Hyperion Cantos
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- Hyperion (book) redirects here. For Hyperion by Friedrich Hölderlin, see Hyperion (Hölderlin). For the poem The Fall of Hyperion by John Keats, see Hyperion (poem).
The Hyperion Cantos form a tetralogy of science fiction novels by Dan Simmons. The books are:
- Hyperion (1989)
- The Fall of Hyperion (1990)
- Endymion (1996)
- The Rise of Endymion (1997)
- Orphans of the Helix -short novel (1999)
The Cantos is one of the more well-known epic science fiction series to be written in the past two decades. Set in the far future, and focusing more on plot and story development than technical detail, it falls into the soft science fiction category, and could be described as space opera. The first half of the series is generally considered to be stronger, and Hyperion is widely viewed as the best of the four novels; it received the Hugo Award for best novel in 1990. The Fall of Hyperion was nominated for the Nebula Award for best novel in 1990.
The first two novels were originally submitted to the publisher as a single large manuscript, but due to its extreme length, it was decided to split the story in half. Thus, the story in Hyperion ends rather abruptly, with many mysteries left unresolved; The Fall of Hyperion answers some of those questions and provides an ending. (In a post on his Web forum [1], Dan Simmons has disputed this version of events, saying that Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion were not submitted as one manuscript, but that Hyperion was submitted first and Fall of Hyperion was written later.) The second two novels take place three hundred years later in the chronology of the story, and contain an almost entirely-new cast of characters, although the events of the earlier novels provide important background.
Much of the appeal of the series stems from its infusion with references and allusions to the poetry of John Keats, a famous English Romantic poet of the 19th century. The title of the first novel, "Hyperion", is taken from one of Keats's poems, the unfinished epic Hyperion. Similarly, the title of the third novel is from Keats poem Endymion. Quotes from actual Keats poems and the fictional Cantos are interspersed throughout the novels -- a device that was also used by Tolkien to flesh out prose. Simmons goes so far as to have an artificial replication of John Keats, called a "cybrid", play a major role in the series.
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The planet Hyperion
Hyperion is the name of a planet where much of the action in the series takes place. It is described as having one-fifth less gravity than Earth standard. Hyperion has a number of peculiar indigenous flora and fauna, notably 'Tesla Trees' which are essentially large electrified trees. It is also a "labyrinthine" planet, which means that it is home to ancient subterranean labyrinths of unknown purpose.
Most importantly, however, Hyperion is the location of the Time Tombs, large artifacts surrounded by "anti-entropic" fields that allow them to move backward through time. The region where the Tombs are located is also the home of the Shrike, a menacing being that features prominently in the series.
Hyperion is also tectonically dead, and thus there is no continental drift and no significant electromagnetic field (which implies that a compass does not work). Hyperion is in this respect more similar to Mars than to Earth.
Hyperion
Hyperion has the structure of a frame story, similar to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The story weaves the interlocking tales of a diverse group of travelers sent on a pilgrimage to the Time Tombs on Hyperion. The travelers have been sent by the Shrike Church and the Hegemony (the government of the human star systems) to make a request of the Shrike. As they progress in their journey, each of the pilgrims tells their tale.
Major characters
- The Shrike is the monster and anti-hero of the novel. It is known for impaling people on a massive tree made of metal, whose branches are massive thorns. It is named after the "Shrike" bird which impales insects and small animals on the thorns of a tree.
- It is the object of a cult, the Church of the Final Atonement, and guards the Tombs of Time. The church sends prime-number pilgrims to the Time Tombs; all but one are killed and the remaining pilgrim gets his request granted. The Shrike is capable of manipulating time. This, along with its martial art skills backed up with four arms and a spiked armoured body, makes it an essentially unbeatable opponent, capable of slaughtering entire corps.
- The Shrike has been built by the machine god in a distant future, for the purpose of creating as much suffering as possible, in order to lure in and force a confrontation with the human god from the future (this is not revealed until The Fall of Hyperion). For this purpose, the Shrike impales its victims on the Tree of Pain, a torture device which keeps its victims alive artificially.
- In the sequel Endymion duology, the Shrike appears as a somewhat benevolent character.
- The Shrike is likely based on the mythical Greek figure Procrustes, an adversary of Theseus.
- The Consul is the former planetary governor of Hyperion.
- Lenar Hoyt is a Roman Catholic priest, in a universe where Catholicism has shrunk to a shadow of its former self, claiming only a few thousand followers.
- Fedmahn Kassad is a colonel in the Hegemony of Man's FORCE military, of Palestinian descent. Kassad was determined to meet and destroy both the Shrike, and its keeper, Moneta, on Hyperion. He eventually challenges the Shrike to personal combat, nearly succeeds, and in his death inspires Moneta's people (humanity, millennia in the future). The outcome of this inspiration is not described by the author. It is later revealed that Kassad himself was part of the animating spirit of the Shrike, a fact made possible by the passage of the Time Tombs backwards in time.
- Kassad is the likely cognate to Theseus, as it is his destiny to battle the Shrike.
- Brawne Lamia is a private detective. Her name likely derives from a combination of Fanny Brawne, the unrequited love of John Keats, and the eponymous creature of his Lamia and Other Poems.
- Het Masteen is the most mysterious of all seven pilgrims. He is a Templar -- a nature priest of sorts -- who captains the Treeship Yggdrasill that brings the pilgrims to Hyperion.
- Treeships are living trees that are propelled by ergs (an alien being that emits force fields) through space. The ergs also generate the containment fields (force fields) around the tree that keep its atmosphere intact. There are only a small number of Treeships in existence.
- Martin Silenus is a foul-mouthed poet. Born on Earth before its destruction, he is incredibly old. Like Keats, he is working on an unfinished epic poem.
- Sol Weintraub is a Jewish scholar. His daughter was afflicted with an illness dubbed the "Merlin Sickness" that caused her to age backwards; she gets younger as time progresses.
The Fall of Hyperion
This book concludes the story begun in Hyperion. It abandons the frame structure of the first novel, instead using a more conventional chronological narrative (although several jumps in time take place).
Major characters
- All characters from Hyperion are also in this book.
- The Keats Cybrid is a cybrid recreation of the poet John Keats. His body is biologically identical to the original poet, and has implanted memories retrieved from Keats' poetry and biography. His mind is connected with some Artificial Intelligence. He has some mysterious connection to the Seven Pilgrims.
- Ummon is an artificial intelligence of some stature (according to the Keats cybrid: "Ummon is a great teacher, researcher, philosopher, and leader in the Core.") who has taken on the persona of a Buddhist monk. He acts as a mentor, in a fashion, to Keats, instructing him through the use of koans. Historically, Ummon Bun'en was a Zen master during the golden age of Zen in T'ang Dynasty China (862/4-949 AD) and indeed, some of the koans that Ummon uses to instruct Lamia and Keats are drawn from the historical Ummon, such as this one [2]:
- A less enlightened personage once asked Ummon
- What is the God-nature/Buddha/Central Truth
- Ummon answered him
- A dried shit-stick
Endymion
The story commences 272 years after the events in the previous novel. Few main characters from the first two books are present in the later two, and those that do appear are secondary characters (these include Martin Silenus, Colonel Kassad, and Het Masteen). The book Endymion features a main character of Raul Endymion, who is an ex-soldier who became a guide for hunters. When a grossly unfair trial yields his (first) death sentence, he is rescued by Martin Silenus and asked to perform a series of rather extraordinarily difficult tasks. The main task is to rescue and protect Aenea (whose name may derive from Aeneas), a messiah coming from the distant past via time travel and the daughter of Brawne Lamia (a character from the two previous works). Raul Endymion saves her and escapes, but is pursued by the warped and changed Church's troops. The Catholic church has, in the storyline of the novel, been taken over by various power-hungry people using Lenar Hoyt (a character from the first two books) as a figurehead. The Church has become a dominant force in the human universe in this novel, and wants to protect itself from Aenea. They view Aenea (correctly) as a potential threat to their power. The group of M. Aenea, M. Endymion, and A. Bettik (an android) evades the Church's forces on several worlds, ending the story on Earth.
Major characters
- Aenea is Brawne Lamia's daughter, sent forward in time. She is a messianic figure.
- Raul Endymion is an ex-soldier who accompanies Aenea.
- A. Bettik is an android who accompanies Raul and Aenea.
- Federico DeSoya is a captain of the church navy who is commanded to capture Aenea.
Several of the characters from the first two books appear in this one despite the fact that it occurs 272 years later. However, with the exception of the Shrike and Lenar Hoyt, they are minor characters.
- Hoyt is the perpetual pope of the reinvigorated Roman Catholic church. After returning with the Hyperion cruciform parasite, he regenerates every time he dies.
- The Shrike appears to be a more benevolent figure in this book and the next.
The Rise of Endymion
The final novel in the series, it finishes the story begun in Endymion. It begins in the new Vatican City, with the announcement of the death of the pope, Lenar Hoyt. It is revealed that Hoyt, who is of course ressurected using the cruciform every "born again" Christian wears also still carries Father Paul Durè's cruciform, and everytime Hoyt dies, Durè is killed in a sort of exorcismic ritual. Hoyt is then reborn, and given a new Pope name, in this case, Benedict. Benedicat announces a new Crusade upon his conception as Pope, and with the development of the new 'Archangel' class starships, sends his fleets out to make war on the Ousters, still hiding along the edges of space. (incomplete)
Major characters
- The major characters are the same as those in Endymion.
Planets of the Hyperion Cantos
The following planets appear or are mentioned in the Hyperion Cantos:
- Armaghast — A prison planet where ruins of an ancient alien civilization have been found. One of nine labyrinthine planets.
- God's Grove — A forest planet, home of the Templars, whose worship of nature seeks to mold life to preserve and spread it throughout the galaxy.
- Heaven's Gate — A toxic planet that is difficult to keep terraformed, but rich in mineral resources; it serves as a temporary (and highly unpleasant, but nevertheless important) home for Silenus Martin after he is forced to leave Old Earth.
- Hebron — A primarily Jewish planet.
- Hyperion — One of nine labyrinthine planets, home of the Time Tombs.
- Lusus – A high-gravity industrial world where people live in hives. Detective Brawne Lamia is a native of this world.
- Mare Infinitus — A planet covered by water.
- Mars — One of many planets terraformed by the Hegemony of Man. Home to Palestinians after they were forced to flee Earth.
- Maui-Covenant — A water planet originally populated with the mix of conservationists and pacific islanders. Rich biosphere includes living mobile islands, among other things.
- New Earth — Apparently a decent substitute for Old Earth, but it does not get much of a spotlight in the series.
- Old Earth — The original Earth, believed to have been destroyed by The Big Mistake (in which a miniature black hole was dropped into it), but later shown to have been spirited away.
- Orbital Forests — Not actually planets, but orbiting forests (having atmospheres kept in by containment fields) created by the Ousters, who live in them (along with other types of space colonies); eventually these grow into Dyson Spheres.
- Pacem — A planet serving as the base of the Catholic Church; home of Lenar Hoyt. The Vatican and parts of the city of Rome have been relocated there after The Big Mistake which was thought to be destroying (and eventually to have finished destroying) Old Earth.
- Parvati — A planet populated by reformed Hindus.
- Qom-Riyadh — A primarily Muslim planet.
- Sol Draconi Septem — A somewhat terraformed planet almost completely covered by glaciers; it is difficult to keep even a small part of this planet terraformed, and it has even higher gravity than Lusus.
- Tau Ceti Center (TC2) — Administrative capital of the Hegemony of Man.
- T'ien Shan — A planet covered by mountains, with low-lying poisonous gases confining humans to tall mountains; populated by reformed Buddhists, Jews, and Muslims, although the action of the story takes place in Buddhist-controlled territory.
- Vitus-Gray-Balianus B — A planet inhabited by people of the Amoiete Spectrum Helix, a religion that allows non-traditional marriages, including those having more than two people.
External links
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