15 Books Like the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons

Another compelling work from Simmons, Phases of Gravity centers around Richard, an astronaut dealing with the personal sacrifices he made to go to space, and the ramifications of the Challenger disaster. 

Although Phases of Gravity doesn't have the same sci-fi focus as the Hyperion books, it's just as engrossing and emotional. 

Another epic sci-fi literary retelling from Simmons, Ilium is the first book in a reimagining of the Iliad set on Earth and Mars. 

Readers who enjoyed the frame story aspect of Hyperion, as well as the melding of literary allusions and more classic sci-fi tropes, will agree with Kirkus Reviews that Ilium is "utterly addictive." 

If you want to see the true breadth of Simmons's talents and interests, this collection of five novels is sure to do the trick. Here, Simmons dives into tons of different genres, from dark fantasy to hard science fiction and even mainstream fiction, handling each one with remarkable grace.

Mountain climbers take on the frigid ascent of K2, a young woman possesses apocalyptic-level powers, and modern-day people learn a chilling lesson about their ancestors in this series of fantastic, thoughtful, and ambitious stories.

There are many who consider Song of Kali the best book that Simmons ever wrote. Bestselling author Dean Koontz goes one step farther, saying that it's “the best novel in the genre I can remember.”

Song of Kali is a fantasy thriller, rather than a work of science fiction. It received the World Fantasy Award and follows an American magazine editor as he searches for a lost manuscript by a mysterious poet, only to be found himself by a cult obsessed with Kali, the goddess of death. 

Frank Herbert's epic Dune saga has an epic scope and intricate worldbuilding that will appeal to Hyperion Cantos readers. 

The series follows the Atreides family, who are entrusted with care of Arrakis, a remote planet that produces the valuable substance called "melange." Arrakis is populated by terrifying monsters called sandworms, which rival the Hyperion Cantos' Shrike as some of the most fascinating scary creatures from sci-fi literature.

The first novel in the cantos, Hyperion, shows how everyday people are impacted by the instability of the Time Tombs and the conflicts between humanity's Hegemony and the Ousters. 

Similarly, The Corridors of Time by Poul Anderson explores how Malcolm, a typical man, is pulled into an unfathomable battle spanning time and human history. 

The first in a quartet of books by Arthur C. Clarke, 2001 begins with a discovery on the Moon. The significance of this finding is so tremendous that men are dispatched far into the solar system. But things start to go horrifically, mysteriously wrong, even before they reach their target…

One of six books in David Brin's Uplift series, Startide Rising follows the adventures of the starship Streaker on the watery world of Kithrup. The ship is crewed by humans, as well as dolphins and chimpanzees who have been 'uplifted,' or given sentience. 

A xenofiction novel that, like Hyperion, explores a dizzying range of points of view, Startide Rising looks at the universe through the perspective of animals, aliens, and human explorers.

This is a mind-blowing, three-volume opus about alternate universes accessed by a route known as the Way. 

In Legacy, a charismatic leader and his thousands of followers travel to a planet populated by genetic anomalies called 'ecos.' In Eon, Earth is threatened by a hollow asteroid that is found to contain manufactured chambers and a mysterious portal. And Eternity follows the ramifications of discovering a path between parallel universes. 

Much like The Canterbury Tales, the first Hyperion novel features stories told by a group of pilgrims. 

Part One of Hyperion, "The Priest's Tale," explores the history of Father Lenar Hoyt. A Canticle for Leibowitz is tonally and thematic similar to this portion of Hyperion, and centers around the Order of Saint Leibowitz, a group of monks on post-apocalyptic Earth. When they discover relics of their order's namesake, the monks also find new hope for the future of humanity. 

"The Priest's Tale" in Hyperion centers around a Catholic priest who researches the enigmatic Bikura civilization. 

Similarly, A Woman of the Iron People follows human anthropologists as they attempt to study the inhabitants of Star Sigma Draconis. However, they invariably interfere with the planet's residents. Ursula K. Le Guin praised A Woman of the Iron People as "fascinating," and the novel went on to win an Otherwise Award. 

As much as the Hyperion series is far-future science fiction, it also explores poetry, and the beauty and devotion that often inspires it. 

Italian author Italo Calvino's The Complete Cosmicomics has the same dizzying, poetic scope as the Hyperion Cantos. It tells the adventures of Qfwfq, a “cosmic know-it-all” who has seen every aspect of the universe since the beginning of time. 

Winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards, The Forever War is book one in a duology. The novel was directly inspired by Joe Haldeman's experiences in the Vietnam War, and follows William Mandella, a student drafted into Earth's war against the Taurans. 

Soldiers are forced to endure time dilation, which means that when William returns to Earth, he's suddenly much older than his loved ones. The unique losses William experiences as a result of time dilation are similar to themes explored in the "Scholar's Tale" and "Consul's Tale" portions of Hyperion. 

Another classic of the 1980s, Gene Wolfe's Shadow & Claw is a two-part book containing 1980's The Shadow of the Torturer and 1981's The Claw of the Conciliator. If you appreciate religious undertones with your science fiction, like you sometimes see through the Canterbury-like tales of the Hyperion Cantos, it's worth trying the story of Severian.

Severian begins as a journeyman torturer from the Order of the Seekers for Truth and Penitence. When his transgressions against the gild see him exiled, however, he must find new purpose in a strange new world.

The 2009 Locus Award Winner rivals classics like Dune and Hyperion in terms of scale and ambition. Stephenson's Anathem follows Fraa Erasmas, who lives safely within the stone walls of the Concent of Saunt Edhar. Erasmas has no fear or real understanding of what lies beyond the concent … but he's about to.

The modern and the ancient will clash as the world stands on the brink of cataclysm. Now, Erasmas is forced to set out on a journey that will carry him to the most dangerous parts of the planet, and even beyond it.