THE RISE OF ENDYMION is the fourth and final installment of Dan Simmons' Hyperion saga, bringing to a close the storyline that commenced in ENDYMION. I slogged through that previous book mainly because I was determined to reach the end. However, with THE RISE OF ENDYMION, even that determination nearly evaporated.

The issues with this book are numerous. It is overly long, containing vast sections that serve no real purpose. For instance, Raul's time in the Temple Hanging in Air seems to be a filler. Simmons attempts to stretch his work to give it an "epic" quality, but it ultimately comes across as dull and absurd.

Raul's love for Aenea remains bordering on pedophilia for the initial few hundred pages of the work. Later, it evolves into simple obsession, mainly because she has grown up. This entire aspect of the story, which actually constitutes a significant portion of it, is completely unconvincing. If Aenea is supposed to be the messiah, one would expect Raul to have more important things to focus on rather than being jealous of her past and getting all emotional whenever she is around.

The resolution of the conflict is given only a few meager pages, likely because Simmons spent an excessive amount of time on lofty philosophy and Raul's sexual tension. The book's structure is simply terrible. Additionally, Simmons makes the reader feel that reading the first two books in the series was a waste by dismissing the words of Ummon in THE FALL OF HYPERION as "a lie."

Ugh. This book is truly dreadful. I would recommend the first two books in the Hyperion saga, but it is best to stay far away from ENDYMION and THE RISE OF ENDYMION.

Hyperion might very well be one of my absolute favourite reads of all time. It has set a standard that the three books following it in the series have found nearly impossible to match.

Nonetheless, this has been an incredibly wild journey through both time and space. The characters in this series are truly amazing, each with their own unique qualities and stories. The conclusion was bittersweet. Simmons had to perform quite a few literary acrobatics to tie all the loose ends together, but it was still an impressive feat. When you consider that there are several authors today who manage to write themselves into a hole and then spend over a decade without being able to reach a conclusion for their series (we won't mention any names here...).

The sheer heights that Hyperion achieved are never again equaled. The Endymion books, while they may not change the minds of those who were not already huge fans, are still outstanding examples of science fiction. They are filled with endless imagination and scope, taking readers on adventures that are both thrilling and thought-provoking. And let's not forget the adult zero g happy times that add an extra layer of excitement to the story.

The closing volume of the Hyperion series truly had a profound and enormous emotional impact on me.

By this point, I had developed a deep sense of caring for the new characters that had been introduced. Their fates at the conclusion of the series were not only serious but at times, incredibly difficult to read. It was as if Simmons had masterfully crafted their stories in such a way that it tugged at my heartstrings.

Moreover, Simmons also managed to bring his ideas to full fruition. He posited some truly interesting and thought-provoking observations about humanity and our place in the vast Universe. It made me stop and reflect on our existence and the mysteries that surround us.

This is not just any ordinary fiction; it is thoughtful, adventurous, and engaging. It has left an indelible mark on me, and I know that I will return to it time and time again for the rest of my life. It is a literary gem that I will cherish.

I truly despise this book. I loathe the narrator with a passion. And I have an intense hatred for the main character as well.

Hyperion was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, as the series progressed, everything - the story, the characters, the drama - just seemed to decline.

When I read Hyperion, I was deeply invested in the characters. I was rooting for them to survive their quest (or not, which in itself is a testament to how amazing the story and character development were - I had strong opinions about all of them). I was eager to see how their stories would resolve. But by The Rise of Endymion, most of those beloved characters were long dead. And the neurotic, whiny moron who took over made reading a real chore. And this is coming from someone who can be neurotic themselves. He whines constantly, and the other main character he's in love with is just not engaging. There's nothing objectively wrong with her, as she's supposed to be like Christ, but there's so little substance for the reader to latch onto. It's impossible to identify with her (or anyone else, really).

What drives me absolutely insane is the lack of consistency with the first two books. All the "inconveniences" that might have posed obstacles to this story are dealt with in the most infuriating way as "things misrepresented by Uncle Martin when he wrote the original Cantos". I've already ranted about this a bit in my review of book 3.

Spoiler-ish complaining: Kassad as the Shrike, the cruciforms as creations by the Core, Father Dure never actually dying, Nemes, the invincible creature of hell that kills everything - Aenea losing the bits of spunk she used to have and constantly handwringing at Raul - Raul who is constantly questioning people like a 15-year-old about who his girlfriend slept with - it's all just so irritating. The supporting characters are actually more interesting than the main characters and far less infuriating.

Do yourself a huge favor and just skip this book.

Dnf @ 470.

It has been far too long and tiring. When I'm at the police station with the books on hold, they throw looks at me as if to say, 'Take me, you fu*cker!'

It feels like an eternity waiting there, the anticipation gnawing at me. The officers seem to be eyeing me suspiciously, perhaps wondering what my connection is to those books.

I just want to get my hands on them and be done with this whole ordeal. But the process is so slow and cumbersome.

Every moment spent there is a moment of frustration and impatience. I can't help but think that there must be a better way to handle this.

Maybe I should have found a different approach from the start. But now, I'm stuck waiting and enduring the judgmental looks.

Hopefully, this will all be over soon, and I can move on with my life.

A beautiful conclusion of the monumental series!

This series has been an absolute masterpiece from start to finish. Each installment has added depth and complexity to the overall story, captivating audiences around the world. The conclusion ties up all the loose ends in a satisfying and emotional way, leaving viewers with a sense of closure and fulfillment.

The characters have grown and evolved throughout the series, and their final moments together are both heartwarming and bittersweet. The special effects are top-notch, enhancing the already stunning visuals and creating a truly immersive experience.

Overall, this is a series that will be remembered for years to come. It has set a new standard for quality and storytelling, and it will be a hard act to follow. A beautiful conclusion to a truly monumental series.

Simmons really dropped the ball on this one. He contradicts himself in places, and when he's not blatantly spamming retcons in an attempt to steer his narrative onto a logical course before it concludes. He kills the wonderful momentum he's built about halfway through the book. He indulges himself in an orgy of mountain-climbing minutiae and introduces sixty new characters. Their reason for existing and contribution to the plot is questionable. He wraps up loose ends and provides explanations that are, if not head-scratch-inducing, at the very least unsatisfying.

So why did I give this book five stars, you ask?

BECAUSE IT HAS A SCENE WHERE TWO CHARACTERS TOTALLY 69 IN ZERO G.

Just kidding. I give it five stars because despite all of these problems and disappointments, this series is one of the most awe-and-terror-inspiring things I've ever read. I will always cherish it and hold it close to my heart. The pure ambition and humanity the author poured into the pages are undeniable. This is clearly a man who's just going for it. And if in the end it's a failure, it's a glorious failure that deserves to stand next to brilliant successes. There's not an interesting idea that you can explore in science fiction that's not examined here. It's examined in a way that's captivatingly entertaining, moving, and well-written.

I can't recommend this series enough to people who haven't tried it. This is glorious stuff. I really struggle to think of another one that was such an emotional roller coaster. I veered from being terrified to laughing out loud (this usually involved scenes with the wonderful Martin Silenus) to being completely awe-struck by the concepts and settings Simmons spins out at a ridiculous rate to feeling like I wanted to cry like a baby. It combines heady, high-concept stuff like time travel and paradoxes or the possible fates and evolutions of humanity with just pure fun stuff like ridiculous potty-mouthed humor and pant-shittingly gnarly space battles. It's a cliche, but it really does have something for everyone and has cemented my idolization of Simmons as a writer.

Four years after the events of Endymion, the last novel of the Hyperion Cantos tetralogy begins. The death and resurrection of Pope Julius XIV unleashes a power struggle within Pax; between the faction of Mercantilus (a commercial group), the faction of Peace and Justice (the very Inquisition), and the TechnoCore itself, which has its own plans for Pax. Meanwhile, Aenea and Raúl live on Old Earth, where Aenea, after these four years, has completed her training as an architect under the tutelage of the cybrid Frank Lloyd Wright. Aenea must become The One Who Teaches, the person who will change history forever, but both Pax and the TechnoCore will do everything possible once again to capture her, bringing back her old pursuers, Father Captain Federico de Soya and the lethal Rhadamant Nemes.

This final chapter aims to develop new ideas and solve the unresolved issues, presenting unexpected answers to some of the mysteries that have plagued us since the first pages of Hyperion or changing our absolute certainties that we had as a reference from the previous installments. The novel is divided into three parts. Through Raul Endymion, we will get to know the entire development of the novel. In the first part, which is a fast-paced chorus, it will come to a screeching halt in a second, more leisurely and descriptive part, and then regain momentum in a last exciting and interesting part.

It should be said that, maintaining his erudite and refined style, simple and metafictional, Simmons takes us on another imaginative novel that will once again immerse us in a story of multiple plots, universal conspiracies, intrigues, and wars that have been brewing for centuries. Simmons also takes the opportunity to address a multitude of themes, such as religion, establishing firm debates around the idea of Catholicism or Buddhism; the border between good and evil, the limits that freedom can take, faith against science; and so on with a multitude of dialogues loaded with philosophical, pseudo-scientific mysticism that, if it interests you as it does me, will leave you reflecting for a good while.

The ending and solution of the novel are good and expected, tying up the loose ends and giving a final sketch of what happened. Although I think it lacked a certain strength and some inconsistencies mar its entire development, in general, I was convinced by its explanations about the Void Which Binds, about the reality of the cruciform, about who the Shrike really is, and about the TechnoCore. It is evident that Simmons had nothing planned and that he is a writer who improvises at times, but he is able to achieve a satisfactory ending to dozens of plots, mysteries, and intrigues that he had been developing through the previous three volumes in more than 3000 pages.

The Rise of Endymion marks a significant improvement in quality compared to its predecessor, Endymion, within the series.

The imaginative diversity of planetary systems and races is truly awe-inspiring. Their topography is vividly described and well-explained. Worldbuilding is undoubtedly the strength of this series. The book has also reverted to its previous emphasis on philosophy, presenting some very interesting points and theories. Moreover, it is more action-packed, with well-executed battle scenes.

However, it could benefit from having at least a third of its pages trimmed, which would make the entire reading experience much more immersive and thrilling. Overall, The Rise of Endymion serves as a satisfying conclusion, neatly tying up all the story threads and pieces from earlier installments, including the old pilgrimage crew.

\\n  \\"Only humankind struggles and fails in becoming what it is. The reasons are many and complex, but all stem from the fact that we have evolved as one of the self-seeing organs of the evolving universe. Can the eye see itself?\\"\\n

\\n  \\"No lifetime is long enough for those who want to create, Raoul, or for those who simply want to understand themselves and their lives. It’s perhaps the curse of being human, but also a blessing.\\"\\n

At first, I simply had a strong aversion to this book.

It was engaging in the act of retconning its own established canon, thereby ruining the rich mythos it had painstakingly built up, all in the name of a rather cheapened extension of the original tale.

The mysteries and the unknowable nature that once surrounded The Core, the shrike, and the complex history of its characters were callously abandoned.

Instead, it presented a hackneyed messiah tale that fell flat on its face, failing miserably as both a romance and a work of science fiction.

Not only is it overly long and filled with pseudo-philosophical drivel that borders on stupidity, but just when you start to hope that it might redeem itself, it completely shits the bed.

This leaves you not angry anymore, but just deeply sad that something that was once so remarkable and noteworthy could descend to such a sorry state.

My advice is to read Hyperion and then read Hyperion Falls. But then stop.

Stop before the cheap, half-assed writing destroys the fond memories you have and leaves you wondering what on earth Simmons was thinking when he overwrote and published this grotesquely unnecessary addition, seemingly without even the most basic editorial oversight.

Over seven years and four books later, I have finally completed the Hyperion Cantos. What an extraordinary journey it has been. I must admit, if I were to claim that I remember a great deal about the first three books at this stage, I would be lying (hence the reason I write reviews). I had been constantly postponing reading The Rise of Endymion; it had been sitting in my to-read pile ever since I purchased the last three books from the used book store. However, Dan Simmons’ science fiction is just so incredibly dense that I knew it would take days to get through it, and I was not at all eager to make that commitment. Nevertheless, last week I decided that enough was enough.

The Rise of Endymion gets off to a good start in one aspect: the cover depicts the Shrike with four arms!

Anyway, it picks up almost exactly where Endymion leaves off, with just a little bit of time having passed. Aenea dispatches Raul on a quest to retrieve the Consul’s ship. This is not just a physical journey but also a spiritual one that separates him from her for a sufficient amount of time (thanks to the tricks of relativity time) for her to age closer to him, thus making the sexual relationship aspect less uncomfortable, and there are some other plot twists that I won’t spoil. Raul is reunited with Aenea just in time for the Pax to catch up to them. His role in the story alternates between that of a confused narrator and an occasional action hero. I spent large portions of the story trying to overlook how obtuse Raul is and how this makes things rather dull.

Fortunately, there were other storylines to keep me engaged. The Pax and its unholy alliance with the TechnoCore are developed in more depth here (pun intended). I don’t think anyone who makes it to the fourth book will be astonished by the seemingly boundless nature of Simmons’ imagination. It reminds me of Pandora’s Star , which has a similar space operatic setting including AIs and wormhole travel. Simmons combines elements of posthumanism, transhumanism, and time travel. The result, for better or worse, can only be described as epic. Even if you don’t particularly like the series, it is difficult to dispute its scope and style.

For my part, now that I have finished, I have rather mixed feelings. The narrative in this book is quite clumsy, with endless pages of exposition that Simmons barely bothers to dress up as dialogue—and sometimes he doesn’t even do that. Of course, the nerd in me, who loves learning about new ideas, laps it all up. But it does bring the story to a grinding halt. Simmons is very adept at creating complexity but not necessarily at presenting it, and sometimes he sacrifices pacing for the sake of completeness. As a result, The Rise of Endymion has a somewhat pedantic feel in parts, losing some of its edge.

Similarly, the preordained nature of Aenea’s victory over the Pax does not appeal to me. Although I am reluctant to agree with Raul about anything (because he can be such a nuisance), I do concur with him that prophecies and predestination are unappealing. Since Aenea is so certain of how things will unfold, I never really feel a sense of danger or suspense. She can talk about “probability waves” all she wants, but the fact remains that she is not really a “human” protagonist in the traditional sense of someone with flaws. She is something else, the progeny of a cybrid, touched by the Lions and Tigers and Bears. I never get the impression that she is truly tempted to deviate from the path laid out for her, and this makes her rather uninteresting. In the same vein, her romance with Raul and its inevitability, right down to the predictability of the conclusion, just makes me yawn.

For a book about interstellar warfare with the future of the human species’ development at stake, there are surprisingly few moments of conflict at times.

The TechnoCore’s master plan turns out to be rather underwhelming, just your typical run-of-the-mill evil AI stuff. And that is a bit of a letdown. Simmons gives us some good villains, but he never really gets to unleash them on anyone we truly care about. Rhadamanth Nemes gets to chop off the heads of minor characters like redshirts and monks, but no one in the main group even loses an arm here. Were they all rolling natural 20s?

Like the series as a whole, The Rise of Endymion’s strength lies mainly in the scope of its ideas and the ways in which Simmons explores them through his characters, rather than in the characters themselves. Raul, Aenea, and the others may be forgettable as individuals. But it is hard to forget how Simmons weaves them into a science fictional tapestry that draws on messianic echoes of Christianity, older stories and tropes of the genre, and of course, classic and Romantic literature.

This is a wonderful, nerdy text in the way it is filled with rich meaning and connections to other texts and ideas. Every planet visited gives Simmons an opportunity to showcase a new society, a new what-if evolution of a culture here on Earth. He indeed takes us on a whirlwind tour towards the end of the book, visiting some worlds familiar to Cantos readers and others that are new. Practically every page of this book is saturated with allusions to or extensions of diverse cultural practices, religions, myths, and so on.

That being said, this abundance of cultural extrapolation means that the series, like many other sprawling sagas, suffers from its overly ambitious scope. Simmons may astound one with the sheer diversity of human thoughts, expressions, and even body plans—but we spend so little time with each one that we barely scratch the surface. In this sense, a shorter, more intimate novel will always have an advantage over the epic.

Fortunately, I have both the time and the desire to read both types of stories. I’m not sure if I would recommend the Hyperion Cantos to readers in the same way I would, say, the Hitchhiker’s series or the Culture novels. But if you’re looking for science fiction with an extra helping of literary allusions, this series might be just what you’re looking for.

My reviews of The Hyperion Cantos:

← Endymion

This is the fourth and final part of what is commonly known as the "Hyperion Cantos" series (in reality, two duologies). Overall, it is the installment that I enjoyed the least.

It picks up where the previous book left off,描绘了保罗、贝提克和艾妮亚在旧地球上（令人惊讶地乏味）的岁月，以及随后艾妮亚崛起成为她注定要成为的“弥赛亚”。

这本书解释了前三本书（《海伯利安》《海伯利安的陨落》和《安迪密恩》）中发生的许多事情，比如教会和技术内核之间的关系、伯劳鸟的真实本质等等。然而，不幸的是，我觉得其中许多解释都有点令人失望。我不会详细说明具体内容（剧透），但对于一部关于神的创造和人类最终命运之战的太空歌剧来说，在我看来，这一切最终都有点像是逃避。

对于西蒙斯的大多数书籍，我通常一开始需要努力进入状态，直到我到达一个点，那时我会被故事深深吸引，很难再把书放下。但在这种情况下，那个点从未出现。我只是不断地艰难前行，希望下一章能更吸引我，但这并没有发生。当然，有一些有趣的场景，保罗……嗯，我想他做了一些稍微有趣的事情。但没有发生或展示出像前几本书那样能激发想象力的事情。在这个原本非常好的系列的结尾，《安迪密恩的崛起》感觉西蒙斯只是在走过场。

这本书主要值得一读是为了完成这个系列，但与其他《海伯利安》/《安迪密恩》的书籍不同，它只是还可以，并不出色。