Hyperion by Dan Simmons : Storytelling at its absolute finest

What an outstanding book Hyperion turned out to be. (The cover is extremely tacky though. Brings to mind the old adage, don't judge a book by its cover)

Seven pilgrims are chosen and tell their tales en route to Hyperion of how they encountered the Shrike. A god who can play with space and time.

The stories are magnificent, each is a novella in itself. There is a reverse aging story that puts Benjamin Button to shame. The first is a story about encountering an alien but not so alien species. There is story of lovers who age at different rates thanks to one of them having to travel in space. The best one however is told by a poet about his muse and writing, getting his books published, I suppose this is Dan Simmons way of taking a dig at the publishing industry. Absolutely fantastic and beautifully written.

Dan Simmons writes with a deft touch and it is obvious he is well read with many references to the poetry of John Keats but all this doesn't come in the way of the story itself but only serves to enhance the tale. Whats great about Hyperion is the number of ideas and styles that Dan Simmons manages to blend effortlessly(at least it seems that way, a fair amount of work must have gone into it I am sure).

This book turned me into a Dan Simmons fan and I can't give higher praise than that. A masterpiece.

You can buy Hyperion here.

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