On the planet called Hyperion, beyond the law and the reach of 28th-century science, waits the creature called the Shrike. Some worship it, some fear it, and some have vowed to destroy it. On the eve of Armageddon, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set forth on a final voyage to the Valley of the Time Tombs, where the Shrike waits for them. They seek the answers to the unsolved riddles of their lives and have resolved to die before discovering anything less than the secrets of the universe itself.En el mundo llamado Hyperion, m�s all� de la Red de la Hegemon�a del Hombre, aguarda el Alcaud�n, una singular y temible criatura a la que los miembros de la Iglesia de la Expiaci�n Final veneran como Se�or del Dolor. En v�speras del Armageddon y bajo la amenaza de una guerra entre la Hegemon�a, los enjambres �xter, y las inteligencias artificiales del TecnoN�cleo, siete peregrinos acuden a Hyperion para recuperar un rito religioso. Todos son portadores de esperanzas imposibles y tambi�n de terribles secretos.