The Fall of Hyperion - Background

Background

The universe in which the novel is set relies heavily on high technology. The planet Hyperion, one of the novel's major settings, is a protectorate of the Hegemony of Man, an interstellar governmental entity formed during a mass exodus from Earth, known in the novel as the Hegira. The Hegira was sparked by the apparent destruction of Earth in an accident caused by sentient artificial intelligences. These artificial intelligences were members of the TechnoCore, an immense assemblage of these personae that has "seceded" from its creator, humanity, to which it serves as a type of advisory body. The artificial intelligences can appear in a series of computerized realities, based on cislunar spheres, that are also accessed by humans, but as a type of internet; however, the true residence of the TechnoCore is unknown to the Hegemony. Despite this fact, relations between the two entities are strong, and the TechnoCore has granted a complex form of technology, the farcaster, to the Hegemony, allowing for humans to step through a portal from one location to another, even if the two are separated by great distances. Numerous planets have established large amounts of farcaster connections with one another, forming the "WorldWeb", which is the core of the Hegemony. As the level of technology progresses, so do the religious views of the WorldWeb populace, which is mentioned to adhere largely to a hybrid religion of Zen Buddhism and gnosticism, although a significant minority belong to cults such as the Church of the Final Atonement, which worships the Shrike and the retribution it believes the creature will bring upon society for humanity's past errors. The almost-forgotten Catholic Church nevertheless plays a major role throughout the novel, as one of its priests is among the pilgrims to Hyperion.

The government of the Hegemony is described in detail during the course of the novel, and its role in the fictional universe forms several portions of the plot. Planets with full membership status in the Hegemony select senators to serve in the upper house of the legislature, while the lower house consists of the All Thing, a forum accessible to all citizens through "implants" that connect humans to the "datumplane", one of the computerized realities resembling the World Wide Web. The executive branch consists of a chief executive officer elected by the Senate. At the time of the novel's events, Meina Gladstone serves as the Hegemony's chief executive officer. Despite the democratic tendencies of this parliamentary form of government, the Hegemony has at times taken actions viewed as tyrannous, using its small but elite military, known as FORCE, to invade the sea planet Maui Covenant, which had resisted integration into the Hegemony as a protectorate. Planets not incorporated into the Hegemony are nonetheless affected by it, and its ambassadors effectively administer some planetary governments. Still, some worlds, thought of as the "Outback", are sparsely-settled. The planet Hyperion is viewed as part of the Outback, but is viewed with special regard due to the succession of strange events that have occurred on it since the formation of the Hegemony. These events include colonization efforts that have failed due to the menace of mysterious forces, correctly believed by many to have been the work of the Shrike.

The Hegemony is opposed by the Ousters, renegade human colonies that fled the Hegemony's growing influence even before the events of the Hegira. Though seen by many Hegemony citizens as barbarians, the Ousters have a highly-advanced culture that focuses primarily on the fine arts and on aesthetic values almost unknown amidst the many technologies of the WorldWeb. The Ousters have mutated physically, believing that they should adapt to their outer-space surroundings rather than adapt the surroundings themselves, as was the case with WorldWeb planets, and appear in a variety of forms throughout the course of the novel. The Ousters have rarely fought full-scale conflicts with the Hegemony, but are launching an invasion of Hyperion at the time of the novel.