RIP Dan, and thanks for the stories.

I enjoyed "The Terror" miniseries, I am getting the book immediately!

Oh shit. He's my favorite author. Tragic. He'll be missed.

Damn. Hyperion is like peak sci-fi. In my mind, I think of it as the LOTR of sci-fi, so this is like Tolkien dying, to put it into perspective. Some damn good books.

I read it based on John Romero's declaration that it was his favourite book.

I didn't really care much for the stories, but the worldbuilding was absolutely stunning.

I never read his books, but Hyperion is on my list. Is it that good? I see more people talking about Dune.

It's really good, it makes the world(s) feel alive and not like an opera.

Lol, same, I feel the stories are absolutely fine, but the worldbuilding is what makes it one of the best books imho.

I tried Dune and I just found it sooooo boring. It's more political and squarely in the space opera genre, which hyperion is not.

I haven't seen the miniseries bcs when I've heard about it existing & searched for it I accidentally saw the 'big baddy' - it looked like shit & nothing close to as mythical & eerie as in the books, even the physical description was all wrong & worse (there are way better artists impressions over the internet).

It instantly made me feel like they didn't capture ship, ship life, cold, or clothes well either (idk about characters), so I just preemptively decided against watching it.

It's not one of those stories that I would want to see in a play either, the environment & mystic parts just matter so much (just like the characters imho).

Also they found Terror.

I think it feels alive AND like an Opera. So good.

Hyperion Cantos was a great highlinght for me and my kids… we still have a lot of inside jokes based off those books

Thank you Dan, may you freecast peacefuly into the next life

I didn't really enjoy the Hyperion books all that much myself.

I enjoyed Dune much more, if you're talking about the first book. However, as for the series...Dune is one of those series where I really enjoyed the first book and then felt that each successive book was less-good than the previous one. YMMV.

Speaking of kids, the defining scene of General Morpugo had me in tears. It's not often a book breaks me down like that, but there we are.

Usually it's Weintraub's story that does it for folk, but not for me.

I really loved the first season. So gripping and haunting and tragic. I have to read the book too

I liked everything about the film but the CGI bear.

But, a lot of people love CGI, it's everywhere, so to be expected

I just learned he is very racist, does Hyperion have his political views in it? I can read Lovecraft just fine, since it is it a product of its time. This on the other hand is recent. I also heard it has a Palestinian character how are they portrayed?

https://web.archive.org/web/20060424105133/http://www.dansimmons.com/news/message.htm

Yes, it was a recent TIL for me too.

I don't think it comes across like that in Hyperion, if anything it's like diversity or something. Then again, I don't read books as if I'm the lead character, my morals don't roleplay, it's just a character with their own faults etc.

What I've noticed (more so in other his books) is how often (but not always) poorly women are treated. But eg in Drood that is just plainly realistic af (Victorian England). And tbf, racism in space also sounds realistic af. Also religious cults, mysticism, etc.

(I haven't read a lot of his books, so by opinion that it's fine doesn't cover all of his works. Hyperion & Terror are ok by me. And at least I didn't pay him directly buying used books. And if I ever need a copy for my ereader I'll ask friendly neighbourhood librarian Anna.)

From what I heard his later books are the issue like flashback:

!a poet who fled Israel after 6 million Jews were murdered by the Muslim "Global Caliphate" — seem to have been created for the sole purpose of explaining why the left wing has destroyed America. !<

https://www.npr.org/2011/07/28/137621172/one-rant-too-many-politics-mar-simmons-dystopia

Yes, this is exactly why I added the thing about me not speaking for all his books.

(This was also a recent TIL of mine. It also sounds like a poorly thought out plot tbh, it just seems that it will be riddled with logical plot holes, which I really hate bcs lazy writing. Or motivated otherwise.)