David Colborne reviewed The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons (Hyperion Cantos, #2)
Hyperion II: The Wrath of Shrike?
4 stars
Picking up from the end of the cliffhanger of "Hyperion," "The Fall of Hyperion" tells of what happens after the pilgrims finally reach the Shrike.
Unlike the previous book, which adopted the structure of the "Canterbury Tales" to tell the backstories of each pilgrim, "The Fall of Hyperion" has a somewhat more straightforward but still creative narrative style — one which shifts between multiple first person views while consciously granting one narrator a bit more omniscience than the rest. The result is a generally enjoyable and linear read.
That said, at least for me, I found that some of the plot developments require a fair amount of faith. It wasn't always clear how each character's actions affected the future that sent the Time Tombs into the past — to say nothing of the larger supernatural forces at play. Even so, the story itself was much more enjoyable than not and …
Picking up from the end of the cliffhanger of "Hyperion," "The Fall of Hyperion" tells of what happens after the pilgrims finally reach the Shrike.
Unlike the previous book, which adopted the structure of the "Canterbury Tales" to tell the backstories of each pilgrim, "The Fall of Hyperion" has a somewhat more straightforward but still creative narrative style — one which shifts between multiple first person views while consciously granting one narrator a bit more omniscience than the rest. The result is a generally enjoyable and linear read.
That said, at least for me, I found that some of the plot developments require a fair amount of faith. It wasn't always clear how each character's actions affected the future that sent the Time Tombs into the past — to say nothing of the larger supernatural forces at play. Even so, the story itself was much more enjoyable than not and I had no difficulties reading to the end, even if I felt the need to suspend disbelief on several occasions.
