The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
"The Hyperion Cantos," a science fiction series by Dan Simmons, explores a complex universe shaped by the conflict between humans and artificial intelligences (AIs) in a distant future where humanity has spread across numerous worlds after the destruction of Old Earth. The narrative draws inspiration from the works of Romantic poet John Keats, particularly themes of displacement among gods in Greek mythology. Central to the story is the impending cosmic struggle involving three factions of AIs: the Volatiles, who seek to eliminate humanity; the Ultimates, who aim for a negotiated order; and the Stables, advocating coexistence.
The plot unfolds through the journeys of seven diverse pilgrims from various religious backgrounds, who are sent to the mysterious Time Tombs on the planet Hyperion. Each pilgrim shares a personal tale mirroring their beliefs and experiences, reminiscent of "The Canterbury Tales." A significant element of the narrative is the Shrike, a menacing entity that embodies suffering and serves as a catalyst for the unfolding conflict. As the pilgrims strive for understanding and resolution, themes of death, resurrection, and love interweave, culminating in a struggle for the future of both humanity and AIs. The story ultimately examines profound philosophical questions about existence, identity, and the nature of divinity.
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Subject Terms
The Hyperion Cantos
First published: 1990 (previously published separately as Hyperion, 1989, and The Fall of Hyperion, 1990)
Type of work: Novels
Type of plot: Science fiction—artificial intelligence
Time of work: The distant future
Locale: The planet Hyperion, cyberspace, and various unidentified planetary locations
The Plot
The two books of The Hyperion Cantos take their titles and themes from two unfinished poems by the Romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) that deal with the displacement in Greek mythology of the old gods, the Titans, by the new gods, the Olympians. In Dan Simmons’ work, Old Earth has been destroyed by a black hole, and humans are spread across two hundred worlds and moons scattered throughout a thousand light-years in space. Communication and travel are achieved through fatlines and farcasters, operated by Technocore Artificial Intelligences, who inhabit singularity environments and cyberspace. The artificial intelligences evolved in a symbiotic relationship with humankind but have decided that humans are no longer necessary.
There are three factions of artificial intelligences: the Volatiles, who want to remove humans altogether; the Ultimates, who are prepared to make way for a negotiated new order; and the Stables, who believe in continued coexistence. The fate of the universe depends on which of these groups is able to take control of the unforeseen variables occurring on the planet Hyperion. As the story opens, a number of futures theoretically are possible.
A cosmic conflict looms between the logically predestined Artificial Ultimate Intelligence and a newly evolved human Ultimate Intelligence, which is a triune god composed of Intellect, Empathy, and The Void Which Binds (or Quantum Reality). The Empathy part of this trinity has fled backward in time to avoid the conflict. To lure it back into the struggle, the artificial intelligences have accessed the worst nightmares of billions of humans to create an Avatar of Pain, called the Shrike. The idea is that the Shrike, which has impaled thousands of suffering humans on the branches of its Tree of Pain, will broadcast enough agony to drive Empathy out of hiding.
The Stable Artificial Intelligences also have constructed the perfect bodily trap for Empathy, a combination of a nearly divine human consciousness and an artificial imagination capable of spanning space and time. This body takes the form of cybrid (cyborg hybrid) personality retrieval projects based on John Keats. The Keats cybrids prove to be disinclined to accept godhood and prefer identification with humanity.
Also involved in the conflict is a third group, the Ousters, a highly evolved branch of humanity that is interfering retroactively to favor humankind. They have modified the actions of the Shrike by creating Time Tombs on the planet Hyperion. They also have trained Rachel/Moneta to be the Shrike’s companion, nemesis, and keeper, traveling backward in time with the Tombs and the Shrike toward the present of the text.
Ordinary humans are caught in the crossfire of this conflict between gods and quasi gods. The human action begins when the Church of the Final Atonement decides to send a final group of seven pilgrims to the Time Tombs. These pilgrims represent the major human religious factions in the galaxy. Lenar Hoyt is a Catholic priest; Sol Weintraub is a Jewish philosopher; Fedmahn Kassad is a soldier of Islamic origin; Martin Silenus is a pagan poet; Het Masteen, the True Voice of the Tree, is a Templar conservationist; the nameless Consul is an atheist; and Brawne Lamia is a romantic agnostic.
The first book follows the model of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1380-1390), with each of the pilgrims recounting a tale of relevant personal experiences. One of these, the Consuls tale, was published separately as “Remembering Siri” (1983). The pilgrims interact, but each has a separate role to play in the resolution of the conflict. Each of them is connected to the fate of humankind through the overriding motif of death and resurrection; each is approaching a form of apotheosis; and each apotheosis is controlled in some way by the Shrike, which functions as an agent of predestination.
The second book narrows the narrative focus to concentrate on the Keats cybrid. This part of the story is recounted by the Joseph Severn persona of Keats, who dreams much of the complicated action from his deathbed in a reconstructed cyberspace version of old Rome. The multiple story lines are drawn together through the agency of the Shrike. The political and philosophical actions eventually are united through an authorial suggestion that love is the reason for predeterminism in the universe. It is this love that links the imminent birth of Keats and Lamia’s divine girlchild with the sacrifice of Weintraubs time-trapped daughter Rachel, which will enable her to be born into the future. The universal conflict is resolved by the humans with much help from the Ousters and the Keats cybrid. The TechnoCore is destroyed, and with it the farcaster system that had both aided and enslaved humanity.