After reading and completely adoring the initial two Hyperion books, I was truly thrilled for the final two. I delved into Endymion, and although I was forewarned that it was a very distinct book, I was still largely disappointed. It was more due to sheer boredom than anything else. However, I was informed that Rise of Endymion was far more epic in nature and that it all came together in the end. And to a certain extent, it did.

First, the good aspects. You do indeed come to care more deeply about the characters as you progress through these novels. And the final portion of Rise is undeniably very epic. It is vast, sprawling, and highly engaging. Simmons eliminates large numbers of characters, and managed to stir me up to the point where I actually wanted these characters to seek vengeance against the villains, a feeling I seldom experience.

But there were so many things wrong with this book that I was actually rolling my eyes at various points throughout the novel.

Authors encounter a fundamental problem when writing novels, and that is the simple fact that they are flawed humans who cannot possibly hope to fully encompass the characters and ideas they write about. As an author who is not a super genius, it is a very tricky matter attempting to write about a character who is one. You have to maintain a certain degree of distance to keep that character believable. Similarly, when you create one of the most creative and interesting sci-fi worlds ever put to paper, it is probably best to maintain a bit of distance and not attempt to answer all the mysteries you introduce. Because you simply cannot pull it off. As frustrating as it is to finish The Fall of Hyperion and still have so many questions unanswered, I would have preferred that to the feeble attempt presented in this book.

Let me attempt to think through some of the things that bothered me the most. I know that from Hyperion, Simmons really plays with causality a great deal. So much so that I had to overlook a few things or they would drive me crazy. But he takes it to new heights in Endymion.

Rachel is a prime example. In Hyperion, the story was that Rachel was a brilliant archeologist who went to Hyperion, was affected by the Time Tombs, and began to age backwards. Just before she aged back to nothing, she was saved by her father and brought outside by the warrior Moneta, who we later discover is actually the same Rachel now aging forward. Little baby Rachel is taken into the Time Tomb where she travels to the future, is raised as a fierce warrior, engages in a huge battle with millions of shrikes, and then enters the Time Tomb with the dead Kassad, where she travels backwards in time with him until she meets the live Kassad during the events of Hyperion. Okay, it's crazy and confusing, and Simmons really messes with cause and effect, but whatever.

Now we jump to Endymion, and the same Rachel who we know is Moneta is now approximately 25 years old and not a warrior at all. She is one of Aenea's disciples. Who, by the way, are mostly pacifists. So at what point does she travel to the future and get trained as a badass, sex-crazy warrior who loves the taste of blood?

Kassad is another issue. In Hyperion, Kassad has one of the most amazing battles against the Shrike that seems to transcend space and time. He follows the Shrike into the far distant future where he dies on the battlefield and is placed in the Time Tombs to travel back in time with Moneta.

But now in Endymion, Kassad is roughly 60 years old and knows nothing about this future battle. And this is explained away by saying that he will still travel to that future at some point and engage in that battle.

However, guess what? The Shrike is actually modeled after Kassad, a cybrid you could say, created in a last-ditch effort by future core AI to defeat humans. Which really puts a messed-up spin on the scene from Hyperion where Moneta is having sex with Kassad and turns into the Shrike who apparently proceeds to have sex with himself!

Lame.

Het Masteen is yet another character that causes problems. This character disappears for a while during Hyperion, returns, and dies. Here we find out that he has actually gone to the future to pilot the tree ship to enact Aenea's plan of atonement. I was actually okay with this and thought it was rather cool. What I wasn't okay with was Aenea telling him that his death that we read about is only a possibility!

Simmons repeatedly states that Martin Silenus didn't really understand everything he wrote and got a lot wrong. He uses this trick again and again throughout the final two novels. To a certain extent, I understand what he is doing. Aenea's whole thing is "choose again". That every religion and philosophy has it wrong. That they are all striving to achieve the same thing but are blinded and confused by their own human biases, preconceptions, and failings. I get that he is making a metaphor about religious texts and how these people were doing their best to convey the truth but couldn't because of their knowledge and the fact that words are by definition imperfect abstractions of the truth. But that only takes him so far.

Hey, did you think the core had three battling elements? Nope, wrong, there are really millions and millions! Did you think that the core resided in the farcasters, using human brains and their neurons to store themselves when people farcasted? Wrong! Did you think the core set up the destruction of earth so they could create all the different farcasters and give themselves more hard drive space? Wrong! You thought the core moved earth for their ultimate intelligence project? Nope, wrong! I wish I had actually written down every time Simmons changed what we had been told in previous books because I know I'm only remembering a fraction of it right now.

The biggest issue is that Simmons has Aenea constantly talking about how everything is in flux. There is no definite future. Everything is a possibility. But so much of Hyperion's plot depends on the fact that these things are not just possibilities but realities. You can't have characters traveling backwards in time and call the futures they came from possibilities. It doesn't work that way! Aenea can't travel to the future and have a baby with Raul after she's died and have that death only be a possibility. It's absurd.

I really enjoyed Simmons' vague descriptions of the void that binds in Hyperion and thought it was a neat concept. I can even accept wishy-washy talk about love being the most powerful force in the universe... to a certain extent. But when Simmons starts talking about love being a fundamental particle of the universe, the thing that ties the void together. That the void is a real place where memories exist as real objects, and by using love you can travel to any place where that love exists by using the void as a medium... well, I kind of wish nothing had ever been explained to me.

The other thing that really bothered me throughout most of this book was the obviousness of the fact that Aenea had at one point freecasted into the future and married Raul and had a baby with him. I assume this is supposed to be obvious to the reader but not at all obvious to Raul. Which is fine, and I enjoyed the payoff of him finally realizing this at the end of the book. But my goodness, how many pages were wasted on this? Raul obsesses over this constantly, accosting every character he meets regarding their knowledge of it. And everyone tells him the same thing, "I don't know, all I know is she never loved anyone other than you". I got so tired of dealing with this plot point every 10 pages.

I almost want to read this book again just so I can write an even worse review of it.

Here's what I wish Simmons had done. Taken Endymion and Rise of Endymion and combined them into one book. Stopped contradicting himself every 5 pages. And focused on Aenea and her teachings. Combined the character development in the first book with the exposition about the cruciforms and the void and some of those things, and the non-stop action of the latter part of Rise. The reason this book received as high a rating as it did was because there was a decent amount to like. A. Bettik is a great character. I loved Father de Soya and Gregorious and his Swiss Guards. The payoff of Corporal Kee being reunited with them was worth it. And Father Paul Duree finally being allowed to resurrect and live was fantastic. And again, the last 100 pages or more were great non-stop action, with some much-needed comedic levity with the return of Martin Silenus in the end.

The worst part about all this is that the first two Hyperion books were absolutely brilliant. So brilliant that after reading the next two, I actually want to go back and give them higher ratings. Because either these two books need to be rated lower, or the first two need to be rated higher. But there is no good reason that there should be only one star separating the two halves of this story.

Possibly 4.5 stars. The author, while interesting, sometimes gets a bit too carried away with his philosophical side bars. My initial thought when starting the second two books of this series was that each pair of the four books was more or less stand alone. After finishing the final book four, I would recommend reading the first two books. However, if we're splitting hairs, one could consider each pair of books as a separate series. I'm a bit wishy-washy on this point.

Simmons plays with time and space extensively in this saga. I compare his "far-casting" and the events that occur after the before (yes, in some cases, you'll read what happened after before you read the before) to a story set on a Möbius strip, a one-sided, two-dimensional phenomenon where what goes around comes around.

The writing is of excellent craftsmanship. It's advisable to keep a dictionary handy to keep up with the vocabulary. Also, set aside some time to reflect after reading and rereading more than one passage.

The Rise of Endymion, or
The Fall of Dan Simmons

I observe intently as Aenea, my precious, my beloved, the one who has held my heart captive with a force as powerful as a nuclear warhead since she was twelve, leans back from her computer. She has just logged into her Goodreads account, and I'm curious about what she's doing there.

"Why only 2 stars?" I inquire, my voice filled with a mix of confusion and concern.

"I'll explain later, Raul," she replies with a sad smile that only deepens my curiosity.

"You keep saying that but never explain anything," I whine, like a petulant child. I'm growing increasingly frustrated with her evasiveness.

"You won't understand yet," she says, shaking her head sadly. Her words make me feel even more inadequate and left out.

"See? Again. It's annoying. You're annoying. Why do you always do this?" I mewl, my tone bordering on the hysterical. I can't seem to contain my emotions any longer.

Aenea, my love, my darling, makes a hand motion that I interpret as meaning, 'unask the question'. But I'm not ready to let it go.

"You're pathetic, Raul Endymion," she says with a sad calmness that cuts through me like a knife.

"I? I'm pathetic? You ruined an entire series as soon as you appeared! You talk too much, and your put-on 'wise' sadness gets on the readers' nerves!" I shout, my annoyance boiling over. I'm so angry with her that I'm not even thinking straight anymore. "Just because you read up a few philosophies on Wikipedia gives you no right to be so smug!"

"Maybe if you hadn't narrated the story in that pathetic whiny voice! You're stupid and obsessed with petty trifles!" she shouts back, her eyes flashing with anger. "You wasted the entire third book narrating a pointless journey! You can't see the most obvious of plot twists even though readers figured it out for themselves chapters ago!"

"And you, you defanged the Shrike, which was one of the coolest things about Hyperion! He's no better than a lapdog now! Might as well sprinkle glitter all over him and name him Tinkerbell! And the retconning - oh the retconning - these readers have stuck with the series through four huge books and then you tell them everything explained before was a lie!" I'm on a roll now, unleashing all my pent-up frustrations at her.

"Aaargh!" screams Aenea, my darling, my love, my cheesecake made from lampmouth larva milk cream. Suddenly and without warning, she produces a gleaming dagger and lunges at me. I try to leap out of her way, but she's too fast for me. In an instant, she's on top of me, not attacking me with the knife but slicing her own finger inches above my mouth. Warm liquid sprays, Kill Bill-like, over my face and into my mouth, and it tastes like Aenea, my love, my darling, my Unicorn flavored after dinner mints.

"Drink! Drink my blood! DRINK IT BITCH! BE MY BITCH!" she screams, her eyes gleaming with a delusional messiah-light. She is beautiful. Oh Aenea!

"You psycho!" I sputter the words through her blood. I'm completely shocked and disgusted by her actions, but at the same time, I can't help but be drawn to her strange and powerful allure.

"Now that that's taken care of, I've got a better idea. Let's turn off the gravity and fuck," says Aenea, my darling, my love, my pound of space hippo bacon.

"Oh my, such colourful language. You must mean let's make love, to give love to the one who deserves it the most, and all that," I say, trying to salvage some semblance of romance from this crazy situation.

"Yeah Raul, whatever works for ya," she says, rolling her eyes and pulling the sheet away from around her body. "Ship!" she calls out.

My nuclear warhead activates.

From the corner of my eye, I see the blue-skinned android A Bettik, whistling in an unconvincing attempt at nonchalance, slip out of the room to fetch his holocamera.

-x-

Why didn't I stop reading, you might wish to know.

If I knew how, I would make a hand gesture that meant, 'unask the question.'

I'll admit I did get a kick out of the faux-Tibetan setting of the planet T'ien Shan, though.

The Rise of Endymion is an outstanding Part 2 of the Endymion Duology and a magnificent conclusion to the entire series. The introduction of new characters adds depth and excitement, and the overall plot is truly captivating. With over 800 pages, the pacing does suffer in some sections, feeling rather slow. However, I still enjoyed this book more than Endymion due to its thrilling plot, amazing ending, and profound themes. Despite this, I gave it the same rating as Endymion because there are just too many retcons and some explanations that are less than satisfying, which ultimately lowered my overall assessment.

The political intrigue and scheming among the Pax Fleet, Pax Mercantilus, the Church, and the TechnoCore is fascinating, giving the novel a wonderful Space-Opera feel. The revelations and long-awaited answers to questions from previous books in the series are truly mind-blowing and well worth the wait. Additionally, the book explores strong themes such as the relationship between Science and Religion.

On the downside, there are too many retcons, which can make the series a bit confusing, and some of them are not well-explained. It can be frustrating when Aenea keeps delaying explanations, saying “another time” or “I’ll explain later” when we are on the verge of getting answers to current mysteries or past questions. Moreover, several questions remain unanswered or are poorly addressed.

Rating: 8/10

The Rise of Endymion is a great addition to the series, but it does have its flaws.

I survived!

As I've reported in my previous reviews of this series, there were times when it seemed as if my gray matter was going to be permanently fried by this epic sci-fi story. I finally got through to the end with most of my marbles still intact.

It's nearly impossible to summarize this without spoiling the previous book. Suffice it to say that Aenea and Raul Endymion continue their interstellar journey to fulfill her ultimate destiny, while the powerful forces of a corrupted Catholic Church and the artificial intelligences of the TechnoCore try to stop them by increasingly desperate means. Oh, and the mysterious and deadly time-traveling Shrike keeps popping up.

This isn't your typical sci-fi space opera about a chosen one saving the galaxy from the Death Star. Simmons has created a tale that spans time and space, where even Jesus was a player and the ultimate stakes are the fate of the evolution of life in the entire universe. As with the other books, he's done an amazing job of building multiple stories and weaving them together into a rich and diverse whole. Any one of his concepts could have been the basis for an entire book or series, like a planet where the cities are built high on mountain peaks due to an acidic ocean at lower altitudes. That's just one stop for Aenea and Raul.

So how did I make it through? Dan Simmons finally showed himself to be human and a bit fallible in this last book. Don't get me wrong. It's still an excellent series and one of the most ambitious sci-fi stories I've read. But there were a few things that bothered me and knocked it down from five stars to four, probably saving my brain from overheating.

First, Simmons goes back and changes some of what we were told in the earlier books. I'm not sure if he originally planned to end it after two books and then had to make changes to fit a later ending, or if he just abandoned some ideas late in the game. But I didn't like that what we thought happened in the first two books wasn't true. Simmons didn't commit any major crimes against his fans like George Lucas, but it still bothered me, especially the revisions to the Shrike's origin and ultimate fate.

I also don't think Simmons knew when to stop being creative and start resolving things. He kept adding elaborate new settings, characters, and events right up until the end, and it started to remind me of how "Lost" just kept adding new characters and mysteries in its final season without doing enough to wrap things up. Simmons still managed to provide a mostly satisfying ending, but when he added yet another mind-blowing new setting in the last quarter of the book, I found myself getting a little impatient.

Still, these are minor complaints about a sci-fi story that aimed high and mostly delivered on its potential.

Kantos on Hyperion by Dan Simmons, divided into four works or published in two large volumes, which I have from the series of @bardpublishers consisting of: “Hyperion”, “The Fall of Hyperion”, “Endymion”, “The Rise of Endymion”, translated by Krum Bachvarov.

In these impressive books, Dan Simmons immerses us rapidly into a cosmic adventure in the Universe where the Hegemony reigns. Humanity has technologically advanced, and interplanetary travel has become a daily occurrence. However, despite this, the Church and religion have placed their hands on the economy and politics. Each of the books is to some extent an independent story but is inextricably linked to the others and forms a brilliantly constructed Universe and worlds.

The picture becomes quite complex because, in addition to the Church, in the foreground is the TechnoCore, an artificial intelligence that drives the progress of humanity, and of course, we pay a price for this. Humanity has reached such a peak in its development that it has experimented with nanotechnologies and destroyed its own planet.

I won't go into more details because what Simmons has created is unique. Especially considering the ideal symbiosis between action and details in the books. If I had to choose one series in the science fiction genre that takes you to a secluded island, it would be "Hyperion". From here on, it's clear that I will only write superlatives, which unfortunately no one reads or is interested in.

I take the opportunity to say that unfortunately, modern "light reads" in the scifi and even fantasy genre are starting to "kill" the genre. There are no longer quality scifi books being written, people don't buy and read them, and I'm even aware that hardly anyone will read this series inspired by my post. Yes, it's a fact that sometimes it's difficult to read scifi, but why is the idea only to read for entertainment? Isn't the "brain a muscle" and it should be exercised? Dan Simmons is the ideal example of how science and literature have a place together because I myself have used the internet many times to search for information about elements in the book (poetry, religion, history, politics, physics, mythology), and I'm sure I didn't catch every detail.

In conclusion, I呼吁 to give more chances to scifi, even to "old authors".

https://www.instagram.com/p/C3C4AQUI9...

"Five Stars Izzy
I didn't love Simmons for nothing!
It was so good

Horrible, horrible writing!

The prime failure of this book lies in its inability to establish chemistry between the characters. Mr. Simmons fails miserably each time he attempts to depict an emotional bond. It began with the first book and 'Siri's Tale', where the connection between Siri and Merin was unconvincing. Now, the same holds true for Aenea and Raul. The characters are so wooden and the emotions so blatantly artificial that they lack believability. Consequently, the reader doesn't truly care about their fates. He is a complete disaster when it comes to handling people's feelings. I'm not a writer myself, but even I understand that showing two people in love requires more effort than simply describing their sex lives and having them call each other 'beloved' countless times!

Equally annoying are the incredibly long-winded descriptions. Pages upon pages are wasted on endless and entirely pointless descriptions of places. At numerous points, one feels compelled to remind the author that this is supposed to be a storybook, not a geography lesson. It reaches a stage where one wants to abandon the book to avoid further wasting time.

Finally, there is the shaky credibility of the characters. Mr Simmons has resorted to an easy trick of changing everything that preceded by claiming that the person who said those things was lying. As a result, there are lies everywhere - from humans to machines. I dislike this ploy as it undermines the credibility of all the characters. The reader can no longer trust what anyone says.

The series should have concluded with the second book. What a terrible and utter waste of space and time the last two books have been!

Rise of Endymion / Endymion is a book that requires some context to fully appreciate.

If you haven't read Dan Simmons' Hyperion, it's essential to start there.

And if you haven't read Endymion, that's the next step.

Basically, Rise of Endymion is similar to Endymion, with its flaws but also its strengths.

However, it has the unfortunate addition of a couple of large info dumps, like the description of the mountains of Tian’Shan.

Despite this, the book is still excellent.

I wanted to write about love in this review.

I liked the love story in Endymion but not in Rise of Endymion.

The ending is sweet and tragic, but the path to that ending was built on a love relationship that focused too much on sex.

Considering the sci-fi conceit that love is a fundamental force, the characterization of love is a big deal.

I'm not knocking sex, but it's a disappointingly mundane way to depict a relationship with such a strange beginning.

I've become obsessed with the topic of love and have realized that few people truly understand what it means.

I cornered some bright students at university and challenged them to define love, but their responses were a mixture of clichés and misunderstandings.

It took me a decade of life and reading to finally get a clue about love.

My relationship with my apprentice Lindsey was the first in which my ego was entirely absent, and it taught me a lot about love.

Studying Plato helped me recognize the relationship for what it was - Platonic Love.

The Hyperion & Endymion series excited me with its idea that love is a fundamental force of nature.

However, Raul and Aenea's relationship ultimately disappointed me because it was primarily vulgar eros when it should have been Divine Eros.

In conclusion, it's a great series with a disappointing love story.

Tak kończy się jedna z najbardziej epickich przygód mojego czytelnictwa.

It was truly an adventure that will always be etched in my memory. The story took me on a wild ride through different worlds and emotions.

I was completely immersed in the characters and their struggles, rooting for them until the very end.

The plot was filled with twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat, never knowing what would happen next.

This book has shown me the power of a great story and how it can transport us to places we've never been before.

It has become one of my all-time favorites and I can't wait to share it with others.

I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good adventure and a captivating read.

I've completed the entire quartet.

It is truly one of the finest Sci-Fi operas that I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

The storylines are intricate and captivating, taking the reader on a thrilling journey through a futuristic world filled with advanced technology and unique characters.

The author's imagination knows no bounds, as they have created a universe that is both believable and full of wonder.

Each book in the quartet builds upon the previous ones, adding depth and complexity to the overall narrative.

The pacing is excellent, keeping the reader engaged from start to finish.

I highly recommend this quartet to any fan of Sci-Fi or opera.

It is a must-read for those who enjoy thought-provoking and entertaining stories that will transport them to another world.

It was inevitable.

Hyperion was just too damn good not to bite the bullet and read the last installment and get full closure on what everything means.

So, at the end of it all, was it all worth it?

Well, all questions are answered, but no, not really. This was just way too much reading and time invested.

However, I do wish I could erase all memories of the first Hyperion novel and read it over again. It really was spectacular.

The story of Hyperion is a complex and engaging one, filled with rich characters and a vividly imagined world.

The first novel in the series set the stage beautifully, introducing us to a group of pilgrims on a dangerous journey.

The writing was so captivating that it drew me in and made me eager to know what would happen next.

But as the series progressed, it became a bit of a slog.

There was just so much information to take in, and it felt like the author was trying to cram too much into each book.

By the time I reached the last installment, I was more relieved to be done than anything else.

Still, I can't deny the power and beauty of the first Hyperion novel.

It was truly a work of art, and I will always remember it fondly.

If only the rest of the series had lived up to its promise.