Hyperion

Dan Simmons’s Hugo Award-Winning Masterpiece of Pilgrims, Poetry, and the Shrike in Audio

On the eve of an apocalyptic galactic war between the Hegemony of Man and the nomadic Ousters, seven pilgrims embark on a final voyage to the mysterious frontier world of Hyperion. Their destination is the valley of the Time Tombs, colossal structures moving backward in time and guarded by the Shrike—a monstrous, four-armed avatar of blades and razor wire worshipped by the Church of the Final Atonement. Among the travelers are the Consul carrying a lethal secret, Colonel Kassad fleeing his blood-soaked phantom lover, and the Templar Het Masteen piloting the colossal living treeship Yggdrasill through interstellar voids. Knowing that the Shrike will grant the wish of only one pilgrim while slaughtering all the others, the travelers agree to share their personal tales during their perilous trek across the planet.

In its full-cast audio incarnation, *Hyperion* shines as one of the greatest ensemble recordings in the entire history of science fiction. The Chaucerian structure allows a stellar cast of voice actors to inhabit completely distinct genres—from Father Duré’s chilling theological horror of the cruciform parasites to Martin Silenus’s drunken poetic fury and Sol Weintraub’s heartbreaking grief over his daughter aging backward. The heart-wrenching pacing of Sol's tale, where his infant daughter Rachel cries as she regresses inexorably toward birth, is widely considered one of the most devastatingly beautiful audio sequences ever recorded in genre fiction. Positioned as a landmark titan in our Science Fiction Audiobooks collection alongside The Fall of Hyperion and Dune, this twenty-hour production turns space opera into pure theatrical brilliance.

Spanning over twenty hours of peerless literary storytelling for a single credit, this release provides phenomenal value that feels like getting six full-length novels in a single download. Simmons effortlessly weaves hard sci-fi, cyberpunk noir, military thriller, and Keatsian poetry into a unified narrative triumph. Exchanging a monthly credit for this legendary masterpiece secures weeks of unforgettable headphone companionship, setting a towering benchmark for modern speculative fiction that every serious audiobook lover should experience.

Hyperion Cantos Reading Order: • Hyperion (Book 1 – 20h 44m) • The Fall of Hyperion (Book 2 – 19h 54m) • Endymion (Book 3) • The Rise of Endymion (Book 4)