"A world is supported by four things . . . the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous and the valor of the brave. But all of these are as nothing . . . without a ruler who knows the art of ruling."
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
Hyperion is The Canterbury Tales rewritten through Homer, the Bible, Greek myth, and modern science fiction — each pilgrim carrying one archetype of humanity toward extinction or transcendence.
The wicked problem: How to minimize harm caused by a dying Empire ?