The Rise of Endymion

**The Hyperion Cantos: A Review of The Rise of Endymion**

The Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons has been a remarkable reading experience for me. The first two books, Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion, blew me away with their epic scale and captivating storylines. Endymion, the third book, was also a great read, although it didn't quite reach the same heights as the first duology. Now, I come to the final installment, The Rise of Endymion.

The story picks up where Endymion left off, with Raul and Aenea recovering from the Pax attack and learning a trade. Raul is soon sent on a solo mission to retrieve their spaceship, while a new pope is elected and has plans for the Church's destruction of the Ouster race. Meanwhile, Captain de Soya is given a reprieve and put back in command of the pursuit of Aenea.
The writing in this book is Simmons at his best. He has a phenomenal imagination and is a true wordsmith, bringing this universe to life with vivid detail. However, there were a few sections where the exposition was a bit much, especially during the visit to T'ien Shan. The romance between Raul and Aenea also felt a bit forced at times.
The characters in this book are a mixed bag. Raul is a lackluster lead protagonist, and Aenea's story feels a bit too mapped out. The supporting characters from T'ien Shan blend together, and Father De Soya takes a back seat. However, Rhadamanth Nemes is a great addition, adding tension and excitement to every scene she is in.
Overall, The Rise of Endymion is a good read, but it's not quite as good as the first three books in the series. The ending is gripping and tense, but the book does feel a bit rushed after the long section on T'ien Shan. If you've read the other three volumes, you should definitely read this one to finish the saga. But if you're new to the series, start with Hyperion and work your way through.

  "Events are fluid. The future is like smoke from a burning forrest, waiting for the wind of specific events and personal courage to blow the sparks and embers of reality this way or that."





  Initial Thoughts




Even though I'm not a die-hard sci-fi fan, I can say without reservation that the Hyperion Cantos series has been one of the most significant reading experiences of my life. It's without doubt one of the best collections of books I've ever read. The first book was like an atomic bomb, blowing me away, and the second one captured my imagination like few other books, developing into an all-out intergalactic space opera of epic scale. I really fell in love with these books and the universe created within.



Simmons then gave us a whole new Hyperion story in Endymion, a sprawling interplanetary adventure set over two hundred years after the original. The way he blended the two narratives was impressive, although it didn't quite reach the unbelievably high standards set by the first duology. It was still a damn fine book, and a hard act for the final installment, The Rise of Endymion, to follow.




  The Story




A quick recap: in Endymion, we were introduced to Raul Endymion, a Hyperion native sent on a mission by Martin Silenus to save and protect Aenea, a six-year-old girl who is set to be the new Messiah, from the Pax and overthrow them in the process. This installment picks up where Endymion left off, with Raul and Aenea recovering from the brutal Pax attack and learning architecture. Raul is soon sent on a perilous solo mission to retrieve their spaceship, while a new pope has been elected (or rather, the old pope has been resurrected and reinstated) and has plans for the Church's destruction of the Ouster race. In the background, there's a deal going on with the Technocore of artificial intelligence.



It's not long before my personal favorite, Captain de Soya, is given a reprieve and put back in command of the pursuit of Aenea. But after the close of the last novel, who knows where his loyalties lie? It all looks set for a scintillating climax.








  The Writing




As an author, Dan Simmons has many strengths. His imagination is phenomenal, and he is a real wordsmith, bringing this universe to life with history, culture, and religion. The level of detail is astonishing. However, in this book, I had a few problems. There was a good section where I was bored due to the insane amount of exposition. During the visit to the Buddhist world of T'ien Shan, Simmons gave us a geography lesson that went way over the top, adding nothing to the plot. I don't care that much about what the mountains look like to spend a full chapter reading about them! And the endless amount of character names that weren't fleshed out started to make me feel bogged down.



Then there's the romance between Raul and Aenea. I'm not someone who looks for romance in a novel, and this one was starting to get cringe-worthy. Every scene involving them seemed to end with "and then they had sex again." Give me a break!



But then Simmons shifts back into some very well-crafted action sequences, which he excels at. These scenes were exciting, tense, and well-executed, really keeping me on the edge of my seat. So it's not all negative, and the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.




  "There are no ghosts, my love. Death is final. The soul is that ineffable combination of memory and personality which we carry through life...when life departs, the soul also does. Except for what we leave in the memory of those who loved us."





  The Characters




I'm just going to come out and say it: Raul Endymion is a lackluster choice for a lead protagonist. Other than his undying love for Aenea, he really doesn't have much going for him. He comes across as pedestrian for a large part of the novel and annoyingly stupid at others. This quote sums him up: "Raul Endymion was slow and thick-witted, usually the last to understand anything."



Aenea, on the other hand, is an interesting character, vibrant and full of energy and life. She almost makes up for the lack of character in Raul. However, too much of her story is mapped out, and there's no deviation from it. She is overly confident in how things will work out, which kills a lot of interest for me as I can predict how things will end.



There's a load of supporting characters from T'ien Shan who start to blend together. Even if I'd been keeping notes, I'd have been struggling to tell them apart. And then my favorite character from the last book, Father De Soya, takes more of a back seat in this one. He is overtaken by Rhadamanth Nemes, a badass assassin from the mysterious Technocore who loves nothing better than tearing little messiahs to pieces. She is a frightening character who adds maximum tension to every scene she is in.




Rhadamanth Nemes



And I can't finish without mentioning the Shrike. Still one of the greatest antagonists to ever appear in a story. Is he really an antagonist? You'll find out. Every scene featuring this interdimensional killing machine is just dynamite.




  Final Thoughts




I know I've come across as pretty negative on this book, but it's only because I expect the best from this series. Out of its seven hundred pages, about five hundred are really, really good. It's just that one particular section that went on for nearly two hundred pages had me ready to rip the book up. But it doesn't prevent it from being a good read overall, even a very good one. It's just not mind-blowingly brilliant like the last three.



The ending itself was gripping and tense, although it did feel a bit rushed after that slog through Buddaworld. I'm being negative again, but I have to be honest. I've finished the Hyperion Cantos, and it was an amazing journey. Perhaps the best one I've ever experienced in book format or any other. I love this series! And if you take these four books as a whole, they are an absolute epic masterpiece.



If you've finished the other three volumes, you'd be crazy not to read this one and finish the saga. But as a warning, if you haven't gathered by now, this book is not a standalone and won't make much sense on its own. So definitely read the other ones first, especially the first one, which is the pick of the bunch.



Let's be clear: the world-building and imagination in this book alone elevate it above most other books. It's enough to earn it four stars. But I'm old-fashioned in my tastes when it comes to a good story. I want great characters and I don't want to be bored reading it. So a four is all it's getting.



It's always a shame to finish on a low, but sometimes that's life. If I just look at the positives with this book and the series overall, it puts a huge smile on my face. So do the right thing and read this series. Well, at least the first two books.



And thanks for reading my review...cheers!

Nobody's Fool

And then done with Mr. Simmons. Time to move on. I see the cover illustrator finally caught up to the fact that the Shrike has four arms. My edition is only 579 pages.
Day one but barely got started late last night. It'll be a bit of a chore to finish with M. Simmons last(?) Hyperion book but one needs to find out how things turn out. I hope it's the last anyway. I'm getting just a bit worn out by his relentless prose mediocrity and repetition. Enough with the steaming mugs and perky breasts already! Oh well, it IS Sci-Fi after all and once the ideas run thin the serviceable-at-best prose can get tedious. I'm always sceptical of really prolific writers like DS and TC Boyle(a much better writer). Lots of them in genre fiction of course(R.B. Parker, Michael Connelly, Harlan Coben et al...). It begins to look like they're mostly in it for the money.
Another day and the action is picking up though not without boring philosophical/spiritual digressions. This action is beginning to look like a re-take of the previous book but it's OK. I'm not sure about the herky-jerky, many trains running simultaneously style. Constant cliffhanging...
Moving along now to Part Two after Raul takes yet another physical beating. It gets kind of tedious after a while. The big "Is she or isn't she?" issue has been raised. Who to believe? Seems obvious but I'll say no more...
And on and on and down to two stars now. As some G'reads reviewers have already noted this book cries out for some serious editing. I'm rapidly losing interest after the whole thing came to a crashing halt on the planet of T'ien Shan or Bhuddists in Spaaaace. This unfortunate transformation from reasonably thoughtful and interesting space pursuit - good guys/bad guys adventure to copious over-description word-sludge philosophical/pseudo-scientific speculation has also been noted by others. Seems to me that DS saw that he had only 2-300 pages of legit plot to deal with and decided that wasn't enough so now he's committed to explaining WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT... So boring that I'm currently reduced to skillful skimming so I can get to the end. In the words of M. Simmons himself: "Blah, blah, blah."
Finally finished with this exasperating book. Sometimes fun and interesting but mostly a slog through M. Simmons' word-fest. And the ending? Inexplicable to me but then I'm not an expert at time travel. Even if more of this "saga" is forthcoming I won't be joining in.

The final chapter of this epic is truly fantabulous!

This story is truly fantastic. I have a deep affection for the premise, the remarkable ideas it encompasses, and the vast scope it presents. And, of course, the characters are also very engaging. The story skillfully weaves together the events that took place in Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion, and Endymion, creating a seamless and captivating narrative.

However, my only criticism is that there is an excessive amount of description and exposition. In some places, the details are described to an almost absurd degree, and some of Aenea's stories explaining history are just too long and detailed. While I understand that she is "the one who teaches," it doesn't mean that the readers have to endure university-style lectures. There is simply a lot of exposition that needs to be skimmed through.

Moreover, I am slightly taken aback by the romance between Aenea and Raul. The story is told from Raul's point of view, and we can see that he has numerous questions, concerns, and a simple desire to be on the same wavelength as Aenea. However, it seems that every time he has a question, the response is "we need to make love." Suddenly, everything is wonderful again. If the genders were reversed and Raul was the girl and Aenea the man, this would not be received well at all!

All in all, it is still a great read, but it could have benefited from more careful editing to reduce the excessive description and exposition and to make the romance more believable.

This review pertains to both Endymion, the third book in the Hyperion Cantos tetrology, and Rise of Endymion, which is the fourth book. If you haven't read Books 1 and 2, it's advisable to check out my review here first. I was a huge fan of Books 1 and 2, but my feelings towards Books 3 and 4 are rather divided.

Book 3 offers a thrilling sci-fi adventure. It's a non-stop ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story takes place almost 300 years after the end of Book 2 and begins on Hyperion but soon branches out. By the end of Book 4, we get glimpses of the fates of the characters from the earlier books, enough to feel a sense of closure.

The main focus is on two new characters. One is the daughter of Brawne Lamia and the cybrid John Keats, known as \"The One Who Teaches\" or the new messiah. The other is her protector-turned-lover, Raul Endymion, along with their android sidekick, A. Bettick.

In this time leap, the human galaxy has rejected the Technocore and lost its abilities like teleportation and FTL communication. The Catholic Church has established a theocratic dictatorship, controlling a vast military and mercantile corporations by offering \"eternal life\" through the cruciform.

Aenea, Raul, and Bettick are on a mission to break the church's control and convince humanity to reject the cruciform. They are constantly on the run from the church and its forces. Book 3 maintains the fast pace and excitement of the previous books, with each setting presenting new challenges.

However, Book 4 is where it all goes wrong for me. The story loses its momentum and becomes overly sentimental and self-indulgent. While Simmons does a good job of tying up loose ends and introducing plot twists, the editing is weak, the characters are not as strong, and the emotions feel forced.

For example, the relationship between Raul and Aenea, despite being a central part of the story, doesn't feel believable. Their connection seems to be based mainly on appearance and proximity, rather than a deep emotional bond. Additionally, the long-winded scenic descriptions and sappy romance become tiresome.

In conclusion, while I'm glad I read Book 4 to see how the story ends, it's clear that Simmons needed a better editor for this final installment. Book 3 gets 4 out of 5 stars, while Book 4 only manages 2 out of 5 stars.

I loved it so much, it hurt to finish it.

From the very beginning to the end, "The Rise of Endymion" was an absolute spiritual adventure. Raul, an endearing character, tells his story from within a Schrodinger Cat Box, waiting for his imminent death. There is nothing particularly outstanding about him. Besides his voluntary rejection of the cruciform and his firm dedication to protecting Aenea, he is almost a worthless player in the story, knowing essentially as little as the reader. However, the way his personality develops is so masterful that his cynical, clueless, and sometimes facetious perspectives are filled with emotion, especially his enchanting relationship with Aenea.

Simmons, in this novel, delves deep into his postulations of theology and science. Since this is a genre that celebrates imagination and creativity, I don't thoughtlessly praise Simmons' intense use of figures and teachings from our paradigm to shape his work. Nevertheless, the allusions he makes are beautiful adaptations of pure knowledge, and I can't help but admire his mastery of these contents. I have been inspired to read up on more than one of the figures and concepts he mentioned.

Truly, the novel is a mythical journey. Have you, for the length of three books, been pulling your hair out trying to understand the purpose and origin of the Shrike (surely one of the most mysterious fictional creations ever?), the Lions and Tigers and Bears, the Void which Binds, the secret behind the cruciform, the motive of the TechnoCore, the politics of the Pax, the power of Aenea, and seeking closure to the arcs of the characters first introduced in "Hyperion"? Well, you get a lot of that here - but not before most of what you may have thought before is shown to be false. The final telling of the story of this universe and its components was awe-inspiring and left me gaping. Granted, to convey a large amount of this information, Simmons had to literally lecture the reader through Aenea, but the spectacle of the truth overshadows this minor flaw. I had wondered over the course of the past three books whether all the plot lines would be closed, and I'm delighted to report that they were. Not all secrets were revealed, but enough to satisfy and amaze me.

No reader wants to end a story feeling depressed. Every author wants to finish with a happy ending. But it's a delicate task to produce a positive ending while maintaining suspense; the ideal ending is one that the reader isn't expecting. The ending of "The Rise" was one of my favorites. All the while, there is hope for Raul and Aenea, even if only a glimmer. And then, all of a sudden, it is dashed in the cruelest of ways, leaving me reading and re-reading that page in disbelief and despairing chagrin. But Simmons had a surprise up his sleeve yet. There's little more I can say without giving the plot away, but let it suffice for me to declare that rarely have I been left in such turmoil at the end of a tale.

I truly enjoyed the concepts raised in this novel, particularly those of the paradox of time, the essence of love, and the nature of religion. There was much that made me think and much that left me appreciating the power that language can have. Even as I write this a day after finishing the novel, the characters of Aenea and Raul and their crackling synergy are still sharply etched in my mind. Extracting myself from their world is a great pain after being immersed in it these past days, a definite hallmark of the wonder of the story.

If you've read any of the preceding three novels, you probably won't be able to stop yourself from reading on to this one. The previous three each ended with the reader facing gaping questions, and many of those are answered in this final installment. It's a highly satisfactory conclusion to an elegantly crafted series. If you haven't started on any of Simmons' four books, then I encourage you to experience this world starting with "Hyperion". A word of caution to the carefree reader: the writing tends to be verbose, and the story arcs and concepts are complex - you must have the resilience to withstand the incomprehensible and the desire to understand the unbelievable if you're to find these books pleasurable. Please take the plunge.

It seems that this series is the best I have read in science fiction. The last book of the series once again did not disappoint. And, what's even more amazing - even after this book, one can still think and think and think - what will happen/happened/happens next there?

This science fiction series has truly captured my imagination. The detailed world-building, unique characters, and thought-provoking storylines make it a standout in the genre. Each book builds upon the previous ones, creating a rich and immersive universe that I can't get enough of.

The last book in particular tied up many loose ends while still leaving room for speculation and further exploration. It made me question the nature of the universe, the limits of technology, and the future of humanity. I found myself constantly turning the pages, eager to see what would happen next.

Overall, I highly recommend this science fiction series to anyone who loves a good read. It's a must-read for fans of the genre and will leave you with a sense of wonder and excitement long after you've finished the last page.

A fitting end to a truly great series.

It offers a concentrated dose of existential anxiety that keeps the readers on the edge of their seats.

The story also has a bright and heartwarming sadness that tugs at the heartstrings.

Surprisingly, it contains a strong ecological, religious, and ethical message within a friggin' space opera.

It explores evolutionary paradigms and merges some 4 or 5 major sci-fi genres into one book.

The lovable mains, interesting secondaries, and terrific villains add to the overall charm of the story.

However, despite "Cantos" easily making it into my all-time top-3 sci-fi series, I cannot rate this book a 5*. I felt that Dan Simmons overdid it by trying to merge different genres in one book. There was too much religion and soul for a sci-fi. The middle part of the book was almost unnecessary. It had a decent role in advancing Raul's and Aenea's relationship and was a good background to answer some lingering, series-long questions. But overall, I thought that this part was influenced too much by Buddhism and especially Nepalese/Tibetan culture. There's nothing wrong with Buddhism, Nepal, Tibet, Everest, and all those similar motifs. But I really didn't like the bloated portrayals of every single peak, every single temple on those peaks, every single road that leads to all those temples on every single peak, etc.

I really feel like cutting out a bit of that second part would have made a better book. It would have been shorter, faster, and still remained character-driven. I loved all the questions answered and all the plot twists (though they were not hard to predict), and a great ending. But still, it's not enough for a 5* rating. I feel that a rating of about 4.42 would be a just one, but as we can't post such a rating here on GR, 4* will have to do.

I am truly very disappointed with the conclusion of this series.

Halfway through the book, I had to pause and double-check to ensure that I wasn't mistakenly reading Twilight. The transformation of the story into a love affair felt extremely forced. I simply couldn't sense any of the supposed chemistry, undying love, and loyalty that was meant to have developed between Raul and Aenea.

Moreover, her repeated response of "I'll explain later" to many of the plot-hole-like sections was never actually followed up with proper explanations! The sex scenes seemed entirely unnecessary and appeared to be just padding. I found myself constantly rolling my eyes and skipping as much of them as possible. Maybe I missed some whispered explanations during their zero-g lovefests, but I'd rather miss them than endure reading such stupid nonsense.

I've been bothered by this since Endymion, but Raul does not rhyme with Tall. If that was the intended sound, they should have just named the guy Paul. And "Aenea" doesn't seem to be pronounced as Ah-nea. Both of these names made me pause almost every time they came up due to the strange pronunciations. Since the author took the time to point it out, it really stuck in my brain. Unfortunately for me, they are the two main characters, and the awkward and incorrect pronunciations continuously jolted me out of the book.

I don't care what Dan Simmons has to say. Having a love affair with a younger person whom you were responsible for as a child is just creepy. The forced "I'd do anything for her", "she's my beloved" etc. sections were truly nauseating. I really wish I hadn't finished the series and had just stopped with The Fall of Hyperion.