The pilgrims who set out in the previous novel of the series to the Tombs of Time on the planet Hyperion reach their destination and look for Shrike—either to fight him or to ask for help. But he finds each of them on his own, unexpectedly and mercilessly. Meanwhile, the government of the human Hegemony, awaiting news from Hyperion, is delaying the moment of a harsh break with the AIs that allow humanity to communicate and to move instantly between planets: “Can a fish declare war on the water in which it swims?”