Hyperion (1989)

Hyperion starts with pilgrims telling personal stories on a journey towards the Time Tombs. Those accounts become foundations for an expanding history of humanity, technology and belief across four novels. Read Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion first, then Endymion and The Rise of Endymion; the first book deliberately leaves its frame story open. The completed Cantos offers a major change of period and viewpoint, so attachment to the original group must make room for a different kind of quest.