Just Finished Reading Hyperion by Dan Simmons

My son Will is an avid reader and introduced me to the four-book Hyperion Cantos science fiction series, published from 1989 to 1997 and written by Dan Simmons, whose book Drood I recently read and wrote about.  The first volume is simply titled Hyperion.  Hyperion, also the title of a John Keats poem, is a remote planet and the setting is about a thousand years in the future when many star systems have been settled by humanity after the "Big Mistake" that destroyed Earth in the early twenty-first century (believe me, I'm not giving away the story).  In the midst of an epic conflict between the two dominant human groups, the Hegemony and the Ousters, the leader of the former has sent a delegation of seven "pilgrims" with highly diverse backgrounds to an extraordinary place on Hyperion called The Tombs, where the direction of entropy seems to fluctuate and time reverses itself.  There is a sinister being here called The Shrike that plays significantly into the story as well.   Each of the pilgrims...and it is known early on that one of them (but who?) is an agent supporting the Ousters...has an important reason for being part of the group.  The body of the book concerns itself with each of these relating their own personal tales that led them to this point...

The characterizations and descriptions of the exotic planets in Hyperion are compelling, and Simmons has also introduced some important issues that weigh heavily on us on our still-existing Earth in these times of ours.  It is always a temptation to say too much in these reviews, and I'm afraid I might have already stepped over the line: just read the book...it is wonderful, thought provoking science fiction...

There are two types of book series that I have involved myself with: series that have been finished, and series that are ongoing.  With the former, I already have a feeling of closure even though I may just be starting it.  With the latter, it can be problematic once I've caught up with the author's writing...when will the next book come out...if ever?  For example this A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones) series has at least two more books in it and author George R.R. Martin seems to be in no hurry to even work on the next volume, much less complete it.  But even when installments of an ongoing series are published in a reasonable time span, I find myself having to undergo a significant review of what I've already read before proceeding to the new book when it comes out.  With series already completed, I can just go immediately from one book to the next, all the way to the end.  Since the last book in Hyperion Cantos came out in 1997, I feel I have good reason to be confident that this will be one of the preferred "already finished" series...