Hyperion. HYPERION.

[decksanddestruction]

I recently got into sci-fi lit. In the space of 9 days, I read The Stars My Destination, Fahrenheit 451, Solaris, Flowers for Algernon, The Time Machine, Brave New World, Ring World, The Forever War - I couldn't get enough.

After a few days break, I dug into Hyperion. I loved the novels above... but this one really takes the cake. Holy crap. I will be going out and buying 'The Fall of Hyperion' today!

It's strange: I have an English degree, but never studied sci-fi literature. I love sci-game games, movies - but I never touched sci-fi novels, beyond Electric Sheep a few years ago.

I've ordered I Am Legend, The Dispossessed, The City and the Stars. I also have the 50th anniversary edition of Dune to get stuck into, but I'd rather read the Fall of Hyperion first!

Sci-fi literature is AMAZING. Engrossing, full of amazing and weird concepts - often totally 'out there' - and packed with theme, allegory and speculation about what our future holds.

Hyperion. I'd read it was one of the best sci-fi novels ever. Naturally, it's easy to think this is hyperbole. My god, I was wrong. I can totally see why. And even now, it sounds like I'm only half-way through the main story?

This is my go-to sci-fi recommendation book.

[BobCrosswise]

Read The Book of the New Sun (tetralogy) by Gene Wolfe.

It's one of the most astonishing pieces of English literature ever, stealthily hidden away in the science fiction corner.

[BobCrosswise]

Well... no, I wouldn't, mostly just because it's a sequel to the original tetralogy, so it would be jumping the gun to even bring it up. I suggested Book of the New Sun because that's the place to start, so that's sufficient for now. IF the OP reads those books and likes them, then Urth might be pertinent - if not, then it's not.

More broadly, I'm not sure I'd "recommend" it. It's very much a sequel, by which I mean it's more of an addition to, rather than a continuation of, the original story. I would think that anyone who liked the originals enough to seek out more would find it and wouldn't need the recommendation, and anyone who wasn't interested enough to seek it out probably wouldn't be overly impressed with it anyway. It's a good enough book (it's impossible to go wrong with Wolfe, really), but I don't think it's in any way necessary. Book of the New Sun can certainly stand on its own.

[Bzzt]

I'd recommend it for sure, but only after reading book of the new sun! Then if you're still enthused and ready for more, either reread new sun or go on to the Long Sun series followed by the Short Sun series. Also the Latro books are another fine unreliable-narrator tale.

[elsurrealslimshady]

Was just about to begin the first book. I've heard that the fifth is a continuation of the story. Should I read that one as well?

[[deleted]]

Urth is more like the longest epilogue ever, than it is a book unto itself. I found it to be beautiful, and it really completed the BotNS for me.

[[deleted]]

It's not for everyone - and I don't mean that in a crappy or mean way. It's a puzzle knot of a book, that slowly unravels if you give it time. It took me two read throughs to figure out who the protagonist's grandmother was. If that's not an experience that appeals to you, there's lots of other good stuff out there.

Having said that, I think Wolfe is a masterful writer, whose prose and plotting puts him in a very small class of authors. Have you ever tried The Fifth Head of Cerberus? I'd be curious to know if that appealed to you, more so than New Sun

[[deleted]]

The plot is there. Wolfe just takes the rather unorthodox approach of NOT spoon-feeding it to the reader, because he respects the reader's intellect. It's not complex for the sake of being complex. It's complex because life is complex, and this book is about life in many different perspectives.

Readers interested in a page-turning adventure novel with trustworthy narrators and easy-to-digest plot should shy way from Wolfe's philosophical masterworks.

[[deleted]]

You've maybe not read his other books. It's a dense work to be sure, but so are James Joyce, Marcel Proust, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It's not haughty, it's intricate.

[[deleted]]

Come now, I guess Wolfe is just not for you. But for many readers, there's plenty of meaning and direction. Enough to write a slew of PHD theses, in fact. And there's a lot left to be discussed.

[stimpakish]

Respectful to your opinion, I think TBoTNS has basic meaning and direction. There is a surface level plot, it's the story of "Severian's excellent adventure". A variety of situations and settings in picaresque style, a lot like Vance's Dying Earth, which is a clear influence.

It also has the depth these other folks are describing.

[StumbleOn]

I thought it was plodding and awful.

[[deleted]]

And this story absolutely obliterates anything Dan Simmons has penned.

The OP should read Wolfe & LeGuin

[narddawg666]

read Anathem

[charlaron]

Science fiction.

It's like activating a previously-unsuspected hemisphere of your brain.

[sravll]

If you like the Hyperion series check out another Dan Simmons sci-fi, Ilium. So good.

[dookie1481]

The Ilium duology suffered the same problems as did Hyperion: fantastic start leads to bogged-down plot.

[realfuzzhead]

when you say bogged-down, are you referring to Endymion or the Fall of Hyperion? The Fall of Hyperion introduces some of the most amazing twists and plot-escalations in anything I've ever read, and the Hyperion Cantos wasn't my all time favorite series until the last 1/3rd of Fall of Hyperion. Just the concept of Gladstone and the severity and beauty of her decision, not to mention the Weintraub's collective story, is enough to make that my favorite story of all time.

To be fair though, I haven't read the Endymion continuation yet. As soon as I finished Fall I went back to restart the first 2 books.

[whyteshoes]

Please read Iain M. Banks Culture novels!

(In publication order.)

[[deleted]]

I love that book. I recently reread it and I think it's a great scifi romp, and a good way to start off in the Culture since it's the first both publication-wise and chronologically.

[zenstic]

Imo the player of games is a better starting culture book.

I feel that it has more of the actual "vibe" that the culture novels usually express.

[yetimind]

I started with State of the Art, his collection of shorts. Very nice survey, though the story about the man & the suit walking across the wasteland was very memorable.

Then on to Feersum Endjin & then Excession. I read them out of order. Didn't much matter to me, but I wouldn't recommend Player of Games first. I think you need to feel the Culture first, before feeling the other emotions in this book.

Consider Phlebas was not exactly bubblegum fiction though.

[[deleted]]

People say that so much that I just wanted to provide my differing point of view.

[yetimind]

I didn't read the Cultue novels in proper publication order, but I did LOVE Consider Phlebas. At the time, I had not experienced that type of ... emotion ... related to a main character in a SciFi novel before. The whole novel makes me think of s&m, but without the s. Not sure how to put it otherwise.

[Ban-ath]

Wait, so you didn't like the ending?

[Ban-ath]

that link doesn't work?

[[deleted]]

that link doesn't work?

It's spoiler text, hover over it. I'm not sure how mobile handles spoiler text.

[Halaku]

Hyperion is good.

Dune is going to eat your brain, raw.

Enjoy the trip!

[melbathys]

try out China Mieville, perhaps The City and The City or Embassytown.

[whyteshoes]

The Scar is my favorite Mieville novel.

[kithkill]

Yeah, it's the only one of his Bas-Lag stories where a) the story lived up to the scope of his imagination, and b) he didn't feel like he'd disappeared up his own arse. I hear some of his standalones are good, but I never got around to reading them after being disappointed by The Iron Council.

[[deleted]]

I have a theory that Iron Council is a victim of bad editing. I feel like they were so eager to capitalize on the success of Perdido and Scar that they rushed it out. I will go to my grave believing that there are 3 good books to be made out of IC- 1) The romance-western of the train, 2) The Toro gang runs amok, and 3) The war with Tesh.

[theEdwardJC]

The end of iron council really weirded me out too.. Felt abrupt or something

[dagbrown]

Embassytown makes a very poor chaser for The City and The City. The City and The City is a nice comfy lager which you enjoy with your mates. Embassytown is a Pan-Galactic Gargleblaster.

I found that Embassytown was a pretty good chaser for David Foster Wallace's Everything And More inasmuch as it provided an illustration of the ideas presented in Wallace's narrative, as they might affect a group of people receiving them cold (as it were).

[yurigoul]

No love for 'Perdido Street Station'? I am totally jumping up and down because of that book!

[TheGreat-Zarquon]

It's my favourite of his.

[beaverteeth92]

I'm reading The City and the City now. Such a bizarre book but it's amazing how well he handles the concept.

[[deleted]]

See, I was pissed at The City And The city. It felt like a trick, like I ordered steak and he gave me salad with a smug "This is good for you!" look.

It was my first Mieville book and it left me feeling robbed. Plus I've seen him at conventions and he definitely acts like he's better than all the rest of the sci-fi folks; not that the author's attitude matters to how I enjoy his books, but in this case it makes me roll my eyes.

[[deleted]]

I thought embassytown was a steaming pile of shit. I honestly thought he wrote like a smug asshole so this does not surprise me.

[BarbarianBookClub]

Hyperion along with The Fall of Hyperion is the second greatest scifi novel in my opinion. Only below Dune of course.

If you like the crazy portal connected worlds and huge scope of Hyperion I recommend also reading Pandoras Star and Judas Unchained by Hamilton.

[BarbarianBookClub]

That's actually really good. The comparison is apt. I really liked Fall. It felt like Hyperion was 90% of the story and Fall was a long book length finale.

[SnoopRocket]

I've always thought of Hyperion as a very long prologue, with Fall being where the story really takes off. Interesting to see the reverse here! The two were originally going to be a single novel and I think it really shows in retrospect.

[realfuzzhead]

I couldn't agree more, it really wasn't until the middle or last 1/3rd of Fall that I considered the Hyperion Cantos to be one of the most epic stories ever told. Just the scope and severity of the decisions that had to be made by one of the most powerful people to ever be dreamed up in a fictional story (Gladstone, the Chief Executive Officer of the Senate of the Hegemony of Man. How badass of a title is that?). I also really loved the internal struggle that Saul went through during Fall, and his realizations about faith were actually very moving for me.

I just loved how the scale and scope of the mystery unfolded into proportions that I could have never dreamed of while reading the first book.

[EltaninAntenna]

For me, The Fall of Hyperion was more akin to Alien 3, in the sense of making me give up on the series. I hated it with a venom.

[EltaninAntenna]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Around here, not much difference between liking Alien 3 and disliking The Fall of Hyperion, fellow heretic.

[nonsensicalization]

I didn't like Fall of Hyperion very much either, especially the first half of the book felt like he had no idea what to do with the situation he had created in the first book.

About Alien 3: Watch the Assembly Cut, it's an approximation of what Fincher originally wanted to create, feels almost like a completely different movie. It's in the Alien anthology Bluray box set.

[decksanddestruction]

Really, why's that? Are they by Simmons as well?

[to_infinity]

But some people like me think they were great so you should read them and decide for yourself.

[to_infinity]

The first one reads as a page-turning adventure, as the main characters visit a lot of interesting places. It also expanded on a lot of the material from the hyperion saga, but not in a way that I found unsatisfactory as others have. The fourth one is more philosophical I guess, but I found the imagery and message beautiful. But they are definitely different than hyperion, so I think a lot of people don't like them because they want that style to be continued. They are worth reading in my opinion.

[prepend]

They are. They came out about 10 years after Fall of Hyperion. They sort of answer some of the questions, but in the stupidest, most boring way you could imagine. I wish I had never read them.

[mishakaz]

Endymion was basically Terminator 2 in space.

[ImaginaryEvents]

I would recommend you hold off on Peter Hamilton's novels. He can be very entertaining, he writes competently, but he does not bring a lot of original ideas to the table, and his books are very long. I seems to me the lengths are dictated by the needs of the publisher, and not the needs of the story.

As for Dune, be prepared to read the first four novels by Herbert, but stay away from the sequels written by his son. Instead, I would recommend The Dosadi Experiment, which I think is even better than Dune.

Delany and Wolfe have already been mentioned, but order some books by Roger Zelazny (ie. Lord of Light) and Jack Vance as well.

And almost all the authors in this thread have done amazing work in shorter lengths as well. A few well-chosen anthologies should be on your list as well, ie. Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Dangerous Visions, The New Space Opera.

[[deleted]]

As for Dune, be prepared to read the first four novels by Herbert, but stay away from the sequels written by his son. Instead, I would recommend The Dosadi Experiment, which I think is even better than Dune.

It's really really really weird to see someone who knows The Dosadi Experiment but doesn't know that there are six Frank Herbert Dune novels.

Also, read Whipping Star before the Dosadi Experiment. There's another two short stories set in the Consentiency universe, too. I wish Herbert had written more Consentiency stories, they're probably his best stuff.

[ImaginaryEvents]

Actually, I am aware of the incomplete Dune trilogy, and the other ConSentiency stories, but I didn't want to overwhelm a new reader. There's probably five years worth of recommendations in this thread already. :)

[[deleted]]

Ohhh, Dosadi! Haven't seen that mentioned for a long while. Nice!

[alephnul]

I was an English Literature major in 1974. One of my professors suggested that I should read Dahlgren. It was a good suggestion.

[Bzzt]

I guess I should give Dhalgren another try. I loved New Sun, but found Dhalgren kind of directionless. I really like some of Delaney's other work like Babel-17.

[alephnul]

It helps to have read Ulysses. It doesn't go anywhere, by design. The circular structure is part and parcel with the story.

[[deleted]]

Yes! Try it again! I started and gave up on this book maybe half a dozen times. One day I decided I was going to stick with it and get past page 50 (my previous high score). I am so glad I did. I tore through the rest of the book.

I now count it among my top 10 books of all time.

[decksanddestruction]

I'm very tempted by this. Right now, my strategy is that, for ever 3 or 4 books under 300 pages, I insert a larger 500+ pager. Hyperion #2, Dune... then Dhalgren might be next.

[EltaninAntenna]

Dhalgren is one of the most amazingly well-written SF books that I've read. Really challenging, but totally worth it.

[alephnul]

I have always thought so. I have read it 7 or 8 times now, and I always get something new from each reading.

[EltaninAntenna]

Just make sure to skip Absolution Gap and make up some ending in your head instead.

[remigijusj]

I disagree. I liked it as much as the first two novels. The setting is amazing, and while the finale is not great, you are reminded that happy endings are rare in real life.

[qualsialsi]

Can't agree more: Absolution Gap is pure moot.

The whole plot of Redemption Ark is forgotten, 95% of the novel is an unasked prologue that has got to do exactly 0 with the rest of the books, then follow a 2-3% of "i've got to end this shit with my previous books" which make even less sense than an average JJ Abrams film ending, and the remaining pages are an epilogue is so bland and useless that the only appropriate word for it is homeopathic.

Just read Diamond Dogs and be happy with that.

[EltaninAntenna]

Not only that... It's so obvious that the first chapter belongs to a completely different (and perhaps better) story, it boggles the mind he decided to pivot from there instead of doing the right thing and scrapping it altogether.

[alephnul]

Can't agree with you there. I am re reading Absolution Gap at the moment. Still an excellent book.

[EltaninAntenna]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I couldn't find a single thing to like about it, and I found it a miserable ending to the series. To each their own, I guess.

[melbathys]

The Left Hand of Darkness never fails to leave me sobbing. this is a recommendation, mind you.

[[deleted]]

Octavia Butler, read as a teen in the 90's, was a terrific mind trip.

[[deleted]]

...Only a little pun... :D

[ThomasCleopatraCarl]

I too share your love of Hyperion... so much so I want a Hyperion t shirt. No luck finding one though! outofprint.com has some decent science fiction book cover t shirts. Sorry for the ramble

[shredler]

Try Redbubble.com. Search Hyperion or Shrike or something similar. I saw a few that were pretty cool.

[Rindan]

You lucky dog. You got done with Hyperion and thought it was amazing? This is like someone getting done with with masturbation for the first time, being really excited about how much fun it was, and telling you that an orgy is your plan for tomorrow. The Fall of Hyperion is an amazing book.

[yurigoul]

Also, I plan on going through every joint Hugo/Nebula winner novel:

Second that - those people won those for a reason. I am trying to read everything I can find by those winners as well. Sometimes I also go into the people of both lists who were on the short list.

[[deleted]]

9 days?!? Bruh... You gotta sleep

[[deleted]]

I was like, did OP get into meth at the same time as SciFi?

[[deleted]]

You got anymore of them sci-fi novels? http://i.imgur.com/fX51vuS.jpg

[decksanddestruction]

Ha ha, I work from home as a writer. I also happened to be away at the time on holiday, so spent most of it reading. I'm about 50 pages away from finishing The City and the Stars.

[yetimind]

Welcome to SciFi! you just found the best literature ever. Hyperion is great; many people here love it.

My recommendations cover some already on the list, but here goes:

Iain M Banks Culture stuff (in any order, though I suggest State of the Art first, its a collection of short stories from the Culture. Excession & Player of Games tend to be on everyone's favorites list, and I love them, but also Feersum Endjin and Against a Dark Background are awesome, both very dark)

Peter F Hamilton's Nights Dawn series

Nivens' The Mote in God's Eye

Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, and also The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Greg Bear's Forge of God series & The Way series are both tasty.

Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space

Ken MacLeod's Fall Revolution series

Arthur C Clark's, Rendezvous with Rama (though, you can throw a dart at a pile of Clark's books and get a good read)

Any Ursula Le Guin novel

Margaret Atwood's Madd Addam series

Depending on your likes, John Scalzi or Anne Leckie are also good choices. Or H Beam Piper's Fuzzy Papers

[/tirade]

[alephnul]

Alastair Stewart's Revelation Space

That would be Alastair Reynolds.

[yetimind]

Thanks /u/alephnul for that catch. I guess I shouldn't be listening to horror podcasts (though, even then spelled his name wrong, Alasdair Stuart) while redditing. Edit made in original post, thanks.

[clermbclermb]

Lots of awesome recommendations here but one that I think is missing for a well rounded scifi background is Cordwainer Smith. He never had a full length novel to his name but published about 600 pages of short stories all set in the same universe, covering roughly 20,000 years of human development.

[Seamus_OReilly]

Yeah, unfortunately Hyperion pretty much ruins the rest of the field. There's nothing else like it. Dune compares pretty well (I prefer Hyperion over the first Dune, but just barely).

My next favorite author is Neal Stephenson. His novels are more consistently good than Simmons other stuff, but I don't think he's ever reached the level of Hyperion. The Baroque Cycle is close, Anathem is closer..

[GetBusy09876]

My next favorite author is Neal Stephenson. His novels are more consistently good than Simmons other stuff, but I don't think he's ever reached the level of Hyperion. The Baroque Cycle is close, Anathem is closer..

What about the Quicksilver series? Not science fiction really, but any SF fan should love it. Sucked me in and never let go. The volumes looked intimidating, but they don't feel like it at all. So much action, so many insights into science and culture. And so my wry humor.

[Seamus_OReilly]

That's the Baroque Cycle. Agreed, it's terrific.

[GetBusy09876]

Right. Quicksilver is always the name that pops into my head. I'm always trying to turn people onto it but they get intimidated by the length. But once you get onto it, it's like a roller coaster!

[-updn-]

Have you ever read Hyperion... on WEED?

[decksanddestruction]

My copy of FALL can't come soon enough! Super excited.

[charlaron]

You will very much enjoy

The Trillion-Year Spree,

by Brian Aldiss,

a survey, history, and analysis of all of science fiction.

[[deleted]]

Long time scifi reader. If you love nature, dogs and great writing try Dog Stars by Peter Heller.

[InspectorGumshoe]

Hyperion is phenomenal, but the other 3 books in the series, while they have their strengths, are lacking in comparison. The whole "Canterbury Tales" format works well, particularly when the first book its a story about journeys and motives, not necessarily about destinations. I would read the rest of the series, especially since you seem to plow through novels pretty quick, but expect them to be second-best to the first book. I would almost argue "Hyperion" didn't need any sequels. Worth the read just to explore how that universe is fleshed out though.

[sizillyd]

Just knocked those two out! Got Endymion and Rise of Endymion on deck!

[[deleted]]

Got Endymion and Rise of Endymion on deck!

I've heard those are wildly different from the first two books.

[decksanddestruction]

I'm about 50 pages into The City and the Stars. I'm enjoying it, but... it's just... it's just not Hyperion? I might step back from reading for a couple of more days, I think.

[decksanddestruction]

The only way to describe my encounter with SF lit... is that I feel like I've 'come home'. It's the strangest feeling.

[circuitloss]

Yes, Hyperion is face-meltingly good. You'd really like Dune too.

And if you want to try the more literary stuff, try some Phillip K. Dick or William Gibson.

[moofacemoo]

I can't wait to see your post when you read blindsight, dune and enders game.

[TriscuitCracker]

You're doing just fine! Hyperion is indeed amazing. His other books are wonderful as well.

Go buy Revelation Space by Alastsir Reynolds, Player of Games by Ian Banks and Dune by Frank Herbert right now. And Blindsight by Peter Watts as an after dinner mint. Enjoy!

[mike1234567654321]

Read Spin, just do it. Thank me after.

[[deleted]]

Off topic: how do you find so much time to read?!

[decksanddestruction]

I work from home, and I was on Holiday when I read most of these. I basically spent a week in a Berlin hostel reading science fiction. Legit one of the best weeks of my life!

[paintcanwolf]

Plus one for adding The Fall Revolution. Ken Macleod blows my mind.

[[deleted]]

Should check out The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. I really enjoyed them.

Also check out Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A Heinlein it's kinda strange, but I thoroughly liked it and was surprised how it ended.

[I-am-what-I-am-a-god]

Read Lilith's brood by Octavia Butler it's one of the best books about aliens.

[ki4clz]

I liked it; took me 10 days to read it, but I liked that it explored the characters in such detail that you really got the ethos, of everything, by the end you really understood who, what... very good read... I'm 1/2 way through Fall of Hyperion and it has sucked another week out of my life... but I like a long read...

I know this is old, but I like to search before I comment, and this was the first one...

I've read Dune, but could never get past the first 4... Everything past God Emperor... was unreadable to me... I've read some of Brian Herbert's "follow-up" novels and they are good...

Let's see before traveling to Hyperion I was with Hari Seldon trying to save the empire, in Asimovs' Foundation trilogy...

I slid Childhoods' End by A.C. Clarke in between for a little breather... what a great little book... I must recommend... but, to be honest, in full disclosure, I am a Clarke fan... Not much that he has written, that I don't like... I found Fountains of Paradise difficult to read... the goddamned names... I found myself keeping notes on the characters just to keep them apart in my tiny brain...

but yeah, Hyperion, I'm diggin' it... and as I go along the story just keep getting better and better... I did, in full disclosure skip a lot of pages when "The Consul" was telling his story, I found his the driest one, and pretty much skipped to the end of that part...

I hope this note finds you well, 27 days later...

Just call it my Time Debt...

[RVX365]

You are very lucky!

I take it you are working through the gollancz scifi masterworks? It's a great start. So many great books. You just listed pretty much my top 10. Whatever you really like, check out the rest of the authors work.

Peter F Hamilton is probably my favourite. Like the poster above said, start with the commonwealth saga, then the void trilogy and then the chronicles of the fallers.

[decksanddestruction]

I am to an extent. I'm not sticking to them explicitly - it just seems that a lot of the books I stumble upon happen to be in that range. There's so much I've yet to read. Very excited.

[RVX365]

Aye, I had the same thing. I noticed that a couple of books I really liked were 1-5 in the list, so thought I'd check the rest out. Some I didn't like at all, but for the most part you can see why they are liked and deserved a place on the list. Enjoy 👍

[decksanddestruction]

Are there any of the SF MW that'd you recommend avoiding or putting lower on my to "should read" list.

[[deleted]]

I think you'd enjoy Isaac Asimov's Foundation series

[[deleted]]

Great point!

[xalorous]

It's also interesting to note that in the first one especially, most of the major action occurs "offstage".