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  • The Fall of Hyperion

  • By: Dan Simmons
  • Narrated by: Victor Bevine
  • Length: 21 hrs and 45 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,547 ratings)
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The Fall of Hyperion cover art

The Fall of Hyperion

By: Dan Simmons
Narrated by: Victor Bevine
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Summary

In the stunning continuation of the epic adventure begun in Hyperion, Simmons returns us to a far future resplendent with drama and invention.

On the world of Hyperion, the mysterious Time Tombs are opening. And the secrets they contain mean that nothing - nothing anywhere in the universe - will ever be the same.

©1990 Dan Simmons (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Dan Simmons was a star from the outset. It was the Hyperion books that made him a superstar. The man, quite simply, is what we in the trade call a writer's writer." (Mike Resnick, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author)
"State of the art science fiction...A landmark novel." (Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine)

What listeners say about The Fall of Hyperion

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,662
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
    33
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Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,464
  • 4 Stars
    502
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
    18

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great!

On the book...
The fall of Hyperion is well named, with each new calamity coming after the last. I've just finished all four audiobooks, so I can't remember the exact details of this one - but I really liked them all!

On narration...
I didn't really think much of the narrator - it sounded like English wasn't his first language maybe. He pronounced every single word - like 'to' and 'a' - fully, which - when you actually hear it done - is quite strange. He occasionally made little errors in pronunciation - saying the 'chasm' with a soft 'ch' sound - which is a bit weird - or maybe he just did the whole thing in one take without bothering to fix the error. He also pronounced 'Aargh' exactly as it is written, with a clear 'r' and then a hard 'g' sound on the end. No-one really says that when they scream - that's just obvious - again - weird. The thing I disliked the most though was his inability to portray anything other than a small range of emotions. Whenever he took on a woman's voice - there was one set tone - and any emotion - such as anger - was not portrayed at all - it was always just 'the soft woman tone'. The range of accents for the different characters was good - just a bit more attention to tone and emotion was needed.

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40 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book

Great book, and well read, but it is a shame that they didn't continue with the full cast recording from Hyperion

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book but ditch the music

Excellent book, really gripping in parts and a sensitive continuation of the characters' fates as they prepare to meet the shrike.

The narration is hit and miss, with some passages moving me to tears but others sounding like he's turned the page and realised he should have intoned the first part of the sentence differently. This makes for a patchy experience.

Also, music fades in from time to time, without any apparent logic and to deleterious effect. It sounds cheesy and it takes the listener away from the world in which they were immersed. So seriously guys, remaster this and ditch the music.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Makes me remember why I loved the first book

I enjoyed the Fall of Hyperion, just not as much as I enjoyed Hyperion. A lot of the elements that really made the previous book for me, the mysteries and the cast of different narrators for different characters, aren't in this book. It's still solid, I enjoyed the new characters and different viewpoints the book offered, but as the story went on it felt like the mysteries set up in the first book were just a lot more compelling without answers.

Out of the original cast I'm glad Victor Bevine was chosen to narrate. While he wasn't my favorite from the previous book there's a certain quality to his voice that I really enjoy. I've read reviews that call him monotone and dull and honestly those kind of reviews do make me hesitant about a book. I'd advise anyone unsure about him to listen to the audio sample in full if they're worried, I personally loved his performance and maybe you will too.

Overall it's a worthy successor to Hyperion. The original book remains one of my favorite audio books but this sequel is a solid and engaging follow up. Less a fall from Hyperion and more a very slight decline. I know that's a terrible joke, I just wanted to use it.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

repetative

Really enjoyed book one. This however is a repetative, pretentious drawn out piece of crap. Really annoyed I wasted a credit on it. Perhaps if I grow a beard, polo neck sweater and start smoking weed, I may get it.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

More great writing

Brilliant sequel to Hyperion. Continues pretty well where the last one left off and reveals what happens at the Shrike 'Time Tombs' to the pilgrims. Superb characterisations by both the author and the narrator make this a great listening experience that has some amazing sci-fi concepts embedded in a truly rivetting story. I will definitely be investing in the two "Endymion" sequels. Highly recommended to people who enjoy intelligent Sci-fi.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Not much to add to other reviewers except that excellent doesn't begin to describe this book. But read "Hyperion" first as this book follows on right from the end of it. Narration was faultless too. What a great book. Strongly recommended.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Tedius and laboured

Would you try another book written by Dan Simmons or narrated by Victor Bevine?

Not really. I ploughed my way through the first book due to rave reviews and the synopsis, but even that was dull in reality.

What will your next listen be?

Currently listening to Babylon Berlin

Would you be willing to try another one of Victor Bevine’s performances?

I suppose so, although not exactly alive with colour and depth of characterisation, he didn't annoy me enough to make me want to turn it off

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Fall of Hyperion?

I would cut the lapaz sky tedium and the overlong descriptive, repetitive exposition and scenes, which in all reality did very little at all to move the story along.

Any additional comments?

Too long, too dull

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Confusing

Firstly, this is a really complicated sci fi story. I’m not sure if I missed a few explanations but I had to let go a lot of the scientific detail. It’s hard to look back on an audible book for repeat info, especially one of this size.

One suggestion for the orator would be to have longer breaks between each point of view or scene. Often I didn’t know who or where I was as each paragraph seems to run on like a sentence.

The plot is complicated too with many characters and Ai tricks. But I particularly liked the Rachel and her dad story. Not quite sure what happened to her but I suppose it may be the focus for another book?

I think this book may be better enjoyed in its print form but well done for the depth of characters and plot lines.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Story. Dreary Narration

What made the experience of listening to The Fall of Hyperion the most enjoyable?

I think I would have enjoyed reading it more.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrator does not pace the story at all. I found his narration monotone and boring. It wasn't until the third book that I realised that listening to the stories at double speed helped retain my attention on the narrative.

Any additional comments?

As with the rest of the books in this series (only the main narrative in book one as the other narrators were excellent) this would be much better with a different narrator or if the current narrator redone it at a higher pace.

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4 people found this helpful