Without Dan Simmons and Hyperion, sci-fi literature would've been still been regarded as disposable paperbacks. Simmons did away with the trappings of early pulp sci-fi that held a shadow over the genre for many decades. Instead, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion took the shape of the Western Canon and could be discussed as serious literature. Without spoiling too much, I remember reading the story of Sol Weintraub and his daughter and almost being brought to tears; something that no other book, regardless of genre, has done.

Rest well, scribe. Asimov, Heinland, Clarke, Herbert and, of course, Keats. You'll be in good company

That really sucks. Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion are some of my favorite sci-fi books.

Love that the author of the article jabbed Rothfus and Martin directly.

Hyperion is my favorite sci-fi next to Dune. It's inspired a lot of the features in my D&D homebrew world, including the Shrike, the river, a few deities, and other textures and layers to my realm.

Farewell, ~~friend. You were one of the good ones.~~ I wish you hadn't gone the wrong direction.

This dude really did write multiple genres pretty well, even mashed together.

Absolutely fantastic world-building in Hyperion Cantos.

I also enjoyed Terror, the world descriptions are just situationally (like in a 3D space) pleasing for me, adjusted historical & mythological facts work really well, and even the story was rounded into a satisfactory end.

Rip.

:(

I loved especially Hyperion, but I said my final goodbye the day I opened Flashback… what an awful piece of rear end production that was.

The Hyperion series was awesome, original, well-thought out, spiced with a background of Enoch the Prophet, flying space trees … and I’ll cherish it forever.

Flashback not so much, what a hateful piece of right wing trash that was. And I’m not necessarily against a solid story that makes me think or even just learn to appreciate other’s viewpoints, but this was more like something Ben Shapiro would write. “leftie bad hur durr”, you probably know what I mean. On top of that, it was shattered, incoherent and relied insanely on Deus Ex Machina constructions throughout.

I never understood and I never ever will I. Sad.

Most of the comments on social media about his passing are about his horrible politics rather than his writing. People are calling him a racist, a misogynist, and even a fascist.

Song of Kali confused me. It felt so hateful and so deeply racist that I assumed I missed something about it, like maybe it was satirical. Or maybe it was just about a character who hated India, which doesn't necessarily mean the author shares those views.

I loved Hyperion even with its misogynistic parts, I just sort of figured "boomers are gonna boom" and I was able to overlook it. Summer of Night was phenomenal, even if it did have the same "only one female character and she's a lot" problem that all his novels seem to have.

I don't see myself reading his other novels after reading about how racist he was. Quite a shame.

What a crazy coincidence that my newly formed book club chose this as our inaugural choice and then, literally just yesterday, finished Fall of Hyperion.

I appreciate you Dan Simmons. I’m sorry people no longer get to experience your imagination.

Well shit. I wish the best for his loved ones. 77 is too young for sure.

I always hoped to see a Hyperion movie, now without his guidance it'll come out and suck.