I cannot tell you how much this book will continue to affect my brain going forward. Other scifi book series, movies, and even music i love seems to have some direct influence stemming from the Hyperion “Cantos”. As a simple and poor example, The Matrix in many ways, almost seems like an homage to the Hyperion series, with significant portions of plotline directly influenced.

The shrike (agent smith), a machine boogeyman whos intents are sometimes inline with those of the web, other times seemingly contrary. Thousands of Shrike (Smiths) working toward a common goal.

Squid like creatures, Artificial Deities, the convergence of mankind and machine. i dont want to give too many examples as every reference i make could be seen as a spoiler, and i dont want to be the person who ruins well earned surprises.

the fictional references located while reading the first two books in this series astounded me. it is like a holy grail of geekdom.

i fail to even mention that the plot is beyond incredible… but again, lets not get too much into that. it is after all a sequel. if you dont know where this is headed, you obviously need to read book 1 still.

Reality has a strong mirror of the story as well. with recent announcements that “teleportation” is on its way, farcaster devices and other kick ass technology seems to be around the corner. developments in the last decade have proven that we can cause particles to recreate properties of other particles, end point to end point. we have passed atoms, photons, information, and now raw energy.

for a quick recap of the decade and links, read: Popular Science Feb 2010 (article: physicists prove teleportation energy theoretically possible)

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-02/physicists-prove-teleportation-energy-theoretically-possible

not saying simmons was some kind of oracle, just that he had his finger on the right pulse, checking the timing of all the right heartbeats in theory and thought. then built this master work around what was absorbed.

Dan Simmons successfully blends the poetry of John Keats into a multi world existence, replicating poetry, creating new poetry, and detailing a spiderweb of mental imagery that can only be referred to as scholar deification at its pinnacle.

based on the pure impact of info in these stories, along side mirrors in our existing world (and possible unconfirmed referenced in popular media..), i would have to say this is one of the greatest/most influential series i have ever read.

only two more to complete the whole series, but i am not sure how it could get better. hope you keep surprising me simmons!