Barf. On my 2nd reading of Hyperion books as an adult this time and I really didn't pick up on the pedophehelia and grooming shit with Raul & Aenea the first time. Super gross and ruines it for me
this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2026
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Without Dan Simmons and Hyperion, sci-fi literature would've been still been regarded as disposable paperbacks. Simmons did away with the trappings of early pulp sci-fi that held a shadow over the genre for many decades. Instead, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion took the shape of the Western Canon and could be discussed as serious literature. Without spoiling too much, I remember reading the story of Sol Weintraub and his daughter and almost being brought to tears; something that no other book, regardless of genre, has done.
Rest well, scribe. Asimov, Heinland, Clarke, Herbert and, of course, Keats. You'll be in good company
Without Dan Simmons and Hyperion, sci-fi literature would’ve been still been regarded as disposable paperbacks. Simmons did away with the trappings of early pulp sci-fi that held a shadow over the genre for many decades. Instead, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion took the shape of the Western Canon and could be discussed as serious literature.
Hyperion was pretty good, but the 70s New Wave of science fiction had already done that: Ursula K. Le Guin, J. G. Ballard, Samuel Delany, etc. They deserve their credit.
Sol's story is incredible, but the priest's tale is the single best horror fiction ever written imo.
I don't even have children and Sol Weintraub made me want to cry so hard
Most of the comments on social media about his passing are about his horrible politics rather than his writing. People are calling him a racist, a misogynist, and even a fascist.
Song of Kali confused me. It felt so hateful and so deeply racist that I assumed I missed something about it, like maybe it was satirical.
I loved Hyperion even with its misogynistic parts, I just sort of figured "boomers are gonna boom" and I was able to overlook it. Summer of Night was phenomenal, even if it did have the same "only one female character and she's a lot" problem that all his novels seem to have.
I don't see myself reading his other novels after reading about how racist he was. Quite a shame.
I loved Hyperion even with its misogynistic parts,
Isn't it strange that you can write a book about destroying an entire planet full of people and no one bats an eye; but if you include a political hot topic suddenly half of the population is protesting your book.
I would understand if he's actively promoting an idea but I don't think most books do that...
That really sucks. Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion are some of my favorite sci-fi books.
The next two books in the series got weirder because of the character's ages... That part doesn't hold up.
Well shit, I was going to circle back around to them in not too long.
Love that the author of the article jabbed Rothfus and Martin directly.
Hyperion is my favorite sci-fi next to Dune. It's inspired a lot of the features in my D&D homebrew world, including the Shrike, the river, a few deities, and other textures and layers to my realm.
Farewell, ~~friend. You were one of the good ones.~~ I wish you hadn't gone the wrong direction.
He was a good author but was completely brainwashed after 9/11
Damn. That was one twisted man. He’ll be missed.
I loved especially Hyperion, but I said my final goodbye the day I opened Flashback… what an awful piece of rear end production that was.
The Hyperion series was awesome, original, well-thought out, spiced with a background of Enoch the Prophet, flying space trees … and I’ll cherish it forever.
Flashback not so much, what a hateful piece of right wing trash that was. And I’m not necessarily against a solid story that makes me think or even just learn to appreciate other’s viewpoints, but this was more like something Ben Shapiro would write. “leftie bad hur durr”, you probably know what I mean. On top of that, it was shattered, incoherent and relied insanely on Deus Ex Machina constructions throughout.
I never understood and I never ever will I. Sad.
:(
Well, I know what's going in my reading pile next then
This dude really did write multiple genres pretty well, even mashed together.
Absolutely fantastic world-building in Hyperion Cantos.
I also enjoyed Terror, the world descriptions are just situationally (like in a 3D space) pleasing for me, adjusted historical & mythological facts work really well, and even the story was rounded into a satisfactory end.
Rip.
Noooooooo he was such a good author :(
What a crazy coincidence that my newly formed book club chose this as our inaugural choice and then, literally just yesterday, finished Fall of Hyperion.
I appreciate you Dan Simmons. I’m sorry people no longer get to experience your imagination.
I'm actually reading the first book right now... So I first saw the image which is the cover of the book I'm reading and thought "heyyyy!" then read the headline... oof.
https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=dan+simmons
He did a lot of other books.
"Drood" is a wild tale told by an opium addict, pretty much the ultimate unreliable narrator.
"The Crook Factory" has Ernest Hemingway chasing Nazi submarines lurking near Cuba.
Illium / Olympus is also epic.
Drood was so ... long to read (I mean weird pacing) and I couldn't decide if it was intentional or not.
Also not giving us more of the tusk lady etc was criminal (but I knew that fairly from the start that I'm getting snubbed in my ghostly lore needs).
Drood isn't for everyone, but I enjoyed the craziness.
'Black Hills' is also pretty good. Native man gets a job working on the Mount Rushmore project. It's a desecration but he needs the work.
Oh, I kinda enjoyed Drood (like a snack I'm already fed up with yet keep munching), but in comparison some passages felt fatiguing, style a bit different, topics a bit mondaine (again, might have been intentional to show opium changes, idk).
Didn't read Black Hills, almost don't want to, but prob will at some point (thx for reminding me).
The Terror is my favorite book! I picked it up based on the cover art and texture and it turned out to be a fantastic horror novel. I love how he integrated it with actual historical events. RIP.
Nooooooooo! That is horrible news 😢 Hyperion meant a lot to me when I started reading SF. He will be greatly missed
I always hoped to see a Hyperion movie, now without his guidance it'll come out and suck.
SyFy (not its predecessor) had rights to it, but it never came to light. The Shrike is so hard to depict. Perhaps HBO or another with deep coffers could make it happen.
IMO the Shrike is kind of unimportant to most of the storytelling. You could almost just narrate it and show shadows of a distant figure. It's the stalking threat that gives mystery and weight to the decisions of the characters to make the pilgrimage.
I always found the physical description of the Shrike to be one of the silliest aspects of the story.
Without the Shrike, the story would not hold as much weight, even though he is not the essence of the problem, only a reflection or manifestation of it.
The Shrike, to me, was a feedback loop.
I finished the Fall of Hyperion last week. He was a fantastic writer. May he be remembered and honored the same way as Colonel Kassad
Colonel Kassad was the best.
Well shit. I wish the best for his loved ones. 77 is too young for sure.
Is it? 77 feels just right to me for the end. Not too old to be decrepit, not young enough to regret it.
Depends on how good ones health and savings are I guess
WHAT THE FUCK NOOO!
Hyperion is awesome... read all 4 and "told" them to my kids who loved them so much they read them as well (my "kids" are big, but I don't know what else to call them hahaha)
Rest in peace Simmons... may you Freecast in joy for all eternity
Man I stroke once or twice a day. Didn't know it could be fatal!
