Is this the best Hugo Award Winning Science Fiction Novel? Dan Simmons Hyperion review and ranking!

Welcome back Science Fiction fans. Tonight I review one of my all time favourite books in Dan Simmons Hyperion. This 1990 Hugo award winning novel gets the full Sci-Fi Shed breakdown where I provide a plot overview, talk to what I liked, what I didn't like, put the book to a memory test, provide some recommendations and rank it on our new and improved Sci-Fi Shed Ladder.
If that sounds interesting to you, I'd be stoked if you would consider hitting that like button, subscribing and hitting the notification bell.
Like always, thank you for watching and I'll see you next time, in the Shed!

[@chrisw6164]

I stumbled onto this book in the early 90s only because 1. I liked Dan Simmons’s horror novel Carrion Comfort, and 2. I read several Clarke SF novels as a young teenager, and decided to try another writer and go back to SF. I had no idea I’d still be in love with Hyperion 33 years later, and that I would find so many fans of it regularly talking about it on KZbin. So great.

[@thesci-fished]

It's definitely one of my favourite books of all time, and as I mentioned in my review, it always has the same impact every time i read it.

[@8020Alive]

People are mixed on the sequel but I thought the sequel was exactly what I was wanting personally. All hell breaks loose - without spoilers, there are huge decisions being made by Meina Gladstone - universe altering decisions. I view the fall of Hyperion as part of the first book. Since the first book obviously ends on that cliff hanger.

[@thesci-fished]

Yes i should have mentioned that in my review, I do see Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion as one novel. Same with Endymion and the Rise of Endymion. Thanks for that great comment.

[@NevsBookChannel]

Gonna be looking out for this one today at the book fair…

[@thesci-fished]

Good luck! See you soon.

[@ryang.5094]

Yes.

[@ryang.5094]

My literal favorite book of all time. And I would consider myself in a non-arrogant way if that’s possible is somewhat well read and well-versed in many genres and styles and periods of literature and this ranks up of the top 10 of all time.

[@thesci-fished]

You won't get an argument from me 😄😄👍👍 it's definitely right up there as one of my all time favourite novels.

[@unstopitable]

Lots of powerful imagery in Hyperion. The structure (linked novellas), I think, was created around Prayers to Broken Stones, though Simmons likes to say it was Chaucer-inspired--okay, whatever. I loved the novel. I think I'll re-read it. Great video.

[@thesci-fished]

Thank you, I'm glad the video inspired another reading of this classic novel.

[@robbiefisher9257]

Hyperion blew me away when I read it a couple of years ago. Although, right now I can mostly just remember the first and last stories, which are probably the best in the book. I was less impressed with the sequel, but still enjoyed it. Lots of time spent tying up a bunch of loose plot ends, although I did like finding out more about the technocore and the Ousters, and I felt like it ended well. I wasn't a huge fan of the president being a main character, that felt a bit lazy to me, but definitely not a bad sequel.

[@thesci-fished]

Thanks for the comment, it still blows me away after all these years

[@MaxwellPublishing]

Hey SFS! Dig the videos. Do you have an email for SF book-related business inquiries?

[@thesci-fished]

Hello, thanks for that. At the moment, I can be contacted via my instagram account of the same name.

[@Bl6.4l]

Complex, confusing, agonisingly slow and forgettable novel. Read about 80% then just gave up. Sorry to disagree. The novel has been overhyped and there are far better out there. I tend to steer clear of ‘award’ books now. They tend to be niche. Like everything else in life, SF is a matter of personal preference and taste. Glad you enjoyed it though. But I’ll give it another try just in case I’m missing something here. Will update in a month or so.

[@thesci-fished]

@Bl6.4l Thank you for the honest and thoughtful comment. There really is no need to apologise for disagreeing. It is very much a personal opinion that I share on this channel and I know some would agree and others disagree. I value your opinion and feedback. Some of my favourite novels have won awards but many haven't. What would you rate as one of your favourite novels? I'm looking forward to your update.

[@Bl6.4l]

@@thesci-fished I noted that you have Dune and Way Station ‘up there’ on your board, and I would entirely agree with these choices. Of course, in their own way these are a very different style of SF to Hyperion, certainly to the array of characters in the novel. But stand-out SF for me in recent years have been: Alastair Reynolds’ House of Suns and Pushing Ice; Peter F Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga; Baxter’s The Time Ships. Have now almost completed Jack Vance’s SF output, and re-reading a few of the series (although now a bit dated and formulaic). I also dip in to some of the more ‘pulp SF’ militaristic series from time to time, and really enjoyed the first few Pierce Brown Red Rising series but lost interest in the later books because of the switch to POV style. That’s a flavour of just some of the reading over the past 5 years or so.

[@thesci-fished]

@Bl6.4l I love Peter F Hamilton, especially his Night's Dawn. I'm also a big fan of Alastair Reynold. All the others you mentioned I've also enjoyed reading. One author that I've read for the first time this year that writes a very good space opera is Adrian Tchaikovsky's. There's so much great science out there, I wish I could read it all. Thanks again for the comment, I love engaging with you guys.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

No! LOL

[@thesci-fished]

😁 which do you think will top the chart when it's all said and done?

[@psikeyhackr6914]

@@thesci-fished Ender's Game The Uplift War The Dispossessed I would rate *The Mote in God's Eye* higher than EG but it only got nominated.

[@thesci-fished]

@@psikeyhackr6914 Ender's is definitely going to be a contender . The others are all great novels, and worthy contenders as well, but when I applied my criteria on them, they just didn't rank as highly.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

@@thesci-fished That is the issue, ain't it, *"My Criteria"* ? The *Mote in God's Eye* has the best aliens with a description of their culture. Hyperion does not come close to my Hard SF standards. Science is what makes the stuff science fiction.

[@thesci-fished]

@@psikeyhackr6914 that's the wonderful thing, the reading experience is really personal and very subjective. That's why I love to talk to fellow SF fans, so nice to hear of your personal tastes. By the way, I absolutely loved The Mote in God"s Eyes, the CoDominium universe was awesome.