Rise of Endymion

Rating:
Summary: The only reason the read it is to finish the series
Review: The first two books of the Hyperion series were quite good. They were well written, some what original, and consistent. The third book began to pull consistency apart yet it was still a good read. In this last book, Simmons spends a good portion of his time explaining away gross inconsistencies with the first two books as he is creating them (the inconsistencies, that is). He does this by proposing a frame story for the first two books (Hyperion and The Fall of Hyperion) that did not exist prior to his saying so in this book. There were quite a few points in the novel where I was tempted to give up on it, and this has only happened to me for a handful of books in the past decade. I was eventually able to finish it, but I rather wish Simmons had stopped with the first two books in this series.

Rating:
Summary: Case study in empathy
Review: First off, I want to say that I don't believe love is a tangible force in the universe. I also found both Aenea's omniscience and Raul's thick-headedness maddening at times. Finally, some of the inconsistencies were distracting.

Having said that, The Rise of Endymion is the most emotionally fulfilling science fiction novel I have ever read. The entire Hyperion saga is a case study in empathy. I found parts of it difficult to read simply because I was aching for the characters -- I'd been there and I knew their agony. Like its sister novels, The Rise of Endymion is not about happy endings; it is about strong, passionate people who persevere in the face of devastating loss. That's life. I have never come close to weeping over any novel, but at the end of this one, there were tears in my eyes. I didn't feel they were jerked from me, either, because none of these characters begged for sympathy. In my mind, they earned it.

Rating:
Summary: The Fall of Dan Simmmons
Review: I can't believe how bad this book was. The three preceeding volumes of the series were landmark achievements in the sci-fi genre. For the final chapter, however, Dan Simmons seems to have been infected by Aenea's martyr complex. Filled with fluffy nonsense and feel-good coddling, the hard edge of the previous books is reduced to a simple "all you need is love" philosophy. Not worth your time. Read "Endymion" again.

Rating:
Summary: Can't get it out of my head.
Review: I have come to a simple conclusion that people who consider this book "emotionally overdone" or "too sappy", have, quite clearly, never experienced true love, and those who consider it boring... all I can say is, "boring sets in the boring mind". I believe that those who consider it terrible in all respects, are either not very bright, or simply close-minded and aren't psychologically ready for something original, mind-challenging and eye-opening. That's exactly what this book was. I have read all four of the Hyperion/Endymion saga, and ROE was definitely the best one. I literally wept at the end of it. It is unique in many ways. The world that Simmons creates is so real, so masterly depicted, I'd serious suspicions that Mr. Simmons had really lived in that universe (OK, not really. But that's the feeling you get). You're THERE. The scope, language, imagination and emotion of this epic are mind-blowing and unforgettable.

I have read the rest of the reviews and noticed that many people wonder if there ever will be a continuation of this epic. Having had a correspondence with Mr. Simmons a few months ago, I'll convey this: he said that he will co-write a novella set in the Hyperion universe, with Fred Saberhagen. But as far as the Hyperion saga goes, it is finished. =( Good thing it was such a fantastic finale. Don't listen to the negative reviews, for the love of God(s). If you deem yourself spiritual, open-minded and imaginative, read this book, it'll amaze you.

Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: The 1st 2 books of the series are monumentally great works of science fiction. The 3rd is entertaining, but inferior because the epic scale building stops and gets replaced with a merely engaging chase plot. Rise of Endymion is an embarrassment to the whole series. Throughout the entire book, I felt absolutely no awe, no sense of mystery or identification with the characters. The trendy zen-ish subplot is insultingly preachy, pedantic and so orientalist it would fit well into both the Star Wars universe and the eugenic politics of Walt Disney (something like 'Tibetan Supermen are our superiors' or 'please wookify our mysterious Asian mountain-dwellers'). Aenea has to be one of the worst characters I have ever encountered in any genre; she's a flat, inconsistent, and totally hollow nonentity with hagiologic pretenses. Mr. Simmons should have done exactly what Mr. P. K. Dick does with his own young messiah characters, kill them off before they can open their mouths too much and turn what they stand for into an iMac commercial.

Rating:
Summary: Long winded but a great ending to the series
Review: If you have already read the first three books then don't stop now. Most of the questions that arose in the previous books are answered here. Yet there are more questions left open by the end. It makes me think that maybe this wasn't the last book in the series.

If you haven't started reading this series I suggest you do. It is one of the most imaginative stories I have ever read. Simmons does a great job of explaining everything in detail. Almost to a fault.

This book has a lot of Roman Catholic terminology that takes a while to get used to. If there was anything that was wrong with this book it was the excess of Catholic pomp & circumstance. It slowed the story to a crawl at times.

Although I give this book 4 stars by itself, I give the entire series 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Ultimately tragic. Really beautiful stuff.
Review: I know some others say that the book is overdone in its emotionality, but for me, that didn't make me feel any less of what Simmons was trying to communicate. DS's concept of the Ouster civilization is similar in style to the Edenists in Peter F. Hamilton's "Reality Dysfunction" series. Maybe I was just lonely at the particular time I was reading The Rise of Endymion, but I really began to care about the characters and to get into Simmons' universe, so the ending was especially tragic and heartbreaking to one who can become as involved in what they read as myself. This is far from typical, though. Most authors try to make you care about their characters with limited success, but I can say without a doubt that DS won the battle for my heart and mind with The Rise of Endymion.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Preach, Mr. Simmons
Review: I have read several of Mr. Simmons books and some of them are among my favorites. But this book! The story seems to drag at a slow pace. The settings lack the originality and uniqueness of Hyperion and the others in this series. And when Aenea starts preaching her eastern mysticism, the lecture goes on and on. I was nothing less than offended and bored. I read to be entertained, not indoctrinated. This is the first time I actually threw away a book I had bought.

Rating:
Summary: Thrilling end to the endymion saga
Review: Ah.....Raul the mystified traveller. The saga unfolds around him,and with the naivety of an adolescent, he takes us on this, his final journey.We feel his pain when he has to continue his journey without Aenea and A. Bettik, likewise we understand his enduring love and commitment to his young companion when she explains the missing years at T'ien Shan. Dan Simmons at his titillating best, a truly brilliant conclusion to an epic Saga.

Rating:
Summary: Questions, Questions, Questions and more Questions
Review: After reading H and FoH, when I thought many of my question were answered, my brother told me that Hyperion Cantos had continuity. Great!!, maybe some of this questions : 1) The Final Battle 2) Will the Empathy back? 3) Who the Hell were Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my! ?? 4) Shrike's Church and Masteen's strange behaviourism. will be answered.

So I read E and RoE. The pretty love story polarized the book development. We knew Aenea's adventures only through Raul's eyes, because he was himself the love that "the Newton of the Love" needed to exist. Raul was interested in Aenea as a woman, so we can enjoy beatiful details of her life...but we lost many importants detail of Hyperion Cantos' development. I think only #4 question was answered: Het Masteen was carried to the future as a comandant of the Yddgrasill, the future(in the past)Tree of the Pain...ordered by Aenea!! ( she has direct relatoin with Shrike's Church !! );so she ordered Masteen to go past,very far in the past( far from the first Hyperion real time ) to start the wave of pain and, in this way, bring human's Empathy back to the human's divinity. But,then:

1) If human's Empathy (Aenea) was finally back and our divinity is completed, Core's " deus ex machina" can reclaim to start "the battle". So, why this battle take palce in 10000 years and not when Aenea completed her mission??

2) Why did TechnoCore send De Soya to his mission twise, if they KNEW he was finally going to be a Judas?...maybe 2º Jonny took part on this, but we don't know exactly.

3) We still keep without knowing who Lions and Tigers and Bears are.

4) What about Core's Empathy...?? Jonny??

But despite all that, despite the terrible mistake of resucitate Duré ( he lost the second Cross in Hyperion!!! ), despite the lies of Ummon ( not well accepted for me ), despite F.Kassad's new rule ( not neccesary ) and Shrike's ambiguous behaviourism ( now he is a soft, soft machine now, a good guy ), despite all that, we have in our hands a marvellous novel, which make us think ( it's hyperhyperhyperhyper complex ), with not a easy end, with a message of Love, not like Titanic's trush or something like that, but Love as and essencial thing of beaty our lives. For all this, this 5 stars are for you, Dan, and if I could,I will give you 6, for showing us how the modern SF is now, not only Star Wars and heroes. This Saga is the largest space opera and the best. Thank you M. Simmons, and please, I'm sure you're joking when you say no more continuity for Cantos, and you will give us a answer.

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever"