Centuries after the events of The Fall of Hyperion, and three and a half years after I read that book, Endymion takes place and I read it. I had actually forgotten that there was a book between this one and Hyperion; I described this as the second book in a series when friends asked me what I was reading. Oops! And it has been so long since I read the first two that my memories of the series were distant and vague.That proved not as much of a barrier as I worried it would be. I’m still trying to figure out why I am so ambivalent towards Dan Simmons’ other work but loving the Hyperion Cantos. It isn’t the classical allusions—as much as I love the classics, that doesn’t work so much for me. But the books in this series are just so well constructed, characterized, and compelling in their depth and scope, that I’m happy to claim that this series represents some of the finest far-future space opera of the nineties.It took me a little while to get a feel for Endymion. I wasn’t enjoying the introduction to Raul, his meeting with Martin Silenus, etc. Once Simmons introduces Father Captain de Soya and the hunt for Aenea, however, things pick up considerably. The way in which he cuts between the two perspectives of hunter and hunted works quite well. Ideally when an author does this, they manage to make you constantly yearn for both perspectives: just as it switches from Raul to de Soya we’re supposed to wonder how the fugitives will get out of their latest cliffhanger. I admit to some preference for de Soya’s story—but that’s mostly because I was so intrigued by the internal affairs of the Pax.When we last saw the Pax, it was a growing political movement on Pacem—but now it has taken the place of the Hegemony in the former Web worlds. Thanks to the collapse of the fatline and data spheres, the Pax has an information monopoly that allows them to manipulate public perception (e.g., of things like the Ousters). Yet Simmons hints that, despite the piety implicit in Pax life, there are more sinister elements in the upper echelons of the Church. In Father Captain de Soya he creates a great antihero: sincere in his belief and devotion to God and the Church, de Soya nevertheless has enough independent thought to begin questioning when the facts stop adding up. He is an antagonist in the sense that he is working against our protagonists’ ends—but he is not a bad man or a villain by any means.I didn’t really warm up to Raul. He’s not a bad character, in that he isn’t too whiny. He’s just not the type of main character I want to identify with too much … I never got any grasp on his personality beyond a sense of competence and occasional references to his grandmother. I found that I best enjoyed the chapters with him, Bettik, and Aenea touring the River Tethys if I ignored the overall plot and just focused on the dangers they faced on each planet.These subplots turn Endymion from what could be a weak-but-sprawling space opera into a fluid-but-lengthy adventure story. The three fugitives face a new challenge on every world, always escaping by the skin of their teeth. Simmons finds the right balance between no exposition and too much as he reveals just enough to keep us guessing about the identities of those who are helping Aenea and their relationship to the Pax, which is so concerned with apprehending her. There are plenty of allusions to the events of the past two books—and I’d recommend reading them before reading this one—but by and large, Endymion is much more about Aenea’s personal development than wider galactic affairs.She keeps referring to being guided towards an architect who can teach her. Simmons hints that Aenea will be a messiah, someone special with “powers.” Fortunately, he avoids the temptation of turning her into a creepy child who manifests those powers early. Aside from a psychic episode here or there, she has to rely on her own determination and resolve—plus the help from Raul and Bettik—to survive. I loved the moment where she pointed out that, from the moment she stepped from the Time Tombs, it has all been one “very long day” for her.Endymion is long. But I actually like that about it. My weariness was sympathetic with the weariness the fugitives felt after their long journey, and with the weariness of de Soya and his minions for their constant deaths and resurrections. Simmons underscores how gallivanting through the galaxy is not a game for the merely human: space travel of any kind places demands on us that exceed what our bodies and minds evolved to handle. Though the TechnoCore’s role in this book is greatly reduced, Simmons reminds us that the existence of AI is a thorny existential issue for humanity.In some ways, this book feels like filler between the conflicts begun in The Fall of Hyperion and what will hopefully be the resolution in The Rise of Endymion. I still enjoyed it, though, and heartily recommend it to those who read the first two books.My reviews of the Hyperion Cantos:← The Fall of Hyperion
If I hadn't already read (and been blown away by) the first two books in this series earlier this year, I would have been very impressed with this book. But as it is, even though it is very good and exciting and has great characters and poignant themes and hints at even more to come, it pales when compared to the complexity and madcap storytelling of Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. Those two books were chock full of stories and characters and layers of meaning, and there were about five to six plots going on at once that all tied together into one big plot, and the whole thing comes together in this beautiful symphony of words. Here, there are two main story threads, and they go together like a normal book, and there is only one plot, which is still pretty great and complex and makes you think, but still . . . in comparison. It's just . . . not what I've been trained to expect from Simmons.Also, you can't read this book without reading its sequel. You just can't. The story is not done when this book is done, even though it has an ending. But it's ending is just an ending to what was going on in this book, and not the end of the overarching story of this duology, and of the four books as a whole.Endymion actually picks up 300 years after The Fall of Hyperion, so I guess technically you don't have to read the first two books in the series* if you're curious, but I really wouldn't recommend it. Due to time travel fuckery, the twelve year old daughter of Brawne Lamia (a pilgrim from the first two books) has arrived in the present day, and a galactic conflict has broken out over her presence. Due to mysterious REASONS, she is important. As in, the fate of the galaxy rests on her shoulders. This is why two men follow her fate. The first is Raul Endymion, who gets a first person POV in his sections. Raul is contracted to protect Aenea (as she calls herself) and help her to achieve her goals. They are accompanied by A. Bettik, a 600 year old android, and occasionally, the terrifying Shrike, who has left the planet Hyperion for the first time in living memory. The second man is Father Captain Federico de Soya. He is a priest for the Catholic church, which is now a galaxy wide empire. The church gained its power back in the 300 years since the first two books, largely due to the cruciform parasite which provides literal eternal life to its bearers. Father de Soya has been charged with tracking down Aenea at any cost and turning her over to the church. *Although, maybe it would work? This book is so much simpler than those it might hook your interest. The only problem is, you'd be totally spoiled for the first two books. Anyway, it's not ideal.The dual POVs really worked here. Simmons juggled them nicely so as to maximize the tension in the story. I also thought he did a great job with de Soya, who could have been a disastrous villainous character. Instead, he's a complex but ultimately sympathetic guy who is simply caught up in events beyond his control. His story is also responsible for some bone-chilling body horror. What he sacrifices in the name of his belief is staggering. There were parts where I felt Simmons went on too much about certain events, lingered too long in POVs, and it felt like filler. As mentioned above, the previous books were so chock full of STUFF that filler wasn't necessary. Here, it felt like with only two POV characters to worry about, Simmons overcompensated.Regardless, this is top notch science fiction, people. It just doesn't quite meet the standards set by its own predecessors. Can't wait to read the last book later this year. (I think I'm going to save it for Thanksgiving so I can have days of uninterrupted reading.)
What do You think about Endymion (1997)?
This quest story set 300 years after the events of the much stronger “Hyperion” novels, was a bit of a let down. A trio of archetypical heroes flee from pursuing elements of the tyrannical empire regime across several planets which are the familiar settings from the earlier novels. While it is interesting to read the developments on those locations in the centuries of aftermath, I was reminded of the similar quest in Asimov’s “Foundation and Earth”, where the protagonist visits several worlds which were the nostalgic settings of some of Asimov’s stories set centuries earlier. Here, however, it is far less compelling as most of the spots have gone to wilderness. Also, the hero characters are a bit two-dimensional, fitting very familiar character patterns: Aenea, "The Holy One” child, who is somehow mystically important, and a threat to the authorities; Raul Endymion, “The Woodsman” guide, who uses his street smarts and survivor skills to protect her; and A. Bettik, “The Man Friday” who loyally and capably serves both.While the first two novels of Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos made excellent use of multi-protagonist narrative threads to tell the story from multiple perspectives, This novel instead primarily sticks to just two- Raul Endymion and his chief pursuant, Father-Captain Federico de Soya, who is an extremely sympathetic ‘villain’, earnestly carrying out his duty to his shadier superiors. I had a feeling that we’d see some redemption and rehabilitation of this character after the first few examples of his flawless moral behavior, despite his unsavory mission. Most of the evocative tech and philosophical questions lay in his portions of the novel, giving it a much stronger grounding in Space Opera, while Raul’s narrative felt more rustic and terrestrial. In the end, Endymion is a victim of the earlier novels success and ambition. Outside of their shadow, it might have stood as a great story, but as it happens it is merely a good one. It feels flatter by comparison with it’s fewer character narratives, it’s more linear structure, and smaller-stake drama.
—SciFi Kindle
This book was a disappointment after Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion. It started off okay, but then turned into a never-ending series of scenes where bad guys chase good guys from one planet to the next. Not much else ever happened. I felt like Dan Simmons just wanted to show off the different worlds that he created. There were none of the complications to the plot that I had seen in the Hyperion books. The prophecy aspect of the story also didn't work for me. Aenea knows of some things that will happen, is fuzzy on others, but then, inconveniently enough, doesn't know what will happen on the planet of God's Grove. The logic of her foreknowledge was inconsistent and annoyed me. The characters were okay, but I also thought it odd that the real antagonist didn't appear until very close to the end. I listened to this as an audiobook and I had an interruption in my listening due to device difficulties, but even trying to take that into account, this book really didn't work for me.
—Clare
Almost three centuries after the Fall of Hyperion, the Time Tombs open and Aenea, child of Brawne Lamia and Johnny Keats emerges. Along with a former hunting guide named Raul Endymion and android A. Bettik, Aenea goes on a journey to fulfill her destiny as the one who teaches. Only the Pax has other ideas. Can Aenea reach her goal without being captured by Father Captain de Soya of the Pax?With all the two star reviews out there, I wasn't expecting magic from Endymion. Imagine my surprise when I wound up enjoying it quite a bit. Endymion felt like rummaging through a box of old possessions you have fond memories of but have forgotten about. Only in this case, the memories are the hawking mat, the Consul's ship, the deactivated farcaster portals along the old river Tethys, and good old A. Bettik. And also The Shrike, but we won't say much about him other than to say he's still as efficient a killing machine as ever.While not as pants-shittingly awesome as the first two books, Endymion was still an engaging read and doesn't tarnish the memory of the first two. The former Web has changed quite a bit in the 274 years since the Fall of Hyperion. Without giving too much away, the Catholic church and the cruciforms have melded in a pretty logical way into the Pax, and the Pax doesn't want Aenea fulfilling her destiny one bit. It makes for a good read. Endymion, Aenea, and A. Bettik visit some exotic former Web worlds, undergo quite a few harrowing experiences, and wind up in a good place to set up the next book, Rise of Endymion.As engaging as I found Aenea and her people's travels on the raft, I somehow found the bad guys, de Soya and the rest, to be a more interesting cast. de Soya was efficient but conflicted and I almost found myself rooting for the poor cruciform-bearing bastard.Don't let all the negative reviews steer you away. All franchises lose some steam by the third installment. At least there were no Ewoks in it. For fans of the first two books, Endymion is not to be missed!
—Dan Schwent
