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Title: Trying too hard
Review: I picked up this book based on the suggestion of a friend and a lot of critics reviews calling this one of the best sci-fi novels.Well, I would not call it exactly a disappointment, but it was definitively not up to my expectations. The author seems to be trying too hard to define a future world, and is constantly forcibly drawing parallels between his future situations/devices/event with real life. The use of alternative language for "every day" things is sometimes inspired (e.g. "entropic tides", "farcasters"), but most of the times they feel gimmicky and almost tacky (e.g. "death wand"). The HYPERION universe and mythology is not as rich and nuanced as, for example, DUNE.The sub-stories, which are really the core of this book are entertaining in a pulp fiction way, but, IMO not significant (socially, or even within the context of HYPERION itself; see DECAMERON), or even memorable enough to make this book a must read.
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