Hyperion seemed like a collection of good short stories held together by a plot that didn't really matter or make sense. I like short stories, but the poor attempt at a central theme turned me off quite a bit.

Fall of Hyperion took the tangential plot of the first book, expanded it, and made it great. I really enjoyed the war and the Ousters and all the stuff I mentioned in my main thread. However, it also brought the Pilgrims out of their reverie, and into real-time. And (in my opinion) failed MISERABLY at it. The pilgrims went from being unique individuals with interesting backgrounds, to a bunch of squatters sitting in front of the time tombs, waiting for something to happen. Even on the rare occasion that something happened, it didn't make any sense. I couldn't even tell most of the time whether the thing was actually happening, or was some sort of dream or future vision, or. . .*shakes head* I don't know, really.

I guess I can't explain it very well. Suffice to say that I don't consider myself a stupid person (perhaps I should ) yet I don't think I understood anything that happened on the planet Hyperion. Not a single thing. A bunch of confusing metaphysical crap coupled with heaping piles of florid prose does not make for good reading.