HYPERION CANTOS (TBA) - PREVIEW 

THEY SAY

Producer Graham King has acquired the film rights to Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos books and it will go into production next year for Warner Bros. No news yet on casting, budget, director, etc.

There are in fact four novels in Simmons' series, namely Hyperion (1989), The Fall of Hyperion (1990), Endymion (1996) and The Rise of Endymion (1997).

The plot? It is the 29th century and the universe of the Human Hegemony is under threat. Invasion by the warlike Ousters looms, and the mysterious schemes of the secessionist AI TechnoCore bring chaos ever closer.

On the eve of disaster, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set fourth on a final voyage to the legendary Time Tombs on Hyperion, home to the Shrike, a lethal creature, part god and part killing machine, whose powers transcend the limits of time and space. The pilgrims have resolved to die before discovering anything less that the secrets of the universe itself.

Trevor Sands will adapt the first two books in the series into one screenplay.

WE SAY

According to Amazon.com Simmons' books draw on the works of Keats and provide "a uniquely intelligent and literary approach with cutting edge science, compelling characterization and edge-of-your-seat excitement." We couldn't have put it better ourselves.

Along with anything by Ian Banks and Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy, Simmons' Hyperion Cantos has to count among our favorite sci-fi of the past decade or so. That Hollywood would to change it into a movie is good news as Hollywood tends to neglect good sci-fi novels in favor of, well, crap.

Worrisome though is the mention in the press release that the first two books will be made into one screenplay. Does that mean it's going to be one movie as well? Simmons' books are quite complex and to merely strip two of them down to the running length of one movie would be a dire mistake.

To be honest we've always felt that Simmons' books would make for a great mini- or TV series. Okay, an expensive one, but the only way really to do the books justice.

In the meantime, check out Simmons' book so that come 2010 you can complain about how Hollywood made a mess of them. At 1 700 plus pages you might have finished them if you start right now . . . (don't worry: they're worth every minute, really).