/lit/ - Literature

read this because i saw it posted on here a few times over the years. it sucks ass

-references 20/21st century constantly despite taking place in the future because none of the "futuristic" speculative fiction he's writing is anything more than well-trodden daytime tv scifi tropes and he basically has nothing to say
-poet satyr character is so cringe and insufferable i cant even get through reading his sentences
-author literally wants to fuck keats, includes a fanfic about fucking him

Just finished all four of this. The first one was great, albeit not a great standalone as it was always meant to be paired with the second book. But book 3 and 4 were really... average? Simmons writing, apart from being overly wordy at times, is still pretty good, but the structure and the character development of the main characters was just abysmal. Aenea, not even as a character, but as a plot device, is incredibly boring. I know that the theme of the entire series is literally a deus ex machina, but the way it was done just felt completely empty and meaningless. All those philosophy references felt preachy and really cringey, but I could have overlooked that, if the basic plot and character development was good, but it just... wasn't, sadly.

the structure of this novel really engaged me. multiple travelers, each telling their own story (and each tale itself changes settings and genres) which all contributes to the overarching story. i also found the sci-fi elements pretty easy to understand.

>peaks at the first story

when does it get "good"

What are some /lit/ approved scifi novels?

.

Well /lit/...?

What are the best /lit/ approved sci-fi books that either have strong literary value or interesting concepts

this book is so fucking overrated

the worldbuilding feels really uninspired and surface level outside of the world of Hyperion.

Everything seems to reference 20th century Earth even though this is 800 years in the future and an unimaginable amount of history has probably happened inbetween that and the whole world more or less just operates like the world nowadays.

The character stories also feel like Saturday morning cartoon episodes or comic book issues.

>>21206820
Hyperion, The Hyperion Cantos #1 - Dan Simmons (1989)

Hyperion is essentially six works of short fiction that tell the stories of characters who share a commonality and have been brought together for a pilgrimage. The frame story provides the reason for why they're telling their life stories. This isn't a self-contained novel, so if not having any resolution at all bothers you, you may not want to read it, but you may enjoy it anyway. The purpose of their stories is more about connecting with each other than affecting the outcome, which they believe to be their collective deaths. Some books are about the journey, rather than the destination. This takes that idea a step further by having the individual journeys already taken be what matter. The initial destination of those journeys have been arrived at by all. The frame story is a collective journey, and the destination isn't quite reached. I found it to be slow to start, but it didn't take long for me to be engaged. Slow starts are the most common cause for me initially missing out on great books.

Each character's story has its own voice and style, which may be based on the works of other authors. This inconsistency may bother some, but I really enjoyed it. I like the every character's story, but I have my preferences, which are as follows: Scholar, Priest, Poet, Consul, Detective, Soldier. The greatest strength of the book is its characterizations, especially its superb emotionality. Harsh and pessimistic assessments of humanity, religion, technology, and AI are presented through the characters.

Hyperion frequently and consistently references literary works and pop culture media. I was surprised by how many I recognized, though there were surely far more. There's an abundance of ideas, but their exploration isn't matters. A few ideas haven't aged well, but overall Simmons was surprisingly accurate in terms of extrapolating from the contemporary trends of the time. There's also considerable worldbuilding and depictions of life and society, but again, that's not the central concern. This is a story about connection of all kinds, not only the interpersonal. The in-universe author of Hyperion says it's about loneliness.

I didn't expect there to be so many descriptions of the female body, let alone the frequency of briefly described sex scenes. The ejaculation scene is horrific and hilarious. I didn't mind their inclusion, but oftentimes they seemed to be there because Simmons wanted them to be rather than having any narrative purpose. They certainly didn't have much build-up.

The self-referential statements and inclusion of pop culture prepared me for the comic farce of an ending. Hyperion is only as serious as it feels like being at the time. I'm somewhat trepidatious about continuing after considering the /sffg/ ratings and what seems to be the consensus narrative. Ignoring such warnings hasn't gone well for me before, but I'll do so anyway.

Rating: 5/5

Just a warning for anyone who is thinking of falling for this meme, it is not a novel, its just a series of short stories that they tried to link together with a vague plot to try and turn it into a novel.

I thought I would sit down and read it but the flow is all wrong. You get 50 pages in and the the first short story just ends and then it has to start a new story from scratch. It is too jolting doing this over and over. You just cant get into a flow and read it.

I guess this will be one of those I read one chapter a night sort of books...

Does this book work as a stand-alone? I've heard all the sequels are shit

Kept seeing this recced and described as one of the best sci-fis out there but was just full of boring tropes and things that seemed to be put in to sound cool. Half the characters were boring and shallow (the detective, the soldier, even the consul). The priest and the scholar story were good. I don’t care that you need to read the second one to resolve the story, can’t sit through another 500 pages of boring ideas and shit dialogue. Anyone else find Hyperion disappointing?

>>18448501
Pretty cool books

I just finished The Priest's Tale and I am floored. If the first story in the book is that amazing I'm not at all ready for the rest of it. I understand now why this keeps coming up in book threads all over 4chan.

I'm enjoying Hyperion so far

thoughts on Hyperion by Dan Simmons? also any similar book recommendation appreciated

>DUDE, I WANNA SUCK JOHN KEATS PENIS SO HARD, LMAOOOO

This the lil nigga from Hyperion?

What the F*CK is this guy's homoerotic obsession with John Keats?!?

The Matrix, but good

>>16577130
ok, first impression of Hyperion: I'm interested. The first couple chapters were all introductory stuff, with flowery descriptive language and a bunch of new terms I'm not familiar with. So I was going cross eyed at first. And I'll be honest, I don't understand what they mean by time lag. Only that it has something to do with the world passing faster around them than while they travel, so they end up "skipping" a few years into the "future". I suppose it has something to do with time being relative and all that E=MC2 bullshit, but I never actually learned how that works in school. And so I'm confused by it in the book.

ANYWAY, point is: I didn't have a strong grasp of what was going on. But then they introduced a tribe of little cross worshipping retards, which finally hooked me. It was so ridiculous, and funny, and horrific at the same time. I concluded that portion of the book, which is only the first few chapters in. So please don't spoil what happens afterward. I just wanted to say that if the remainder of the book is as interesting as the first story, then I'll probably enjoy it a lot.

Dare I say, the best sci-fi book???