The Fall of Hyperion is the second volume of Dan Simmons’s Hyperion Cantos. By the time the novel begins, much of significance has already taken place. Interstellar war between the Hegemony of Man and the quasi-human Ousters has begun. The pilgrims making their way toward their confrontations with the Shrike have told their stories. And the identity of the rumored traitor within the pilgrims’ camp has been revealed.

The story comes to us through the voice of Joseph Severn, an artificially created 'cybrid' uniquely placed to describe every level of the narrative. Joseph sits in on the private war councils of Hegemony CEO Meina Gladstone while also maintaining a telepathic link with the pilgrims on Hyperion. Through these shifting perspectives, the novel follows the individual destinies of a diverse group of characters. At the same time, it follows the larger, overarching destiny of mankind itself.

The Fall of Hyperion examines the relationship between humanity and its own artificially intelligent creations, ponders questions of moral and ethical responsibility, and offers an examination of the primal importance of empathy and love, qualities “as hardwired into the structure of the universe as gravity itself.”