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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
Better than the other sequels, but not by much. Dan Simmons goes through some real gymnastics to explain away the mystery of Hyperion.
After finishing the series, I would say Hyperion is 100% worth the read, but stop there.
After finishing the series, I would say Hyperion is 100% worth the read, but stop there.
There is a lot that I could say about the two Endymion books and the way they are making me rethink how I felt about the Hyperion novels. So much of the dynamic between Aenea and Raul was "Oh I'll tell you later" and then never tell him and make him figure it out on his own which is probably why this book was so long because while he can memorize every poem he's ever heard he is incredibly obtuse.
Additionally Hyperion had mysteries that were fun and some of them had open endings, the need to tie up those ends in these two books fell very flat to me.
Additionally Hyperion had mysteries that were fun and some of them had open endings, the need to tie up those ends in these two books fell very flat to me.
Spoiler
The stories of Rachel, Het Masseen, and Kassad I found to be frustrating to read in this series and did not like how they changed what we were able to interpret from the original text.
By far the best space opera I’ve had the pleasure of reading; the denouement of the series wraps the saga up into a neat, nostalgic bow. Overly detailed and minutia dense at times, however, the metaphorical bushwhacking was well worth the extra time debt. 10/10
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It got creepy/skeevy and started rampantly retconning good parts of the previous 3 books. My partner finished it and relayed what happened to me and we were both disgusted and disappointed so I just did not finish.
Reading Dan Simmons is like reading a multi-subject textbook with an engaging story laid over it all. I cannot count how many deep-dives I did and how much history/science/religion/poetry I learned from those dives that helped to enrich the main narrative.
That being said, this book was as well-crafted as any in the series. My only reason for knocking off a star is that he didn't convince me, in the end, that continuing this series to four books was the best idea. The first novel is an absolute masterpiece in science fiction and he could have stopped right there. While the second novel pales in comparison, it does fit, it's a great story, and it provides a second open but satisfying ending, like the first. I think he should have left it there rather than writing the next two. This book became overly convoluted multiple times and did a lot of "adjusting" to the original storyline to shoehorn it's way in. In the end, I think there were some loose ends left in explaining the timeline and I much preferred the shrike of the first two novels to what it became in the second two.
That being said, this book was as well-crafted as any in the series. My only reason for knocking off a star is that he didn't convince me, in the end, that continuing this series to four books was the best idea. The first novel is an absolute masterpiece in science fiction and he could have stopped right there. While the second novel pales in comparison, it does fit, it's a great story, and it provides a second open but satisfying ending, like the first. I think he should have left it there rather than writing the next two. This book became overly convoluted multiple times and did a lot of "adjusting" to the original storyline to shoehorn it's way in. In the end, I think there were some loose ends left in explaining the timeline and I much preferred the shrike of the first two novels to what it became in the second two.
• The RoE is full of retcon and it's really disappointing, it almost ruined first two hyperion books for me. Idk why the writer had to butcher his best work of the Hyperion books to write endymion. It felt like he regretted adding few details in the first two books and than he goes like oh well the things that I mentioned earlier is not how that happened. If you do that without any hint or without setting it up in the first two books, it takes away from the previous book and makes you lose trust in the writer to write a cohesive story in the next book in the series.
Personally I don't like the explanation for most of the things that happened in the endymion or RoE. Eg: I don't like the explanation of the shrike or lack thereof and the void that binds or about the love being a fundamental force or how the writer discarded the whole future war narrative.
(I was kind of fine if the shrike was just some mysterious creature but whenever shrike came to save aenea it was getting his butter whooped by nemes while nemes lost 1v1 to raul) XD
• let's talk about things that liked in Endymion books:
-The resurrection and use of cruciform to use to travel in high Gs. The idea of having the God like power of resurrection and how it affects the ideal of one's religion. I liked the amalgamation of religion and sci-fi elements.
-The concept of river tethys. Although I liked the journey through the river in the 3rd book but the story should've been at the forefront instead of the exploration. Because 80% of the book is just them passing through and exploring different world without any significance. I'm not attached to any of the worlds because we don't get enough time in the single world.
-I like the description of the Jupiter like planet with the creature called zeplins. The visual imagery during that part of the book was just surreal.
-The concept of the direction of the evolution and the diversity in the same species.
• I just wished that they focused more on the story of the side character rather than the main "couple" and it felt disgusting to read about it. It was also really tiring to read about how much it was affecting him that aenea had a child and was married before because the moment it was mentioned that nobody knew where she went during that 2 years, I knew that it was going to be him. I don't mind reading about the boring main lead as long as they are adding something to the story.
I wished that they had kept the captain de soya's journey to the t'ien shan. Even Ceo kenzo isozaki, cardinal domenico Mustafa's story was more interesting.
• At one point, Aenea mentions about how M. lamia and cybrid Johnny got married by the shrike cult but it was never mentioned in the hyperion books but I think brawne would've mentioned that because they were going in the details about their story on the pilgrimage and I think she would have mentioned their marriage. All of that retcon for what? so that aenea is not a bastard. It is such a small detail in the grand scheme of things but it breaks the flow and totally unnecessary.
• It was also annoying to read for the nth times about how exactly the schrodinger box is going to kill him.
I almost quit reading bunch of the times.
At few places, going through the books was more painful than what father duré must have went through when he was stuck on the Tesla tree.
Another point I would like to mention:
> Martin silenus: "It's the goddamn universe's goddamn datasphere, boy. I have been listenin' to it for centuries before the kid gave me communion to do it with nanotech bugs in me. That's what writers and artists and creators do, boy. Listen to the Void and try to hear dead folks' thoughts. Feel their pain. The pain of living folks too. Finding a muse is just an artist or holy man's way of getting a foot in the Void Which Binds' front door. Aenea knew that. You should have too."
So you don't need the virus DNA to glimpse at the void that binds and the artists were doing that for a long time?
But aenea also says that : "Jesus knew that his ability to open that door lay not in his mind or soul but in his skin and bones and cells ... literally in his DNA." That sounds a bit contradictory.
Personally I don't like the explanation for most of the things that happened in the endymion or RoE. Eg: I don't like the explanation of the shrike or lack thereof and the void that binds or about the love being a fundamental force or how the writer discarded the whole future war narrative.
(I was kind of fine if the shrike was just some mysterious creature but whenever shrike came to save aenea it was getting his butter whooped by nemes while nemes lost 1v1 to raul) XD
• let's talk about things that liked in Endymion books:
-The resurrection and use of cruciform to use to travel in high Gs. The idea of having the God like power of resurrection and how it affects the ideal of one's religion. I liked the amalgamation of religion and sci-fi elements.
-The concept of river tethys. Although I liked the journey through the river in the 3rd book but the story should've been at the forefront instead of the exploration. Because 80% of the book is just them passing through and exploring different world without any significance. I'm not attached to any of the worlds because we don't get enough time in the single world.
-I like the description of the Jupiter like planet with the creature called zeplins. The visual imagery during that part of the book was just surreal.
-The concept of the direction of the evolution and the diversity in the same species.
• I just wished that they focused more on the story of the side character rather than the main "couple" and it felt disgusting to read about it. It was also really tiring to read about how much it was affecting him that aenea had a child and was married before because the moment it was mentioned that nobody knew where she went during that 2 years, I knew that it was going to be him. I don't mind reading about the boring main lead as long as they are adding something to the story.
I wished that they had kept the captain de soya's journey to the t'ien shan. Even Ceo kenzo isozaki, cardinal domenico Mustafa's story was more interesting.
• At one point, Aenea mentions about how M. lamia and cybrid Johnny got married by the shrike cult but it was never mentioned in the hyperion books but I think brawne would've mentioned that because they were going in the details about their story on the pilgrimage and I think she would have mentioned their marriage. All of that retcon for what? so that aenea is not a bastard. It is such a small detail in the grand scheme of things but it breaks the flow and totally unnecessary.
• It was also annoying to read for the nth times about how exactly the schrodinger box is going to kill him.
I almost quit reading bunch of the times.
At few places, going through the books was more painful than what father duré must have went through when he was stuck on the Tesla tree.
Another point I would like to mention:
> Martin silenus: "It's the goddamn universe's goddamn datasphere, boy. I have been listenin' to it for centuries before the kid gave me communion to do it with nanotech bugs in me. That's what writers and artists and creators do, boy. Listen to the Void and try to hear dead folks' thoughts. Feel their pain. The pain of living folks too. Finding a muse is just an artist or holy man's way of getting a foot in the Void Which Binds' front door. Aenea knew that. You should have too."
So you don't need the virus DNA to glimpse at the void that binds and the artists were doing that for a long time?
But aenea also says that : "Jesus knew that his ability to open that door lay not in his mind or soul but in his skin and bones and cells ... literally in his DNA." That sounds a bit contradictory.
Good conclusion to a great series. I was pretty disappointed with the ending, but the rest of the series and the book were excellent enough to make up for it.