Hyperion/YMMV

• Abusing the Kardashev Scale For Fun and Profit: The Lions and Tigers and Bears are at least a Solid Type III, quite possibly higher.
• Badass Decay: The limits of the Shrike's power are explored in the second duology, where it faces creatures nearly as powerful as itself.

• Complete Monster: Rhadamanth Nemes, in all senses of the phrase. Albedo might be even worse.
• Crowning Moment of Awesome: Colonel Kassad lives and breathes this. Single combat with the Shrike.
  • Oh, but don't forget the one Raul Endymion gets in the fourth book. Single combat with Nemes - a creature nearly as powerful as the Shrike. And he won! And Raul didn't even have nifty future armor.
• Crowning Moment of Funny: Martin Silenus' story.
  • Really, anytime the story focuses on him.
    • Except when he's on the Shrike's tree.
• Even Better Sequel: The three other books in the Hyperion quadtrilogy - Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion are regarded by some readers as even better than the original novel.
  • On the other hand, some consider the second pair to be substantially inferior to the first two.
• Genius Bonus: The series is littered with literary references, from overt to subtle.
• High Octane Nightmare Fuel:
  • The Shrike itself
  • The Archangel ships
  • The tale of Father Hoyt/Father Duré
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Since Moneta is revealed to be future Rachel, this means that Kassad was telling Sol about all the times he had sex with Sol's daughter in his tale.
• Jerkass: Silenus is definitely seen as one throughout much of the first two books, with some of his fellow pilgrams assaulting and threatening to kill him due to his behavior.
• Tear Jerker: Sol Weintraub's story, definitely. Aenea's death as well.
  • Merin's conversation with the dolphins

Dolphin: Miss Shark/Miss Shark/Miss Shark/Miss Shark/Shark/Shark/Shark

• • The last fifty pages of The Rise of Endymion count too, but then the tears are mainly tears of happiness.
• Sci Fi Ghetto: The whole series is based on poems by John Keats. It's still genre fiction, though.