I got a book for Christmas that had been recommended to me and that I'd asked for: the Hyperion Omnibus (comprising of the books Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion) by Dan Simmons.
The front cover carries a quote from Iain M. Banks, "truly astonishing" - and I think I'd have to agree with that.
It's a science fiction story, but of a kind completely new to me; the way in which the story is told is magnificent and, of the books I've ever read, Hyperion has the most brilliant structure.
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The book takes place within confines of The Hegemony, a vast human society that has grown after the end of Old Earth, built with the help of the TechnoCore, a society of AIs that had long seceded from human control but now prop up human society with technology that allows people to instantly travel to other planets in the Hegemony 'web'.
The story begins with the commencement of a final pilgrimage of seven pilgrims to a planet that is outside of the Web: Hyperion, which is about to be the forefront of a war with a group of humans outside of the Hegemony. Their destination are the Time Tombs, mysterious structures that are home to the Shrike, part god and part killing machine, that lives beyond the laws of time and space.
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The setting does take getting used to, but the gradual way in which you really begin to understand what's really going on and how the book is set up is what makes it great. The journey in 'realtime' of the character is not a long one; most of the first book is actually devoted to the pilgrims taking it in turn to tell each other why they were picked to come on the final pilgrimage.
Each story has its own different concept, and quite frankly there are at least four that could have been quite astounding if they had been books on their own - but instead here they are as short stories working themselves into a greater tapestry.
As someone who has been trying for a few years to develop several ideas that I hope will become books one day, it was almost shaming to see such amazing work piled into one place like that. It's an embarrassment of riches.
By the time you're well into the second book and really begin to see the extent of the author's imagination, you have to stop and wonder how the hell one man can come up with this much and work it all into a single frame. It's ridiculous.
It's a great book (or rather they're both great books). You have no idea what the hell is going on at first, but it's a mark of how great the writing is that you're completely an utterly hooked as much as you are bewildered such a short way into the books, by the end of the first pilgrim's tale. There are occasions where both books drift slightly and you have to wait for the pace to pick up again, but when it does it was more than worth it.
As is a norm in science fiction, most of the characterisation is somewhat limited (with a notable and important exception), but quite frankly there's hardly the room for it with such a focus on the overriding themes.
Can't recommend it enough.
]). yadayada, anyways, I got to finish a collection of shortstories by P.K. Dick, assembled to or after the movie release of Minority Report, aptly named "Minority Report". Half the stories I already read in "Second Variety" so this collection feels a bit too much like merchandising... meh. 
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