Hyperion

After so many friends and acquaintances have recommended it, we have finally read Hyperion. Due to its narrative structure of combining multiple stories and characters within the larger narrative of a pilgrimage to the mysterious world of Hyperion, Simmons is able to get away with combining various science fiction subgenres, tropes, and literary allusions that encompass horror, noir, cyberpunk, and a plethora of writers, ranging from Keats and Chaucer to Edgar Allen Poe and William Gibson. Sure, it's cool. It's occasionally interesting and crafts a fascinating post-Hegira future of humanity in the 29th century, under the Hegemony of Man. Neologisms are dropped throughout the text and context helps the reader keep up and figure out this fast-paced, complex world and its characters. Unfortunately, due to its very hodgepodge nature combining various tropes and genres, it lacks cohesion and the somewhat silly conclusion left a sour taste. Nonetheless, the reader is occasionally swept up in the world built by Simmons, and the sad future of humanity represented by the Hegemony, its troubled relationship with independent AI, and the Ousters. That may be enough to convince us to read the rest of the series. We shall see...