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Hyperion

Dan Simmons
Hugo 1990, Internet Top 100, Locus, Top 20

A richly woven tapestry of mystery, suspense, bizarre events and intertwined life histories.

Like opening a multi-wrapped package layer by layer, the story slowly fills in parts of the strange picture. But as we learn more, the mystery only deepens. It's an over-used cliche to say a book is hard to stop reading; but, this one definitely fits in that category. In fact, we rate it in the top 20 of all time best SF/fantasy books.

Beneath the mind-stretching events and fascinating characters, an intriguing literary symbolism gives the story more depth. A reborn John Keats wrestles with the bigger, behind-the-scenes forces while his poetry influences everything from the names on Hyperion to the "key mystery of our age ­ physical and poetic".

The people range the gamut from lovable to despicable but none are oversimplified ­ they have the believable feeling of many personality traits. Some we detest one minute and admire later. Many we can never quite figure out or understand. The Shrike, wrapped in a strange kind of mysterious familiarity, stands out as one of the most memorable beings of modern science fiction.

During a recent book signing (10/2/97), I asked Dan how and when the image of the Shrike first came to him. He told a story about writing a spontaneous poem in graduate school on some construction paper with a multi-color, multi- cartridge pen. At first, I couldn't see much resemblance between the fragility of a pen and the power and strength in the Shrike. Reflecting more though, I understand how the dangerous powers and unbridled potentials in this semi-mythic creature symbolize closely the evocative possibilities in a pen and the written word.

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