Hyperion

Winner of the Hugo Award (1990).
Winner of the Locus Award (1990).

On the world called Hyperion, beyond the law of the Hegemony of Man, there waits the creature called the Shrike. There are those who worship it. There are those who fear it. And there are those who have vowed to destroy it. In the Valley of the Time Tombs, where huge, brooding structures move backward in time, the Shrike waits for them all.

On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to Hyperion seeking the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives. Each carries a desperate hope – and a terrible secret. And one may hold the fate of humanity in his hands.

THE PRIEST – When he was young, Father Lenar Hoyt honestly believed in the Roman Catholic Church – despite the fact that history and change had made the Church wither away. But now his faith is shaken, troubled by the fate suffered on Hyperion by a man he once admired.

THE SOLDIER – Colonel Fedmahn Kassad was one of the brightest, most capable, and toughest young officers in the entire Hegemony military – until chance brought him to Hyperion.

THE POET – There is something in Martin Silenus's eyed when he speaks of the Shrike. A hunger. Or something more...

THE SCHOLAR – Sol Weintraub led a quiet life until his dauhter went to Hyperion on an archaeological expedition... where the Shrike touched her and sent her reeling backward in time.

THE STARSHIP CAPTAIN – Quiet and easy-going – strangely confident – Het Masteen knows far more than he reveals.

THE DETECTIVE – Brawne Lamia came to Hyperion to ferret out a murderer – the murder of client who was under her protection.

THE CONSUL – He seems quiet, reserved... the perfect functionary. Or is there something tortured inside him hiding itself from view, intent on some unspeakable purpose?