HYPERION by DAN SIMMONS (1989)

Far in the future, when humanity has spread across the galaxy, on Hyperion, a planet far far away, a mysterious creature called the Shrike begins appearing in the area of pre-history artifacts known as the Time Tombs, which seem to be moving backwards in time. He is a murderous creature with four arms and a body covered in thorns, spikes, and blades who kills with discrimination. Some view him as a devil meant to punish mankind, and some view him as a god meant to save mankind from itself. On this planet and on other far-flung worlds a religious cult arises that worships him. On the eve of a galactic battle which will determine the future of humanity, seven men and women set out for a final pilgrimage to meet the Shrike, each with a different reason, each knowing that only one, if that, will be granted a wish and left alive to return.

Simmons structures his excellent novel in the manner of The Canterbury Tales: During the course of the long journey, the seven pilgrims agree to pass the time by telling their personal stories, revealing their reasons for wishing to confront the Shrike. These are the seven:

THE PRIEST--one of the scattering of remaining Catholics whose previous visit to Hyperion left him with an almost unbearable burden which threatens to destroy his faith;

THE SOLDIER--a man of violence and war whose life and dreams have long been haunted by a mysterious lover, who might or might not be an incarnation of the Shrike;

THE POET--a cynical alcoholic who believes the Shrike to be his Muse that will allow him to finish his great poem;

THE DETECTIVE--a young woman of dedication and loyalty who travels to Hyperion in place of a murdered former client who had also been her lover;

THE SCHOLAR--a father who is desperate to save his infant daughter, who is traveling backwards in time toward non-existence as a result of her previous visit to Hyperion;

THE CONSUL--a former bureaucrat on Hyperion whose goal is revenge against humanity for the ecological destruction of many worlds;

THE STARSHIP CAPTAIN--a man of mystery who suddenly disappears without a trace before his story can be told.

Framing the stories of the seven is the preparation for the battle for Hyperion between the Hegemony, many worlds under a central government who have reshaped the ecology of planets to fit their perceived needs, and the Ousters, renegade worlds who have adapted themselves to fit the ecology of their planets. Purportedly advising the Hegemony is the TechnoCore, the artificial intelligence community once created by humans but now operating independently under its own mysterious agenda.

Science fiction is often faulted for its reliance on plot at the expense of character development, but this science fiction novel surprises by putting the emphasis on the characters. I became so totally invested in their dilemmas and motivations that when the book ended abruptly with their arrival in the valley of the Time Tombs, I rushed to my computer to order the sequel, The Fall of Hyperion, rather than just give up on the story, as I did with The Three-Body Problem, the book I just previously reviewed. I can strongly recommend this to anyone wishing to escape reality and be taken to someplace else for a couple of days.

Hyperion won the Hugo and Locus awards for best science fiction novel, and is near the top on many Best Of... lists.