Winter Book Review - Hyperion, Circe, The Dispossessed

Hyperion

I discovered Hyperion through Quinn’s Ideas, one of my favorite Youtubers who talks mainly about Dune. It was his description of the Shrike that captured my attention. Like many other great sci-fi series such as The Expanse and The Foundation, Hyperion has a mystery at its center. This mystery has a name: the Shrike, a gigantic chrome monster who moves through time at will, indiscriminately choosing its prey. But what makes it horrifying is that it does not simply kill its victims; it impales them onto its tree of thorns, leaving them to suffer in unimaginable pain for eternity (it’s aptly named after the shrike bird, which impales its prey upon thorny branches).

The genius of Hyperion is that the book doesn’t get carried away with the scope of its vision. Dan Simmons weaves an intricate universe without neglecting the basic building blocks, which are, of course, the characters. Hyperion tells the story of seven citizens of the Hegemony (the galactic empire) who are chosen for a religious pilgrimage to the remote world of Hyperion, with the express purpose of ‘petitioning’ the Shrike. Throughout this journey, each doomed pilgrim tells the story of why they want to meet the Shrike. Each tale is wilder and more imaginative than the last, and uniting them all is the horrible specter waiting amidst the mysterious Time Tombs of Hyperion.

It’s basically impossible to discuss any sci-fi series of sufficient scope without referencing Dune. It’s easy to see the influences here: the ‘Hegira’ of Hyperion echoes ‘The Scattering’ of Dune, in which humans are forced to spread out into the universe due to disaster or design. Both series delve heavily into the struggle between chaos and stagnation. 

But I don’t mention this to disparage Hyperion; if you read enough sci-fi, you’ll know that pretty much everything is a Dune reference. Rather, I bring up this comparison to show something that Hyperion does better: it’s a much easier read. If you’ve ever tried to approach the monster of a book that is Dune, you’ll know that the first few hundred pages are an incredible slog of confusing names and not-much-happening. Of course, Hyperion doesn’t quite have the same payoff, but from the beginning you are placed into the heart of the story and pulled along by its mystery. The details of the universe are not a chore to learn but a pleasant surprise whenever you are offered a closer glance. If you are one of the people who was put off by Dune, I feel confident in recommending another foray into the world of sci-fi via the outback planet of Hyperion.

Recommendation

Hyperion, in terms of its scope and imagination, stands toe-to-toe with the best, but also differentiates itself through intriguing mysteries and its own flavor of cosmic horror. I strongly recommend it for sci-fi lovers who want to try something a bit less mainstream, but I also think it’s an excellent entry point for those who are new to the genre.

Circe

To be completely honest, I picked up this book at the airport bookstore because I liked the cover. It’s become a tradition for me to buy a new book whenever I travel, to just walk in and choose a title without any research. Sometimes I get lucky, sometimes I don’t. This time I hit the jackpot.

Circe is the witch from Homer’s Odyssey who turns Odysseus’ crew into pigs when they land on her island. Circe is the retelling of this story from her perspective. Actually, it is much more than that; it tells the story of her entire life, from being born as the daughter of the titan Helios, to a lonely childhood in his great ocean halls, to love and heartbreak and jealousy and an eternity of banishment on the island of Aiaia. 

Most of what I know about Greek mythology comes from Percy Jackson, so it’s a natural place for comparison. I appreciate that Circe, in contrast to Percy Jackson, does not try to place mythology into a modern setting. Circe realizes that there are other ways to make an ancient story familiar, through contemporary themes of love, empowerment, and feminism. The book reminds us that although the world has changed, human nature has not. These stories will always be timeless.

I love the way gods are portrayed in Circe. Never before have I seen the Greek gods written in a way that is simultaneously so terrifying and so pathetic. I learned that gods, although not afraid of death, are scared shitless of pain. I learned that gods spend their eternities in a never-ending “chain of fear” of the most powerful of them all, Zeus. And above all, I learned just how mind-numbingly boring it is to be immortal. Although many of the main characters in Circe are divine, Circe never feels quite comfortable with them, instead finding herself drawn inexplicably to the mortals that other gods despised. The book is at its core a celebration of mortality, and how it makes us human. 

Recommendation

Circe is a must-read for anyone who has an interest in Greek mythology or is nostalgic for the days of Percy Jackson. Heck, even if that’s not you, you should read it anyway. It’s a beautiful story about love, freedom, and self-discovery that might very well make you cry.

The Dispossessed 

This book was a gift from a friend, after I had read The Left Hand of Darkness at her recommendation. Both books are written by Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the undisputed greats of science fiction. Between the two of them, I did notice some similarities in the plots. The Left Hand of Darkness is about an ambassador sent to a remote planet to facilitate its joining of the growing intergalactic federation. The Dispossessed is about a brilliant physicist, acting as ambassador in his mission to reunite two worlds that were once joined as one. Using this type of intergalactic diplomacy as a means of exploring the differences in cultures and species is a genius idea, in my opinion, and it works so well I don’t even mind that Ursula did it twice.

Shevek, the protagonist of The Dispossessed, lives on the moon. Some centuries ago, a group of anarchists seceded from the beautiful planet of Urras to create their own utopia on the harsh and barren moon named Anarres. Shevek visits Urras in the name of scholarship, the first person to cross this divide in two hundred years. Secretly, he has another purpose; he wishes to bridge the gap between the two worlds, using the General Temporal Theory as his bargaining chip, a theory with devastating technological implications that Urras is desperate to get its hands on. The Dispossessed is one of those books where you realize, from the first page, that you are in the presence of a master. It is that type of book where each page, each sentence, oozes with purpose, where you would never consider skimming words to get somewhere because the beauty lies in the journey itself. There are so many moments in the book that feel meaningful. Standing on a foreign land and watching your home rise in the sky is a feeling that most of us will never experience. And yet we can imagine it; that’s the allure of science fiction.

I can’t claim to fully understand all the political themes in this book; many people have probably gotten their PhDs writing about the subject. But I can say that it reminded me of the stories my mom used to tell me about her youth in communist China, about the frugal, sometimes brutal, yet beautifully simplistic days of the Cultural Revolution. On Anarres, there is no money. Everyone is assigned to work postings based on skill, but more importantly, the needs of the community. But when you are assigned to something, you don’t have to go. There is no police on Anarres that can force you to go, and you will still get the same food and lodging as everyone else. Freeloaders exist, but they are shunned by productive society. Anarres operates solely through a sense of communal pride and responsibility.

I do not think that The Dispossessed tries to glorify communism or anarchism. We see families torn apart, sicknesses and famines that make Shevek wonder just how far Anarres brotherhood and sisterhood can really go. But the book is most definitely a critique of capitalism. When Shevek reaches Urras, we are disoriented by the reflections of ourselves in those he calls ‘profiteers’. Shevek’s shock and confusion at foreign concepts makes us realize just how ridiculous some of the things we take for granted really are.

Recommendation

The Dispossessed is a masterpiece from start to finish. But if you haven’t read The Left Hand of Darkness yet, then I recommend you start there. The Dispossessed can feel a bit slow at times, with not much happening in terms of plot progression; The Left Hand of Darkness is much better in that regard. Also, I think that the overarching themes of gender and love in the latter book are more easily approached than the complex political ideas in the former.

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