4.5 stars 
 Science fiction isn't always about futuristic technology, alien races, battles and weaponry. Very rarely you come across a story classified as science fiction that has nothing to do with the time it is set in, advancement in science, interstellar travel etc. Hyperion is about people. Its about their faith in their religion and God. Its about their faith in law and order of the military. Its about finding joy in being human and being in a family. Its all about people encountering primal human emotions and their inability to come to terms with the losses they encounter. 
 The individual stories are sad, ironic, cruel, scary and even pathetic. But that's what has made them all humans and take up pilgrimage that's dangerous and probably fatal. Yet they make the trip anyway because they all have someone they care about associated with their target. 
 Once you take away the shell in which Simmons presents this book, these are stories that is relevant to any time and place, any religion or culture. At some point we have all seen the undignified hand of law, cruelty in the name of religion, trash sold as prime literature and so on. 
 Curious to find out what happens next.