Ahira's Hangar

I'm beginning to buzz though The Fall of Hyperion (boy there are alot of topics here in a very sort period of time) and though I finished Hyperion a little while ago I'm kinda bewildered. I'm also a little bit lazy--so I'm asking for everyones help!

I'm lazy in the fact that I don't really want to keep going back to the first book to decipher all of Simmons anacronyms. I also thought it might be fun to collectively form a Hyperion/Endymion Glossary--as sort of a trivia contest. I'll start by throwing out some terms and anacronyms and when they're answered I'll update them in the first post. If you throw out something you need answered I'll post it up here until we can ID the term.

Glossary questions:
What is the definition of FORCE: ?
EMV: (is it extra military vehicle? electro magnetic?)
Explain what pre-Hegira means
FTL: ?
ALRs: ?
Why was Bressia so important?
ARNist?

Get the idea?, questions?
And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i>Edited by: danlo60 at: 12/29/05 8:23 am
</i>

I thjink that it's a very good idea, Danlo, and I think you just inspired me to reread the two Hyperion books (lately I've been spending more time with the Endymion half). Give me few days and I'll try to get back with you with some answers... Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i></i>

I've been sick the last few days, so haven't gotten much done, but I do have a couple for you:

FORCE the armed forces of the "civilized" worlds -- I still haven't found exactly what the initials stand for, but it is a combined space navy/army

pre-Hegira -- dating back to Old Earth before mankind scattered throughout the stars

Will continue reading between naps! Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 7/27/03 10:14 pm
</i>

But what does the word Hegira mean? And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 7/27/03 10:15 pm
</i>

Ok, here is my first big installment of terms! I will type in as much as I can before work, will try to type in some more tomorrow...

Hegemony -- league of the "civilized" worlds

fatline -- faster than light communications involving tachyons

Tau Ceti Center -- hegemony administrative center; leader of time of Hyperion is Meina Gladstone, the Senate CEO

Ousters -- a people who have undergone extensive genetic engineering to have bodies more fit for use in zero/low gravity, seen as "interstellar barbarians" by the Hegemony -- they travel in migration clusters, which can consist of up to tens of thousands of people in ships that can be as large as comets

worldweb -- 176 worlds (and 200 odd colonies) of the Hegemony, linked together through gates allowing instantaneous travel from world to world and a huge computer network accessed by untold billions of people

farcaster -- gateway between worlds

Shrike -- the Pain Lord, organic killing machine, a creature with the ability to defy physical laws and control time, it communicates via pain and death

cryogenic fugue -- space travellers are frozen to avoid time debt when they must travel on ships between star systems (as opposed to worlds linked by farcasters)

FORCE -- military of the Hegemony -- both a space navy and groundside troops (marines)

Poulson treatments -- anti-ageing medical treatments

Bikura -- primitive people who live on Hyperion near the flame forests

labyrinth worlds -- there are nine of these including Hyperion, of the more than 8,000 explored planets -- always earthlike yet tectonically dead -- tunnels of the labyrinths are deeply set and catacomb the crusts of the planet, obviously machine made, but no trace of builders has ever been found, very mysterious

cruciform -- an organic parasite that ressurects the body of the person wearing it the third day after that body's death, shaped like a cross, blocks/avoids pain; originally found in labyrinths of Hyperion

SDF -- planetary self-defense force

hellwhip -- high energy laser weapon

androids -- biomanufactuered artificial people that are illegal to own in the Hegemony but still used for manual labor on "backwater" worlds like Hyperion

deathwand -- weapon that scrambles neural synapses

EMV -- vehicles that use a planet's magnetic field to leviate/move

OCHSTN -- Olympos Command School Historical tactical Network -- very real simulations of historical battles, used to train FORCE officer candidates -- the Olympus Command School is on Mars

Worldweb All Thing -- real time network which combines 150 planetary dataspheres, connects untold billions of people

New Bushido Code -- for military -- to spare civilians whenver possible, no nukes or tactical bombibgs -- calls for set battles between small professional forces at agreed upon times/places -- followed by FoRCE until Bressia

Bressia -- independent world defended by an SDF, attacked by an Ouster swarm with nukes -- when FORCE arrived to help SDF the resulting savage battles involving nukes and other weapons of mass destruction lasted 97 days before Ousters finally left planet -- however, what the average person in the Hegemony doesn't know is that the Hegemony and Technocore manipulated the situation behind the scenes, and created the incident (using the Bressia SDF to attack Ouster ships to push the Ousters into attacking Bressia) in order to test Ouster war capabilites... Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 2/25/03 11:09:13 pm
</i>

here's a few more:

another bit about the All Thing in the Worldweb: somehow it helps make governmental decisions through citizens voting, I'm not entirely clear on the process

ARNist -- a DNA artist, can bring back extinct forms of life such as dinosaurs

datasphere -- the computer web for an entire world

seedships -- huge ships carrying people, supplies, etc. to colonize a planet

The Big Mistake -- a group of scientists called the Kiev Team made a little black hole on the center of the Earth (ooops!) -- supposedly engineered by a part of the Technocore which wishes the extinction of humans...

Hegira -- the panicked exodus of humans from the Earth after The Big Mistake
pre-Hegira -- dating back to old Earth
post-Hegira -- coming from a more "modern" time

Flashback -- a recreational drug used by the rich that can only be experienced by a person who has a large array of expensive bio-implants

Time Tombs -- large empty structures on Hyperion dating back before mankind evolved, they are the source of an anti-entopic forcefield (they tamper with time), and are associated with the Shrike -- they include the Sphinx, the Jade Tomb, the Obelisk, the Chrystal Monolith, the three cave tombs, and teh Shrike Palace

Shrike Cult/Church -- indiginous religion on Hyperion that believes that the Shrike is the Lord of Pain and the Angel of Atonement, come from a place beyond time to announce the end of the human race -- they say the Shrike was created by humans but is now immortal, beyind time -- they say the Shrike sticks people while still alive on a giant metal thorn tree

more will follow... Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 2/25/03 11:11:27 pm
</i>

got only a few more for now!

Mobius Cube -- used to seal artifacts- can even contain a small nuclear explosion

erg -- forcefield creature originally found on asteroids around Aldebaran, they feed on and manipulate forcefields

Templars -- followers of John Muir, environmentalists; come fro mthe world of God's Grove, have found a way to turn giany trees in to space ships (using ergs)

Cybrid -- beings tailored from human genetic stock, much more human looking than androids, used as temporary homes for an AI (artificial intelligence)

Technocore -- AI's (artificial intelligences) who had succeeded from human control about three hundred years before the story of hyperion begins -- no one knows where the Technocore resides -- believed to be allied to the Hegemony, the Technocore runs the All Thing

AIDS II Virus -- virus for an AI, the virus infiltrates security systems and turns then against the host

World Tree -- a tree on the world of God's Grove larger than most mountains


Have I caught most of what you need, Danlo? I could use some help understanding the All Thing, myself. How exactly does it help govern??

I'll have more terms later... Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i></i>

OK, here's a few more...

Hawking Mat -- illegal on most Web worlds, still allowed on Maui-Covenant due to historical importance -- flying carpets!

Hawking Drive -- faster than light technology that allowed to humans to spread out for thousands of light years from earth

Ultimate Intelligence -- Technocore project dating back some 700 years before the story starts -- to create God

Datumplane --commingling of computer and AI-generated dataspheres and matrixes designed for human operators, seen as common meeting ground for man, machine, and AI

The Stabiles --old AI's, some dating back before the Big Mistake, think symbiosis between humans and Core is necessary -- promotes Ultimate Inteligence Project

The Volatiles -- AI group of Technocore pushing for human extinction

The Ultimates -- AI group of Technocore falling between the Stabiles and Volatiles , force for moderation, obsessed with Ultimate Intelligence project

Schron Loop -- tiny and expensive cxarrier of near infinate amounts of information which cannot be accessed by its biological host; usually used for courier purposes

River Tethys -- a worldweb river, flowing through and via farcasters through more than 200 worlds and moons

Merlin sickness -- sickness contracted by Rachel Weintraub on Hyperion at the Sphinx time tomb, has reversed time for her body -- she ages in reverse

Grand Concourse -- the ultimate shopping mall!! -- each web world has contributed at least one urban block, all connected together through farcasters in one huge loop over 100 km long... Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i></i>

Here r a few more: APCs
GAVs
SDF (Hyperion's now defunct Self Defense Force...) And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

I hope those aren't some of those abbreviations that get thrown out left and right in those FORCE briefings, because if they are, I might never figure them out!

I haven't had much time to read the last few days, so I only have a couple more terms...

bhees -- beams of high energy electrons, a laser weapon

cannister grenades -- grenades which explode into tens of thousands of needle-like projectiles

Treetops -- the most expensive restaurant in the Web, on the world of God's grove -- located on top of a huge tree 1/2 mile above the ground Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i></i>

Only a couple today, my work has been crazy lately.

osmosis mask -- mask worn by humans in areas (such as high elevations) with low oxygen, the mask harvests available oxygen to amke more available for the wearer

harbinger -- bird from Hyperion, black in color, meat/carrion eater, with three meter long wingspan

grass serpents -- great serpents from the Sea of Grass on Hyperion, some grow to be 20 meters long Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 7/27/03 10:16 pm
</i>

Very cool, Duchess! Keep up the good work! And now Danlo looked in that direction, too. He remembered that snowy owls mate in the darkest part of deep winter, and so along with this beautiful white bird perched in a tree a hundred feet away, he turned to face the sea as he watched and waited.

Ahira, Ahira, he called out silently to the sky. Ahira, Ahira<i></i>

The Aggregate -- the Ouster's name for themselves within their group, their swarm

Tribunal -- judicial body made up of the Spokespersons for the clans of an Ouster swarm

lancers -- small warship (in space)

deathwand -- a weapon designed by the Core and limited to Force and special security forces -- simply makes humans within range die by somehow scrambling their neural synapses

Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell<i></i>

The Endymion books take place nearly 300 years after the events in Fall of Hyperion. Therefore, here is a spoiler warning!!!!!! Do not go any further if you haven't finished both Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion!!!!






Scheidinger Cat Box -- orbitting self-contained prison cell with a lethal dose of poison gas attached to the air filtration unit- the poison will be released at a random moment determines by the deacy of a radioactive element so no one person has to perform the act of execution of the prisoner

dracula ticks -- Hyperion species of ticks the size of water balloons

born-again Christian -- person who has accepted the Cruciform parasite

the Pax -- civil/military arm of the Catholic Church - has filled the void left in the galaxy by the Fall of the Hegemony

the Fall -- ending of the Hegemony as told in Fall of Hyperion

Truthtell -- a way to verify the truth of a witness's testimony in court -- born-again Christians in good standing with the Pac cannot be forced to undergo it in Pax courts

fullscan -- another truth verifciation technique used in Pax courts, again, cannot be forced upon born-again Christians in good standing with the Pax
Our lives are the songs that sing the universe into existence.~David Zindell
****Tavern Wench of DOGMA, the Defenders of George Martin's Art****<i>Edited by: Duchess of Malfi  at: 7/27/03 10:17 pm
</i>

Hi Everybody...

I'm reading Hyperion at the moment, and one expression gets to me a little - "The All Thing"...

I happen to live in Denmark, which has interestingly similar expressions for different governing entities:

The Danish parliament is called the "Folketing", which could be understood as "The People's Thing"... (the Danish word "ting" can be translated both as "thing" and "assembly")

In the 1900's it was called the "Alting", which could be understood as the "All Thing"...

From back in the Middle Ages, there have been all kinds of "Ting"'s in Denmark, for example "Herredsting" ("County Thing"), etc.

Basically, the Danish word "Ting" signifies an assembly of people with the purpose of governing either a town, a county or the country itself...

I don't know if Simmons had any of this in mind when he decided to use the expression "The All Thing", but it's fun to think that the Danish expression will be applicable 1000 years from now...

Take care & best regards,

Shrike Jr. <i></i>