Една идея по- мудна от предните 2 книги, сякаш страда от middle book syndrome, макар да е 3та книга в поредицата, но отново брилянтен Дан Симънс.
Много ме е яд, че Кантос е толкова недооценена поредица, но не е за всеки и разбирам защо хората я избягват. Симънс вплита толкова теми на различна нива в една доста димамична и богата на технически термини книга, което кара читателя да внимава и си налага да е съсредоточен, чете се бавно с една дума.
Ако ви вълнуват теми относно космос, битки в космоса, пътуване из галактиката, изкуствен интелект и религия това е правилната книга.

There are quite a lot of reviews of "Endymion", that tend to emphasize that this book "is very different". With all due respect, I have to disagree. As usual, I want to keep my review spoiler-free and that means I have to be very vague about the reasons why I disagree. So be it.

Yes, of course there are different characters, the timeline of Endymion is some 250-300 years after "The Fall of Hyperion", so it shouldn't be a big surprise. What is a big surprise, is that a few of characters from, lets call it a first duology, make a comeback. Some have a more prominent role, others are just mentioned, but the fact remains - it's not a total shake-up.

Hyperion is familiar and exists. Other planets are familiar and exist. The enemies are familiar and exist. Damn, even The Shrike is familiar and exists. The style, the pacing, the different points of view - they all are familiar and exist. So yeah, I really can't say that the book is very different.

As always, the better the book is, the less I have to say about it. And this book is very, very good. It kept me glued to it. I even read it while my beloved Juventus played a match and that is a strong statement, given I just don't miss Juve's matches without some very serious reasons. Ok, ok, I DID watch the first half and the match was effectively over after it already, but still.

5* without any doubt and I just can't wait to know how it all ends.

This is a disappointing fall for Dan Simmons.

Endymion is a tedious and ultimately pointless sci-fi chase novel that recycles rather than expands the concepts from Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. Simmons starts by resetting the environment: it is 247 years later, and the reader no longer knows anything about anything. A bunch of travellers have to go on another journey of even more obscure purpose because one of them has "dreams", a completely unexplained plot contrivance. They are pursued by a new and one-dimensional galaxy-spanning organisation modelled on the Catholic church (how original). I would describe it as a story detached from Hyperion, but I can't say for sure because it ends before anything happens, but not before subjecting me to an extended dreary travelogue that gave me flashbacks to Tad William's idiotic Otherland series and the late Robert Jordan's excruciatingly described, neverending Wheel of Time treks.

I found the characters incredibly annoying: the narrator is not only ineffectual, he is prone to fits of hyperbole and enervating navel-gazing; the heroine is a badly sketched teenager who attracts dei ex machina like flies; and the pursuer is one of those annoyingly naive idealists, despite the fact he is supposed to be a hardened soldier and an implacable foe. The Shrike, once a figure of dread and horror, is trotted out whenever the protagonists get themselves into trouble as a kind of plot-crowbar, and in a dunderheaded reversal, the invincible killing-machine works to help them out of tight spots.

Hyperion worked as a partial story because of the interesting concepts and the steady revelation of the setting and situation. In Endymion, there are but a handful of new concepts and almost no movement in the derivative and contrived storyline. We've seen it all before, and better executed besides.

Simmons has a tendency to tell rather than demonstrate; it's a problem prevalent and harder to avoid in the genre, but when he says that the Pax is far more powerful than the Hegemony, I can't help but compare those few words with the scale and scope of the entity that had been sketched over two books, and shake my head. Another common sci-fi problem present here is the needless technicality of his metaphors; non-technical situations are described via science-heavy references that break the flow of prose.

The only reason to read Endymion would be to get to The Rise of Endymion; unfortunately this is like jumping into the frying pan in order to jump in the fire, as the final book is just as bad. Stop after the Fall of Hyperion and think of the Endymion books as juvenile non-canon fanfiction.

"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever"

Non ricordavo quello splendore interno alla scrittura di Simmons.
Non ricordavo quell’emozione luminosa, infusa di poesia, intelligenza, empatia che ti afferra dal bordo di una frase.
Non ricordavo i colori dei mondi della rete, una celebrazione galattica dell’Holi festival, la mole regale delle sequoie templari o la grazia degli sciami Ouster.
Ricordavo il respiro epico, l’armonia legante, l’equilibrio dei piani narrativi.
Solo l’emozione si era dispersa nel tempo.
Tornare, e ritrovare ogni cosa intatta, è stato bellissimo.

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

da Endymion - John Keats

I knew that entropy existed in the universe, but Endymion proves that it applies to great book series too. The only word which I can think after finishing this book is disappointment. The series just took nose dive for me into oblivion in this book. I just can't find the words to express my disappointment regarding this book, and this is partly due to the fact that I really liked the first two books in Hyperion series.

Some of the weak points of the book are

1.The story seems to be going no where.
2.Flat characters.
3.Deus ex machine syndrome.

Let me elaborate on the above points

1.The story seems to be going no where.

The book definitely starts strongly when we are introduced to the lead character in the series Raul Endymion, we are also given his background story and shown the circumstances due to which he has ended where is now.

Simmons uses the solid world initially and some of the pilgrim characters from the previous books also make a comeback, but once this is done the chase starts then actually the problem with the book starts.

This book should have been aptly titled Hitchhiker's guide to hegemony because our protagonist seem to travel through travel different planets for the heck of it, without giving us the reader any motive for this travel.

The travelogues consists basically of huge descriptions regarding of atmosphere of the planet along with its flora and fauna and also the civilization of that planet. Although it starts interestingly but this pattern keeps on repeating itself until finally Simmons realizes that the book should end where in he gives us some meaning for this travel and raps up the book.

2.Flat characters.

The previous books were interesting due to the fact that, they had some amazing characters in them and each of their story explained to us the world of hegemony. We did not need huge info dumps regarding anything in this world as it flowed fluidly with the story.

The less said the better regarding the characters in this book, because I was not able to connect with any of the characters in this book, I cared for the previous characters and wanted to know what happened to each of them in previous books, but in Endymion I just did not give a damn as to what was happening to the characters.

3.Deus ex machine syndrome.

It was ok to have a Deus ex machine aka Shrike in the previous books, but in Endymion the author just solves any problem with this strategy. Also having one Deus ex machine is understandable, but when you have three of them throughout the story then for me something is terribly wrong with the story.

Although I did not like this book a bit I am still going to give it 2 stars and these are due to the fact that I really liked the first two books in this series, and hope that the last book is better than this one.

Endymion by Dan Simmons is a Science Fiction novel on a grand space opera level with a very personal and detailed feel to the characters. It is the third in the Hyperion Cantos series.

The story starts off 274 years after the events of the second book, The Fall Of Hyperion. Raul Endymion, a shepherd and hunting guide living on Hyperion. He gets convicted of a murder and sentenced to death. After his execution things start to become far more complicated and difficult for him. He meets a familiar face from the past and is told he must go to the Time Tombs, rescue a young girl called Aenea from church controlled military forces when she leaves the Shrike Temple, and then escort her so her message can be heard at the right time and place. They are not allowed to merely stroll away without complications however. The Pax, the restored Roman church and religion, sends Father Captain De Soya after them to bring Aenea to Church control.

There is a small selection of continuous characters throughout the book; Raul, Aenea, the android A. Bettik, and Father Captain De Soya. The characters are all described extremely well, both physically and mentally. You quickly learn who they are and what drives them and motivates them to the acts they perform. As with the previous two books you get a true sense of personality and empathy with almost all major and most minor characters.

The world building is once again very impressive. After the events of the last book and the intervening 274 years there are many places and societies that have changed. The changes to familiar places feel very believable and the sense of continuity is maintained. Simmons portrays the idea that people, societies and entire worlds evolve and continue no matter what anyone or anything can do. I personally loved this about the book and felt involved in the worlds and places their little group visits.

In the first book, Hyperion, the pilgrims were on a gradual journey where you learn about them and the world they live in. Endymion has a similar feel to it; with the characters being chased across multiple worlds and environments learning what they can about each other and what they may need to do to accomplish their primary goals.


In Summary: An amazing SF novel with good characters and impressive world that manages to stay faithful to the world and feel of the first two books. It may not be quite as good as Hyperion but I still thought it was excellent and gave it 5 stars.

I'm in total awe of Dan Simmons. The First two Hyperion books are one of my favorite SF books ever and after FALL OF HYPERION I was a bit skeptical about ENDYMION. For starters it didn't have any of the original pilgrims making an appearance. though I felt there was a lot to be told about the pilgrims. little did I know that this book picks up right around the end of the story of the pilgrims and Eben though the pilgrims don't all appear, Martin Silenus has an awesome cameo. But Aenea, Raul Endymion and A. Bettik make one helluva trio. The Pas officials are cool enough adversary but what makes this book so awesome is the scope. Hyperion created all these wonderful worlds and didn't explore too much of them, well this book does just that. and if the worlds in Hyperion didn't blow your mind the worlds the beleaguered trio explores in this book will dam right render you catatonic.

this is a masterpiece. period.

Чого бракує третій книзі? Бракує дій. Головні герої протягом кількасот сторінок гасають по різним зоряним системам, щоб наприкінці вступити у нерівний двобій. Попередні книги тримали у напрузі більше.
Спойлери до перших книг. Майже через три століття після подій попередніх частин людство занурилося у своєрідні Темні віки. Штучний інтелект прогнали, швидке пересування між світами відсутнє, Вигнанці спустошили багато планет, розрізнені світи потроху об’єднує Церква, якій відкрилася таємниця вічного життя. На Гіперіоні живе Рол Ендіміон. Йому доводиться рятувати 12-річну Енею, на яку полює Церква, вважаючи, що дівчинка призведе до загибелі всього людства.
Що здивувало? Що за штучним інтелектом ховається ще сильніший гравець. Тобто повторюється ідея попередніх книг про те, що за кожним лялькарем ховається інший лялькар. Сама ідея невідомої сили цікава тільки тим, що вона справді невідома. Але повторення тієї ж ідеї протягом трьох книг навряд чи виправдовує себе. Особливо, якщо врахувати, наскільки вони товсті, і те, що є ще четверта, найоб’ємніша. І це нагадує самокатування. Буду дочитувати, просто щоб дізнатися, чим все закінчилося.

Abyssmal. Should never have been written. Hyperion & Fall of Hyperion were magnificent; this and its companion book are examples of when an author should know when to quit.

I wasn't expecting this to be as good as Hyperion. A writer pens a classic and very rarely do they equal its awesomeness and originality. Endymion started great. It delivered all of the science fiction intrigue i've come to expect from Dan Simmons. The plot was nicely linked to the other two books and the whole idea of 'what message will she deliver' was interesting. But the more i read the less i liked. It was around page 400 i started to become bored. There's a couple of chapters of planet descriptions, journeying through tunnels and interacting with a new race of people which sucked the life out of my desire to give a damn. The 'message' the girl is carrying isn't explained until toward the end, which is too late because by then i was ready for the book to end. The main character, Raul, isn't the easiest person to like as he starts to become whiney and is overshadowed by Aenea. I would have liked more from Father De Soya as his mission is more interesting than Raul's.

A little disappointed but i will read Rise of Endymion.

Leído en 2001.
Simmons es reconocido sobre todo por esta saga, Hyperion. Alabada, reconocida y elevada al rango de "culto" la reconozco virtudes (originalidad sobre todo en ese monstruo evolutivo) que sin embargo no me llegaron a emocionar. Leí los trews primeros y no pasé de ahí. El IV le tengo en pendientes pero me da mucha pereza tener que re-leer los anteriores para retomar la historia.
A ver si leo algún comentario que me anime a hacerlo.

P.D. Del autor me quedo con su bilogía de Olympo.

Key point: this book is full of descriptions of a female, underage main character that are uncomfortable and weird at best, predatory and sexualizing and gross at worst.

Apart from all of the critiques of pacing, logic, language etc. that others have outlined, which are also legitimate, even if it was a great book in all other ways, the descriptions of one of the main characters (Aenea, a 12 year old female "messiah?" child) by another main character/the narrator (Raul, an adult (late 20s early 30s?) male) would ruin this book anyway.

It honestly reads as if it was originally written in a more unambiguously sexualizing way, and then an editor came through and told the author "wow dude you really can't write this stuff, fix this and this and this" and the author just added "but totally not in a sexual way, obviously" after all of the problematic descriptions.

There isn't nearly enough literary, analytical, critical, or whatever other heft to even begin to try to justify these descriptions (as some people might justify Nabokov's Lolita, for example.) It's just gross. It's not *about* grossness, it's just gross.

First line of the entire book:
"You are reading this for the wrong reason. If you are reading this to learn what it was like to make love to a messiah - our messiah - then you should not read on, because you are little more than a voyeur." Again, this is about a character who, in this book, is 12 years old. There are no sex acts in this book, but this is the reader's introduction to her. This is the framing of this character. She even "loses herself in time" and talks about showering with the narrator (again, an adult man) later in time. Seriously?

Even writing this review is making me uncomfortable.

After struggling through this book, I came on Goodreads expecting to find a ton of one-star ratings with similar critiques, and shockingly, only found a few (some in the 2 star rating section, some in the comments of 1 star ratings) and I wonder if it's my relative unfamiliarity and therefore lack of numbness to typical tropes in certain sci-fi subgenres? But if sexualized messiah-child is a an acceptable trope in some genre then nah, I'm good, we should probably fix that.

Anyway, it's a real shame, because the first two books in this series (as many have said) were pretty great and had some interesting concepts, despite the sexist and ethnofetishistic tidbits that are just par for the course in so much pulp fiction.

TL;DR: Child-sexualization grossness, none of the page-turner pacing you want in pulp and none of the substantive concepts you want in sci-fi. AVOID.