#51 Hyperion by Dan Simmons

It was OK.  Good but not great.
Your stereotypical semi-retired space captain has to come out of retirement to accompany a group of grudging pilgrims as they head to the dangerous world of Hyperion.  There is a god on Hyperion - the Shrike - who is entwined in the stories of all seven of the group of which The Council is one. The council has a name too somewhere, but nobody ever calls him by it.  He goes solely by the odd title of council.  Maybe he's not so much of a "captain" but more of a public servant of some sort... I didn't really get his backstory and it didn't seem to matter.  It was probably there, but I don't honestly feel like I missed much.  Apparently it wasn't all that gripping..
On the voyage to the planet and the march thru the dangerous wasteland haunted by the Shrike they take turns telling their stories as to why they need take this perilous journey in the first place.   The priest's story is the best, but It's not even HIS story.  He id following in the footsteps of another priest who came as a missionary previously. Why THIS guy needs to come himself.. I don't really know.
The Corporal's story is interesting too.  I think he is haunted by the ghost of an ex lover or something. Again, I think I missed something there.
The poet's story makes more sense.  He used to live on Hyperion and his writing has some connection with the Shrike slaughtering people.   I don't know why he in on the journey, but at least I see the connection.
The private detective; I cant remember why she is involved either. She fell in love with a computer reincarnation of WB Yeats.  Neat concept.  Pertinent how?
The ship captain just seemed to be along for the ride.
The best story - and the one that firs best for plot - is the professor and his daughter.  His baby used to be a scientist investigating mysteries on Hyperion when she was exposed to something that makes her age backwards and forget everything of the days she has lost. It's actually a really cool part of the story.  She is an infant now and soon she will progress back to before she was born and ..die?

All in all I think I missed a lot, but I don't feel inspired to go back and figure it out.
Eh.. oh well.

P155
He thought briefly that such an anticlimax would be the universe's fitting verdict on his martial pretensions: the brave warrior floating off in to near-planet orbit.. He would end his life as useless and harmless as a child's runaway balloon.

P192
"Words are the only bullets in the truth's bandoleer.  And Poets are the snipers."

P249
Another friend, a child psychologist from the college, once commented that Rachel at age five showed the most reliable indications of true giftedness in a young person: structured curiosity, empathy for others, compassion, and a fierce sense of fair play.