My reads this year with my personal ratings: Greg Egan, Diaspora (7/10) Dan Simmons, Hyperion 1-4 (9/10) James S.A. Corey, Leviathan Wakes (6/10) Scott Alexander, Unsong (7/10) Qtmn, Ra (7/10) Qtmn, Fine Structure (6/10) Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary (6/10) Wildbow, Worm (8/10)
FROM THE HN SHELF
Hyperion Cantos
Dan Simmons
Science fiction · A SERIESTypographic jacket · original cover not fetched
A BOOK SERIES · 2006–2026 SAMPLE
Hyperion Cantos
20 readers recommend it across 17 discussions
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Original Hacker News comments, in the readers’ own words.
A pair of books I’d recommend for 2024, which I didn’t get the chance to reread this year, would be: - The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Gaiman), which is beautiful in a way I can’t quite describe - Century Rain (Reynolds), which is best described as a hard boiled 1930’s noir hard science fiction novel. Books I read this year which I really enjoyed:’ - Exploding The Phone (Lapsley): Super engrossing description of the phone phreak scene almost from its start to its end - Hyperion and sequels (Simmons): Probably one of my favourite science fiction series now, and I’ve already felt the need to go back and re-read passages from it. Also really enjoy how each part of the series (Hyperion, then Fall of Hyperion, then the Endymion books) re-invent the style and the story. - The Annotated American Gods (Gaiman, Klinger): 1000’s of footnotes is a great way to revisit the story :)
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1) Three-Body Problem series 2) Hyperion series (first two books especially) 3) Cryptonomicon 4) Cloud Atlas 5) Wandering Earth (collection of short stories)
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The TechnoCore[0] in the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons comes to mind. 0: https://hyperioncantos.fandom.com/wiki/TechnoCore
Hyperion cantos - sci-fi, basically 7 very different stories tied together explaining why things are happening and how characters are tied together. 1st book is excellent, 2nd is a must to understand how things continue. I liked all 4, I think it lost the steam slightly around 3rd book but all are excellent experience.
Wool aka Silo series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silo_%28series%29 A dystopian future where people live in a Silo (a skyscraper but underground). What I found especially nice is how the author tried to make it realistic and portray people and work fields (machinist, IT, etc) as they really are without to much buffing. The IT department in this story plays a really big role and it is portrayed as I've seen real IT departments, with the old, stubborn, autistic 'this is my kingdom' sysadmin boss down to the 'stupid' intern. It's just to real. The first chapters are a little off compared to the rest of the books as it was released as novella's at first via Kindle and later written into 3 books. But every bit is as awesome as the other. Edit: I think this mismatches on your fun/non-dystopian critaria that I just now read. But a good read anyways. Otherwise definitely Hyperion cantos as already mentioned. Although also not without drama it sure is a hell lot of mindboggling world's to plunge into!
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Fully agreed with that. Along with LOTR are the series that I did read most times. The first book can also be seen as an antology of short stories, each one superb, but the total is far more than the sum of the parts.
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Another recommendation from me too. This series takes you to some magical places and ideas.
I am just finishing reading the Hyperion Cantos which is an absolutely inspired masterwork by Dan Simmons. I can’t stand rereading / rewatching anything, this series is so rich that it feels like reading fresh material all over again. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos
Is Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos hard enough?
Besides Kill Process and Seveneves (mentioned elsewhere on this thread), I'm going through the Hyperion Cantos right now, and I can't recommend it enough. Apparently Bradley Cooper is heading up production of a series as well, so good times ahead for that IP.
Big science fiction fan 1. Revelation Space 2. Hyperion 3. The Postman 4. The Day of the Triffids 5. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation_Space [2] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperion_Cantos [3] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Postman [4] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids [5] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_th... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy)
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His last name is Simmons. And the Hyperion Cantos is an excellent series. His other books are worth reading too: Summer of Night, The Terror.
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The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons.
The Hyperion series by Dan Simmons, nice mixture of sci-fi topics.
Hyperion Cantos is my personal favorite.
I'm a huge fan of Dan Simmons, and his Hyperion series is well worth the time. Once you make it beyond the first few pages of Hyperion, I guarantee you'll be hooked. There are a total of 4 books in the series and each is truly a masterpiece in science fiction. I would also recommend "The Terror," which is a historical fiction piece loosely based on the first expedition to the North Pole. Simmons has won multiple awards in Science Fiction and leaps across categories with aplomb. I highly recommend any of his work!
Non-developer specific good sci-fi books: -Dune -Hyperion + The Fall of Hyperion -The Book Of The New Sun -Ilium + Olympos -Takeshi Kovacs trilogy -The Culture Series (meh..) -The Demolished Man More dev-oriented: -Reamde (which I hated, but I seem to be in a minority) -Neuromancer I'll always have a special place in my heart for Calculating God (not science fiction), because its the book that got me into reading seriously.
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Best overall: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and its less well-known sequel, Lila Best fantasy in terms of most imaginative and full of wonder: The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. (I know, everyone saw the crappy movie; it simply does not do the book justice.) Best Scifi: The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
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depends on the subgenre :) Superhuman: Slan by A.E. Van Vogt More Than Human by Theodore STurgeon Odd John by Olaf Stapledon Post Apocalyptic: The Day of The Triffids by John Whyndham Earth Abides by George R. Stewart A Canticle for Lebowitz by...don't remember Space Opera/Adventure: any of The Culture novels by Iain M. Banks The Reality Dysfunction series by ...don't remember Hyperion series by Dan Simmons To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer Dystopian: We by Yevgeny Zamyatin <---highly overlooked, predates 1984 and Brave New World But the Absolute Best would be anything by: Stanislaw Lem (Cyberiad, Futurological Congress, Solaris) Alfred Bester (The STars my Destination, The Demolished Man) or Samuel R. Delany (Babel-17, Dhalgren, Trtion, Nova) oh and Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light and This Immortal are both great. Some of Philip K. Dick's stuff is great, but everyone recommends him. :) almost forgot John Brunner, check out Steel Beach, The Sheep Look Up, and Stand on Zanzibar.
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- The Culture
- A Canticle for Leibowitz
- Solaris
- Lord of Light
- The Stars My Destination
- The Cyberiad
- The Reality Dysfunction
- The Demolished Man
- Earth Abides
- The Day of the Triffids
- The Futurological Congress
- Dhalgren
- We
- Stand on Zanzibar
- The Sheep Look Up
- More Than Human
- Slan
- This Immortal
- Babel-17
- Nova
- Odd John
- Steel Beach
- To Your Scattered Bodies Go