Hyperion by Dan Simmons 8/10

     Hyperion has been a book that I always meant to get to but I didn't pick up for a long time. The basic premise is that there are a few strangers alone on a ship headed to (at the beginning of the book) mysterious destination. These strangers pass the time by telling their life stories to each other, and to try and learn why they're headed where they're headed.
      This creates the structure of the novel. You end up with tiny bits of what's happening in real time and bits that are stories of the crew. It makes for some really hard to follow parts and parts where you just want them to get the hell on with the main plotline because some of the intermittent plots aren't as strong or as interesting as the others.
     The main reason for this is that some of the character's voices are really strong while some of the others aren't.
     The other problem is that there really isn't a payoff at the end. You end more in the middle of something than at the end.  Still, when this book focuses on the interesting characters it's really good. The world is developed enough to make you believe it. The mysterious stuff gets you intrigued. It's worth reading, but I don't know what I think of it in context of the rest of the series yet.