Yeah, although different people would have different feelings about it. It wasn't nearly as weird as his visit by a time traveler short story he posted online, though.

[@davidwagstaff47]

"The most terrifying creature in science fiction" Games Workshop: *laughs in literally anything from Warhammer 40k*

[@HydraulicDesign]

Or as they say in the 40K Universe, a Tuesday. Of course being so over-the-top horrible that you just kind of chuckle is sort of the point.... It loves people being somehow kept alive indefinitely while enduring the unspeakable.

[@ChibiDarksai]

As soon a Quinn mentioned shrikes I instantly thought of the Mega Arachnids of Planet Murder.

[@Dimetropteryx]

@@ChibiDarksai Kept jumping back and forth between the Haemonculi and the Screaming Gallery.

[@AshtonCoolman]

The Shrike would be considered a 'good guy' in the 40K universe. It would probably help the Imperium against chaos insurgencies and genestealers 😂

[@maddlarkin]

Exactly what I was thinking, can think of some far freakier things in 40k, Enslavers have to come pretty close to the top of the list, turning psykers into living fleshy warp gates, bringing through thousands of their kind and then mentally dominating not just population of any world they rock up on, but any armies sent against them... to me far freakier than a spikey Xenos with a torture fetish

[@pillarmenn1936]

@@toddrisinger3623 very hard to take something seriously if it started as a meme version of Warhammer Fantasy. Also it canonically still has a planet that sounds like a pimp.

[@Akovor_]

The Qu from All Tomorrows makes the shrike look like a children's character

[@guts1258]

How so? What makes them wosre?

[@cernos7230]

@@guts1258 The Qu is just high tech aliens

[@Akovor_]

@@guts1258 instead of impaling people on a tree the Qu would turn entire generations of people into living waste/filtration systems, all while keeping them sentient and conscious, just for their amusement

[@AgarthianTrapstar]

@@guts1258 The Qu are masters of genetic manipulation. In the Book All Tomorrows they attack humanity in the future and lead to their downfall by basically experimenting with humanity to such a degree that the homo sapiens species is eliminated by being divided into multiple other abominable sub species.

[@IC1101-Capinatator]

The Qu fractured humanity into thousands of species just because of the religious views of the Qu. Humanity was seen not as people,but animals by them. The Colonials are an example of the Qu being worse than this. The Colonials were effectively living filters made from humans. They still had their eyes and minds. For 40 MILLION YEARS,they suffered. Eventually however,they evolved out of their misery. (Sorry for the long post)

[@AtomicPunk23]

I loved this book series so much, but the story ended too abruptly and with too many unanswered questions in book 4. I was really bitter about that for years until I stumbled upon Dan Simmons' book 4.5 of the cantos: "Orphans of the helix". It gives a proper epilogue to the saga, giving at least some insight into what the universe finally becomes and all of the struggle was for.

[@vnspns5358]

Oh thanks heaven that i have seen your comment! I just finished book 4 yesterday and i also felt the same way as you did! Glad that there’s book 4.5!

[@Kizarat]

The Hyperion Cantos, along with the Foundation novels from Isaac Asimov literally changed my perception on life. Absolute gems of science fiction.

[@joshmnky]

* is impaled on tree of eternal torment * hey, at least I'm out of the office

[@PeppersnGlowworms]

Nothing like working from home...

[@danieltallon4316]

Can I just say that I love the audio quality to all of your videos. From the intro song to the speed and sound of your voice. I feel like a lot of content creators don’t work this hard to make their videos sound this good.

[@MeanOldLady]

No, the intro is soulless, synth garbage that should've been left in the 80s. (I don't hate the channel, love it, but I loathe synth.)

[@haillobster7154]

Who else knew it would be the Shrike, without any familiarity with Hyperion, merely from the title? One never forgets even just a passing mention of the Shrike.

[@DeltafangEX]

Hyperion has been on my reading list for almost a decade, but yes, I have never forgotten when a favorite book reviewer described its horror all those years ago...

[@RachelAnnPotter]

@@DeltafangEX I listened to the series and I had to pause the last book sooooo many times during the last few hours. So. Much. Shit. Happens. UGH, it was so good!

[@libertyprime3827]

"Scariest" is definitely an exaggeration. The AI in I have no mouth but I must scream is scarier then this thing.

[@z1u512]

Or as others have pointed out, the qu from all tomorrows

[@WastePlace]

Hell even lovecraftian horrors beat this thing out. The shrike does come off as underwhelming compared to other similar fictional creatures

[@someyetiwithinternetaccess1253]

This video is really underwhelming tbh

[@leonardhollsten8145]

Sure it might not be the scariest, but its up there.

[@kredl756]

True nature of the shrike makes it scariest,

[@DomoKun371]

hey Quinn I'm just commenting to say I love your fascination and enthusiasm for the sci-fi genre and you are certainly instrumental in my interest in reading the Hyperion Cantos, Annihilation, and the Three Body Problem series. Thank you for your videos and keep fueling even the slightest interest in reading like you have done for me!

[@moxxiiscarlett7141]

I'm still more terrified of the things in the Lovecraft Mythos, I'm sorry man.

[@danijellino1921]

Lovecraft creatures are on both ends of the spectrum. Completely ridicouls and utterly terrifiyng.

[@moxxiiscarlett7141]

@@danijellino1921 and that's why they scare me more

[@danijellino1921]

@@moxxiiscarlett7141 Understanably so. Fear is one of the most powerful emotions and fear of the unkown is one of the oldest most powerful fears of humanity.

[@bellisarius6968]

yes but its not fair lol, in Sci Fi you must atleast look like you try to explain where something comes from. in fantasy/horror something just IS.

[@danijellino1921]

@@bellisarius6968 In Sci Fi you can always just go for the typical "Quantum Nano" mumbo jumbo thou.

[@hucklebuck411]

I recently finished The Fall of Hyperion. There are no words to truly describe this densely packed book with its many narratives. If I understood correctly, future, super-evolved humans were fighting a war with armies of Shrike and were behind sending back the time tombs, one of which would allow some past humans to move forward to their future time. Three godlike AIs were behind the Shrike war. One of the AIs wanted to eliminate human life and another of the AIs that felt empathy went back to the past to aid humanity behind the scenes. The other AIs sent back the Shrike with its tree of pain as bait to lure the empathic AI to reveal itself. It's very complicated. I guess I will have to read the Endymion books to see if it becomes clearer.

[@paulconrad6220]

Wasn't the embodiment of empathy highly advanced human intelligence (the UI)? Been years since I read it.

[@alexisdumas84]

@@paulconrad6220 You're correct iirc.

[@VNitla]

Are you of the Cruciform?

[@bellisarius6968]

@@paulconrad6220 true but you dont get that untill yeats and the 2nd half of the Cantos

[@DH33.0]

A lot of it is retconned in the last two books. Aenea says the truth in her talks.

[@reek459]

Not gone lie. I have zero to no clue what your even talking about right now. But im loving every second ❤️ Thank you for the literature.

[@TelcontarTargaryen]

I love, LOVE, Hyperion Cantos, and Simmons.. it is very sadly overlooked by most SF fans since it is not that commercialized. Also, to everyone who likes their music a bit on a heavier side, I recommend danish band Manticora and their Hyperion album. That is actually how I found out about the books in the first place.

[@wasfuerkeksigkeit]

Yes I agree with you. Thanks for the album recommendation, will give it a listen.

[@jimmux_v0]

Another great heavy concept album based on Hyperion is Ummon, by SLIFT.

[@wasfuerkeksigkeit]

Cheers! I think I prefer Ummon. Great music.

[@ChristmasLore]

It was very, very famous and most certainly commercialized, it was just probably before your time, when they first were published. Simmons was a giant for a whole decade, if not two.

[@FunkySaurb456]

Yes, overlooked. Much like Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy.

[@CaptPatrick01]

The Unhuggable, Four-Armed Vlad and his giant Agony Booth.

[@withatcontext]

You inspired me to read the first full book in over a decade, “the three body problem” cixin liu… and I couldn’t of been more sucked in. 2 days of free time and it was over. The second book has a very slowly animated beginning and was super hard to get through that initial portion, but it’s picking up nicely. Thank you, Quinn.

[@Phokey29]

Personally I think the unknown aggressors in the expanse series are scarier. A sentient, fourth dimensional being that doesn't like being poked with the stick of human teleportation travel and is able to devour your atoms "out of existence" for pissing it off is pretty scary.

[@jazerasor1455]

I'd rather be removed from existence than eternally tortured. Just me

[@tovnomathieu]

well the scary part is not really being wiped out of existance, it's not knowing when or where it'll happen, you could have found the way to stop that but suddenly just vanish out of existance because you happened to be at the wrong place wrong time. I won't go into too much details because of spoilers but the dark gods are pretty scary too

[@ahobimo732]

Honestly, given the hyperbolic title, I found this pretty underwhelming. So there's a mysterious creature that tortures people... this is not exactly bone-chilling terror.

[@ubaidullah5388]

Underwhelming indeed.

[@levi2725]

The creature is virtually immortal, can teleport through space *AND* time, has shaped the world since... Since as far as anyone can remember, and the tree keeps you awake with the constant feeling of being impaled. I'd say the Shrike is a pretty cool villain!

[@IHateNumbersOnNames]

Feels like an overhyped scp

[@magosexploratoradeon6409]

@@levi2725 Villain? Yes, but honestly it's not as terrifying as what the vid is hyping. But that's mainly because I've been into 40k.

[@rotciv557]

@@levi2725 "but can he fight Goku?"

[@ooDriveoo]

Came across this video a while back after going over some of Lovecraft's work... I was intrigued by the video's claim. Fastforward into the future and I finally just finished watching it after the shrike bird intro, but only after finishing all of the cantos! Thanks for helping me jump into this incredible journey that was purely ignited by the title of the video and its intro! Cheers!

[@rainsoakedpuppy]

But, that just sounds like christian hell with extra steps...

[@timothytzovolos153]

Oh la laa, someone’s going to get laid in college

[@noizW]

@@timothytzovolos153 😂

[@zerobasedgod9291]

@@timothytzovolos153 lmao a furry having an inking of a chance to touch a woman legally

[@laxtobuttgroyn1193]

In other words, Catholicism.

[@HomeslicedVideos]

@@laxtobuttgroyn1193 Catholicism is actually a major plot point in this series.

[@russellcrye9296]

Ur a genius KZbinr, this one preview video that showed up randomly on recommended just made me watch the whole series u have posted. An algorithm master mind you are sir, great content

[@hando87]

Thank you for this. Hyperion was one of my favourite books and this reminded me of how amazing this universe is... And how far withdrawn I've now become from my own imagination simply by no longer making the time to sit down and read books. I fear for future generations as technology accelerates them into the great unknown.

[@shrimpsnail]

The qu from: all tomorrows is also one of the scariest things I've seen on fiction

[@bussing666]

Very true

[@nothintoreadhere6168]

Reminder that there's a chance an alien species exactly like the qu exists

[@thedawnchilloutking]

What about AM from i have no mouth and I must scream

[@z-beeblebrox]

@@thedawnchilloutking You can pretty much draw a straight line of exponentially greater terror from the Shrike, to AM, to The Qu - human scale, planet scale, galactic scale

[@kingcustard444]

@@z-beeblebrox and then you have Cthulu / Lovecraftian on a cosmic scale

[@thedango6890]

Wow, just wow. I randomly find this channel today. Just as i randomly found that book in my youth. Never got a chance to read it for i was already invested in a pierz anthony series. I used to have a bad habit of collecting or borrowing as many books as possible and reading them all as fast and as much as i could. I shall have to find a copy at the library and give it a read

[@ingavarh]

This sounds like something someone should make an SCP of just as a tribute and the description is very well done in the book

[@dalemsilas8425]

I love scenes where col kassad is trying to fight the shrike. Who can actually do this movie justice?

[@aleksanderzygmunt2]

2:28 I just appreciate that you used the Polish translated covers of the saga :) Much respect, Quinn, greetings from Poland :)

[@ilejovcevski79]

Reading those descriptions of the Shrike, as well as all the fan-art, i can't but recall, how neither i, nor anyone i know of has so far managed to truly represent the entity in its full glory..... and terror...... Wolf's jaw with a false grin, crown of spikes, mercury over chrome, large armored torso, joints entwined with spikes, barb and razor wire, deep glowing ruby red eyes, set in a helmet skull like structure, a huge spike-blade protruding through its sternum, four strangely jointed arms that ended with blades instead of fingers......

[@HArryvajonas]

I agree, I have gone through hundreds of fan art for the Shrike and I haven't found one that struck me as ''right''. Where the art for Lovecraftian mythos I feel is much closer to the mark. This doesn't bode well whenever they finally bring this story to the screen. That being said, I thought the Zach Snyder version of the main bad gu from Justice League, his armor has the closest look to what I have always had in my mind.

[@ilejovcevski79]

@@HArryvajonas good point there, spikes and mercury over chrome. Yeah, his armor did remind somewhat of Shrikes description in the book.

[@barrybend7189]

The only way to capture it is if someone makes a 3d model with animations of it.

[@HArryvajonas]

@@ilejovcevski79 yes, especially the way the spikes and armor move and pop out. That type of animation to his armor I always imagined. The look is in the ball park as well. Maybe the artists that had a hand in the redesign used the Shrike as inspiration?

[@jimmux_v0]

I feel like it's never explicitly said, but different characters seem to see the Shrike a little differently so I imagined it being slightly amorphous. There are constants like the four arms, but spikes seem to move, flow, and change size at will. the mouth is just a mass of teeth that can likewise shift and grow as needed. Like the Steppenwolf armour crossed with a decepticon and a little T-1000.

[@aguspuig6615]

SKULLS FOR THE SKULLTHRONE, BODIES FOR THR PAIN TREE!!

[@sarnxero2628]

DISAPPOINTING ENDING SEASONS FOR THE FANBASE!

[@reculture]

Blood for the Blood God?

[@longwlenguyen4214]

@@reculture Blood and Souls for my Lord Arioch!

[@reculture]

@@longwlenguyen4214 ahh, i see you are man of culture as well!

[@davidwright8432]

OK, fries and mayo with that?

[@JakeSommer]

I realized as I started watching this, that I had actually bought the first Hyperion book, years ago, yet had only ever read a few pages. I guess I'm going to have to actually read it now because it sounds amazing.

[@psyclone8614]

*Chuckles in Dark Eldar*. All seriousness though, this makes me want to check out the series. Great vid! :)

[@laxtobuttgroyn1193]

DO IT. Get all four first. Trust me.

[@joshrakestraw3319]

I'm absolutely in love with the design of the Shrike creature which this my first time seeing it because of this video. In all honesty, it actually reminds me alot of Megatron's design in the newer Transformers movies, or just that of ancient decepticons in general. Makes me wonder if the creators used the Shrike as a influence for their design? But for me personally, the most horrifying and disturbing science fiction creatures are probably necromorphs from Dead Space series or The Thing aliens. Some other honorable mentions is the creature from Zygote and the mutant bear from Anniliation that screams like a woman.

[@patrickbseattle]

This vid popped up for me again. I had never read the Hyperion series and this vid insprired me to do it. So I say keep up the great work!

[@nomenestomen8406]

So glad you cover this book/series. I have them all, very very good. I did read them decades ago, but going to read them again soon, thanks for reminding me.

[@Dyaus81]

Sol's story is the saddest. As a dad, I think about it often.

[@nickdeiters4690]

I wonder if the Shrike was of Lovecraft inspiration. There is something in the human soul that cannot handle meaningless torment. A monster that causes endless agony for some apathetic reason is the scariest for us by far... and I LOVE IT!!!

[@soscoffey1]

Will someone ever make a big budget Hyperion movie?

[@urulai]

If they do I hope the throw out the last two books.

[@ilejovcevski79]

Not likely to happen, not without butchering the core material.

[@thekingsdale2899]

Netflix, But Let's pray they don't because my goodness. 😔

[@bigdreams5554]

I heard/read a rumor that movie rights have been bought... But project hasn't gone anywhere

[@ilejovcevski79]

@@bigdreams5554 that did happen long time ago...

[@SinitarG]

Thanks to this video, I was able to introduce Hyperion books to myself. Keep doing great job.

[@quintinjansevanvuuren9638]

Wait, I know you...

[@wobblesman4316]

Fry: “Wait but doesn’t it take more energy to keep them ali-“

[@krakow95]

I've enjoyed your Dune material immensely, and am excited to hear what you think about Hyperion!

[@rafaelsantosx]

Hey, since you like sci-fi like Dune and Foundation, have you read "The Expanse" novels, or watched the Syfy/Amazon series?

[@rhyslewis4399]

You just named my top 3 book series!! The dune movie will be amazing, the foundation series on apple tv will be underrated and a flop but the books will will always be the greatest sci-fi collections of our age :) awesome choice lol

[@zachburskey8868]

@@rhyslewis4399 The dune Movie will absolutely not be amazing. 3/4ths of the books are in the respective characters thoughts. This has always translated poorly in any movie because they need to dump exposition of thousands of words, in a few lines.

[@matheussanthiago9685]

@@zachburskey8868 that's precisely why I think no one will ever adapt Neuromancer, half of the book is just seemly synthetic drug filled rambling and the subjective perspective of Case hacking through the matrix it's just too unsettling to translate to film

[@Bleilock1]

@@rhyslewis4399 dune movie will be awful, literally like rest of the movies today

[@rhyslewis4399]

@@Bleilock1 seems like you're going to hate the thing before you even see it. Even it is the greatest movie you ever watched you'll say its shiit guaranteed haha

[@AlexRejba]

Actually finished reading the entire series for the third time a few days ago, and the algorithm suggests your video... Great work!

[@CutenessExplosionDaily]

Compared to something like the Qu from all tomorrow's this Hyperion thing is a whimp

[@deathahoy8971]

Ye

[@leonardhollsten8145]

Nah, the Shrike would murder the Qu. Easily. Within like, a few moments. Seriously, fucking read shit if your gonna talk shit. I can disagree that the Qu might be scarier, but the Shrike castly exceeds them in power.

[@tongduy2017]

@@leonardhollsten8145 Are you seriously “But can he beat Goku!?”ing right now?lol

[@leonardhollsten8145]

@@tongduy2017 To be fair, the first guy did it first.

[@evantanuwidjaja8017]

can he beat goku tho

[@ThePurpleBookWyrm]

Yay, a Hyperion Cantos video! I just finished the first two books so this is perfect timing. 😊

[@theyellowjesters]

I've only read Hyperion so far. It was the first book in a while I could not put down, mostly because of the shrike. Everytime it was around I would get so much anxiety, and almost have a panic attack! But I want to know it's role in events, and what will happen when everyone finally meets it! I also had no idea about this bird!

[@seangrif11]

This reminds me of the artificial Hells from Surface Detail, one of Iain Banks's Culture novels.

[@Denny_Boi]

Fun fact about shrikes: They use the impaled food as warning signs for other shrikes coming into the territory of another shrike.

[@poetradio]

I read the book more than 20 years ago, but I think the shrike was like a manifestation of of some aspects of human's technological dependency. It's intensely destructive, hard to understand, untouchable, and has power over time (it moves very fast if I remember correctly). It's as if an amorphous, impersonal evil we all experience (dominance of technology) was given physical form. And it takes on a life of it's own, much like technological advances do, becoming a self-sustaining process beyond anyone's ability to stop

[@The_Reality_Filter]

Would love to see you cover Iain M Banks and his Culture series.

[@jhwheuer]

Second that. My gamer tag is YouCallThisClean, questions?

[@1789balzac]

Yes I would like that...

[@urulai]

Firmly disagree, in my own experience I found the Culture series overrated.

[@yoshikhurazi1769]

@@urulai I also found the quality of the series inconsistent but I thought both Consider Phlebas and The Player of Games to be excellent.

[@Naptosis]

@@yoshikhurazi1769 It took a whole year for me to find out what on Earth a 'Phlebas' was. I kept rereading sections to see if I missed something, and didn't want to look it up online in case of spoilers... F U Banks!!

[@M83v2]

The Vang are pretty terrifying. They were in 2 books I've read. The Vang: The Military Form and The Vang: The Battlemaster. They make the Xenomorphs seem cuddly. I've been meaning to check out the Hyperion books. But things I've read about them make it seem like they're similar to the X-Files in that nothing is ever truly revealed, esp The Shrike.

[@WrinkleRelease]

Finally, someone is talking about The Hyperion Cantos! I’ve been pitching this series to my friends for years.

[@willytingles]

I'm rereading the series. I forgot how much I liked it. I dream about a movie series that does the books some justice.

[@urulai]

Only if they throw out the last half of the series.

[@dalemsilas8425]

Same here, I had forgotten just how good it is.

[@bigdreams5554]

@@urulai I thought last two books were fine. Still so much better than the crap Hollywood pumps out. I would happy watch .

[@urulai]

@@bigdreams5554 :P I'd put the last two on the level of the stuff Hollywood pumps out these day.

[@bigdreams5554]

@@urulai hmmm. Well your saying the last two books like Captain Marvel and Rise of Skywalker then Ok whatever dude.

[@davewar9098]

I read this series 20 years ago. I couldn't put the books down and reread them several times. Fantastic that you chose this story line. Hyperion will remain in my top ten stories. I enjoyed your depiction very much!

[@jean-claudebeaver6614]

Like the knight king in the TV GOT. Was so disappointed when they ended it without saying what his motivation was

[@FishBoneD14]

I’m pretty fascinated by the shrike.

[@fu3ar503]

And terrified

[@simonandersen2079]

I agree, the shrike is a very fascinating being, but at same time I'd be scared out of my mind I ever ran into it.

[@RhinoStew]

LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS!

[@ezekielbrockmann114]

Oh My!

[@patrickrauh996]

I Love this book ,never thought someone would Cover it Here ❤️

[@Born2Losenot2win]

Basically Vladimir Tempish but the victims don’t die, and it’s more sci-fi. Honestly Vladimir’s story sounds more scary for his disregard for human life, people being impaled and not kept alive as he moved on to the next victims, this monster values human torment, Vladimir does not care at all. To have a painful death in a dark pit of nihilism sounds more scary than painfully living on (around) branches of a tree. Because for this story you’re being noticed on a tree, suffering, with others aside you, it is a representation of life itself. But for Vladimir’s story however, you suffer and die unnoticed like you were never even there before, representing death and how no one will remember us if we all die since there will be no one to do the remembering… forgotten on a blue pale dot… floating within the infinite space

[@claquos23]

Another creature that can't be reasoned which I found fascinating: MorningLightMountain from Pandora's Star. The books probably aren't as good, but it's one of the best foes I've seen in sci-fi.

[@chrishodgson3567]

I genuinely loved those books and MorningLightMountain is a scary concept

[@remyxedfern5008]

After watching this video a while back, I picked up Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion at a local bookstore and they’ve proved to be great books. Thanks!

[@TheSp0kesman]

Most horrifying in sci-fi? 40k genestealers: “Allow us to introduce ourselves!” It’s like taking the worst, most horrifying qualities of the Alien movies, zombie movies, and Ender’s Game bugger hive mind, then creating an unholy abomination from those qualities. Nerd rant incoming… They work to the tune of a hive mind that operates on the galactic scale and is constantly adapting. Each genestealer is at least as smart as a human, and can likely understand you too, not to mention having claws capable of rending steel like it’s aluminum foil.They don’t just enslave/brainwash people, they actually change your genes. Then they put their victims back in the population to live out a normal life and have children… except those children are part of the hive mind and start to mutate. From there they will likely try to overthrow or supplant an entire planet’s government. Whether they succeed or not, they probably already have called the nearest Tyranid hive fleet and rung the dinner bell. They know where you live now. Should conquest succeed at either step, all the former people and genestealers then willingly walk into bio-reclamation pools, taking any remaining former friends, family, or children to be digested with them. But wait, there’s more. The genestealers and their hybrid spawn will try their darndest to sneak on to absolutely any and every ship going to other planets, continuing to infect others all the while…

[@augustinadriancristea5873]

Sounds nice! Where do I sign? *Dark Faustian laugh*

[@mirceazaharia2094]

The Tyranids came before the Zerg, funnily enough. But they don't compare to the Flood from HALO in terms of sheer power. Although, to be honest, the Tyranids might very well outnumber the Flood, assuming that the hive fleets roaming the 40k Milky Way are just small scouting forces, the Tyranids have devoured galaxies, and that they might have a greater capacity to adapt and mutate.

[@CragScrambler]

Yawn tastic

[@HelghastTrooper]

@@mirceazaharia2094 No, the Zerg came from the Tyranids. Blizzard's StarCraft, much like WarCraft, was meant to be a game adaptation of one of their two (at the time) tabletop games, this one being 40k, before talks fell through as the games were entering development. Blizzard decided to keep what assets they had and purposefully stole much of the content and design of the games to make StarCraft and WarCraft what they are today, complete with Protoss being obvious Eldar expies, Terran Space Marines being shameless ripoffs of Terran-forged Imperial Space Marines (clad in powered armor popularly colored Ultramarines Blue, too), and orcs being _specifically_ depicted as tusked green-skinned hulks with a hard-on for crude-hewn plate and pig leather. It wasn't until a decade or so later that GeeDubs decided to get even with those schmucks and redesigned several Tyranid units into more Zerg-like entities. Edit: Misread the comment and went on a rant that incidentally supports it. Apologies, Mircea.

[@aldariuskelsall319]

@@HelghastTrooper I might be mistaken but did you read properly on what he wrote? “The Tyranids came before the Zerg”, saying that the Zergs didn’t came before the Tyranids and was inspired from it?

[@allief1662]

The hyperion cantos is still one of my favourite scifi series of all time. Really worth the read!

[@earllan2992]

I literally dropped my jaw when I saw that painting of mine popped up in this video.... lol Love your stuffs btw. Wish to see more. :D

[@EG-cs3wv]

Could this be ourselves in a future when we are able to control robotic cells, simulations, and space travel? Technology fuse us together in a being like that and we hunt other species driven by sadistic emotions, just like some humans today with others.

[@bellisarius6968]

you MUST read this series. what you describe is getting close to what i percive is the gist of it but in the opposite direction. the series ends with the total collapse of the Hegemony, the galaxywide human civilization and the vast majority of worlds fall back drastically, in other words a reboot of civilization. to me it literally explains all the holes in our history/knowledge and how our civilizations just seems to emerge out of nowhere.

[@adrianbundy3249]

Perhaps I've just read too many stories at this point, but with this title the actual creature I found seems rather underwhelming. Ok, giant near eternal torturer with unknown motivations and terrifying powers... Yet all powerful being that are some of the powers behind creation, and endgoals for the destruction, or ultimate enslavement (and indirect torture in some cases) of all of creation for lulevil (always thought bad guys of apocalyptic proportions always have the dumbest motives generally, but w/e), seem to exist readily enough. One or two in scifi, and a lot more in fantasy (but tDO of WoT I will defend here, it's not as silly if it's an eternally created opposite of good so to speak, then again, I'll remove fantasy, it's irrelevant here). The thing is, we have all kinds of terrible evil creatures in scifi. Even some cookie cutter comic book villains here might come to mind, in the scifi department, with a certain time traveling tyrant and what he did to some people he didn't like and all of history dystopia coming to mind... Or maybe it's the visuals of the shrike that aren't particularly scary compared to some others, idk. I'd imagine that is a factor for some here.

[@LonzDan]

Finally someone else who appreciates the Shrike like I do

[@Cretaal]

It's good, but I have vague memories of a planet spanning fungus that talks to you by absorbing your crew in to its mycelium and hijacking their sentience while it digested them. I would also leverage the Diniarri race from Ur-Quan Masters, considering the only way to fight back is to wear a device purpose built to cause intense pain for months on end to rob them of their influence.

[@Trollificusv2]

Are those "vague memories" of "MorningLightMountain", the sole surviving member of its' species because it had killed all the other members, as one does? Wasn't that from Peter Hamiltons' Commonwealth series...?

[@Josh-ii8ix]

I think some of the horror of the Shrike was lessened when Simmons seemed to retcon its purpose for the third and fourth novels.

[@dr.rhowsen]

Homestly, I still think AM from I have no mouth and I must scream is far more terrifying in its cruelty. Still, this is a fascinating creature

[@pewpewxdx12]

Sadistic machine god when:

[@cmdrfrosty3985]

The three continents on Hyperion mean horse, bear, and eagle in Latin. Just a little fun fact idk if it means anything to the story but i thought I would share

[@ROBOHOLIC1]

I need the source of your profile picture

[@cmdrfrosty3985]

@@ROBOHOLIC1 it's in the description on the first video on my channel

[@BonDieu617]

Would've been ideal if they were Lion, Tiger and Bear lol

[@datrickster8674]

This video: *says this is the most terrifying creature in sci-fi* Warhammer: “shhh. It’s ok to be wrong.”

[@leonardhollsten8145]

No indivdual in 40K comes close to the Shrike lol.

[@datrickster8674]

@@leonardhollsten8145 Cap

[@leonardhollsten8145]

@@datrickster8674 Cap? Is this a joke I am too stupid to understand?

[@datrickster8674]

@@leonardhollsten8145 maybe lol idk but it fr be cap lol

[@edmarespaniola4241]

I actually did some research on this and damn 40k got outclassed.

[@jonashansen6391]

I didn't want any spoilers for the books, so I listened to all 4 before watching this video. 100 hours well spent.

[@princetamrac1180]

The more intelligent a being gets, the more cruel it becomes. AI is going to let us suffer in the most unimaginable way trapped in a simulation for eternity

[@KLK01]

I feel like in our lifetimes ai will reach a point that gov'ts around the world will discuss on how to stop it from going beyond the singularity.

[@princetamrac1180]

Most likely. But then it may already be to late

[@JOhnDoe-nl4wj]

@@KLK01 you meant to say "beyond the singularity"?

[@thedawnchilloutking]

AM from i have no mouth and I must scream

[@ItsSupercat94]

Nah

[@threophylanthroposis3756]

The Shrike kinda gives off low tier scp vibes, like not as brutal and terrifying as some of the cooler ones, but also not like “doorknob that makes you think you’re a doorknob” tame

[@mattkennedy9308]

The Shrike craps on most SCP's. The Church Fleet massacre after he escorts Aenea out of the Time Tombs is almost pure SCP horror. It murders entire crews of multiple starships in seconds due to it's time-warping abilities because the people are on the "wrong" side..

[@LaurensPP]

When you said Jack Vance it gave me chills. For the quality of his work, it's crazy that he is as unknown as he is.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Oh, just wait for the studios to ruin this terrifying creature in their movie version.

[@Scanlonam]

To me it seems likely that the "shrike" could have inspired the "Terminator" to some degree. The idea of being from the future-possibly more than one future. Targetting people for not clear motive-until later. the imperviousness to pain, the neural interface. Variations on those themes existed in different Terminator movies....although there were other influences such as David Cameron's fever dream, cultural fears of hte time, etc.

[@davidwagstaff47]

James Cameron wouldn't have read this garbage