Vladimir Oane's Key Ideas from Hyperion
by Dan Simmons
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·3.75K reads
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The Canterbury Tales … but in Space
Like the famous medieval book, Dan Simmons’s book deals with 7 characters (a Jesuit priest, a military genius, a scholar, a private detective, a poet, a starship master & a diplomat) who meet on a pilgrimage. To pass the time each of them tells their story as a way to answer the question ”Why are you here?”.
The book is thus a collection of distinct genre-beneding stories:
- psychological horror story
- part war story, part erotic novel
- supernatural thriller
- detective story
- family drama
- political thriller
You get to understand the universe and the themes to these individual stories.
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694 reads
The Universe of Hyperion
The story happens 1000 yrs after the accidental destruction of Earth.
- The human race expanded on 200 worlds, forming a federation called the Hegemony.
- The humans are aided by a sentient independent AI civilisation called the TechnoCore. They provide the technology powering the Hegemony’s instantaneous travel (farcaster) and communication (fatline). No-one knows how the tech works or what the AI intentions are.
- The Ousters are a human-like society spread over much of our arm of our galaxy, preferring to explore the outer edges space. Initially they act as the boogie-man for the Hegemony.
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509 reads
The Planet of Hyperion, Time Tombs and the Shriek
Hyperion is a planet on the outskirt of the Hegemony, home to mysterious Time Tombs, a structure that somehow makes the time to flow backwards. Speculation regarding the purpose of the tombs and the reason they were sent traveling backward in time is one of the mysteries.
The Shrike, a legendary indestructible shape-shifting being made of blades protects the Tombs. A new religion develops around the reverence of the Shrike. It is said that the Shriek will grant one wish to a person from a 7-people pilgrimage and kill the rest. Our heroes are on such a pilgrimage.
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421 reads
Pain as the ultimate human connection
The pilgrims manifest a connection through pain that forms the binding agent for the pilgrimage. The theme is explored in all stories, both physically but also culturally:
- The evolution of religions. Christianity and Judaism are niche religions while the Shriek church is on the rise with a doctrine of ultimate destruction.
- The “The Abraham Problem.” Why, exactly, did God want Abraham to offer his son as a blood sacrifice? What was His purpose?
- The pain of existence & the search of meaning.
- The nature of sacrifice and the promise of a Messiah
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377 reads
There is a fullness and calmness there which can come only from knowing pain.
Words are the only bullets in truth's bandolier.
And poets are the snipers.
DAN SIMMONS, HYPERION
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395 reads
In the beginning was the Word.
Then came the fucking word processor.
Then came the thought processor.
Then came the death of literature.
... And so it goes.
DAN SIMMONS, HYPERION
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355 reads
Words bend our thinking to infinite paths of self-delusion, and the fact that we spend most of our mental lives in brain mansions built of words means that we lack the objectivity necessary to see the terrible distortion of reality which language brings.
DAN SIMMONS, HYPERION
44
329 reads
After fifty-five years of dedicating his life and work to the story of ethical systems, Sol had come to a single, unshakable conclusion: any allegiance to a deity or concept or universal principal which put obedience above decent behavior toward an innocent human being was evil.
DAN SIMMONS, HYPERION
45
315 reads
IDEAS CURATED BY
Life-long learner. Passionate about leadership, entrepreneurship, philosophy, Buddhism & SF. Founder @deepstash.
CURATOR'S NOTE
One of the books who makes all the lists of best SF of all times. An original take on a philosophical space saga. Beautifully written.
“
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