Endymion (Hyperion) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Dan Simmons (Author)
Key Phrases: pax command, hawking mat, papal diskey, Father Captain de Soya, Old Earth, Father Glaucus (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Two hundred and seventy-four years after the fall of the WorldWeb in Fall of Hyperion, Raoul Endymion is sent on a quest. Retrieving Aenea from the Sphinx before the Church troops reach her is only the beginning. With help from a blue-skinned android named A. Bettik, Raoul and Aenea travel the river Tethys, pursued by Father Captain Frederico DeSoya, an influential warrior-priest and his troops. The shrike continues to make enigmatic appearances, and while many questions were raised in Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, still more are raised here. Raoul's quest will continue in at least one more volume.

This series has something for everyone: Simmons's prose is imaginative and stylistically varied; point-of-view and time-scale are handled with finesse; the action is always gripping; the device of Old Earth allows Simmons to work in entertaining references to present-day culture; and the technology raises bizarre questions of ethics and morality in its use of repeated death and resurrection. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
After a recent foray into the horror field (Fires of Eden, LJ 11/15/94), the multitalented Simmons returns to the sf genre with a sequel to the Hugo Award-winning Hyperion (Doubleday, 1989) and The Fall of Hyperion (LJ
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (November 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553572946
• ISBN-13: 978-0553572940
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (124 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,529 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Hyperion Cantos Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional meld of sci-fi and literary elements, July 15, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Vancouver, WA) - See all my reviews

I'm somewhat surprised by some of the reviews for the Hyperion series, especially the latter two, Endymion and Rise of Endymion. I agree that Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion are the /slightly/ stronger of the four, but again they are the foundational works which support the rest of the series, which branches off into a more ornate, but steadfast, structure. Looking at the structure of the Hyperion saga as a whole, both as science fiction and as literary fiction, few stories come close to matching the width and depth of Simmon's conceptualization of the future.

Sci-fi ornamentation aside, much of the saga's strength lies in it's most literary qualities. The plot is epic and the characters are depthful and realistic, but Simmons raises the bar a notch above the average space opera's best, weaving a rich tapestry of allusion and parallelism that would challenge literary fiction's finest offerings.

Hyperion itself, as many have surmised, takes on the patterns of Canterbury Tales as its own, with its tales spanning the genres from mystery and suspense to classic military sf. This multi-genre approach is an unusual vehicle for introducing an entire science-fiction universe, and duly appreciated by those sick of tired and stilted exposition.

The Fall of Hyperion rightly gathers source from Keats' unfinished epic and the greatest tragedies of our time. By the close of this installment, Simmons' Mythos of the Hegemony, the Shrike, and the Hyperion pilgrims stands on its own in the form of Martin Silenus' Cantos, an accomplishment that, some say, Simmons should have stopped at. Yet mysteries and holes have been purposefully left unanswered and unfilled. Good marketing, certainly, but one must appreciate the difficulty of keeping this sort of complexity tight and controlled.

Endymion is the perfect example of this. Simmons balances the story's elements to near perfection by developing and adding onto the Hyperion Mythos while answering some mysteries and making others more mysterious. Plot-wise, Endymion's fast-paced chase is a timeless theme (all Scharzenegger jokes aside), and Simmons does not waste it by relying wholly on the cliches that have led highbrows to dismiss action-based stories as inferior. Rather, the chase becomes a framework for Simmons to explore the mysteries and difficulties of faith and reason that he first introduced in Hyperion with the priest's tale.

The Rise of Endymion is an exceptional way to cap off this saga (and unsurprisingly, there is always room for a sequel). This final installment shares many thematic elements with Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land (and who can't resist imagining Martin Silenus as a caustic Jubal Harshaw?) The questions of religion, faith, and messiah-hood are presented fairly and with an objectivity that is refreshing in an industry and a culture where it is popular to portray such topics with a negative, mocking slant. (Honestly, name an Arthur C. Clarke novel where faith and religion are /not/ quickly dismissed as irrelevant to an imagined future culture.)

Stylistically, Simmons writes with detailed clarity and a dry sense of humor that underpins every book in this series. While the story may bog at times during the particular verbose descriptions of the latter stories, the pacing is never derailed. Necessarily with any work of fiction, there are miniscule lapses of continuity and logicality. (What /did/ happen to Leigh Hunt?) But I would argue that these nits are so glaring only because the whole of the series is so well-implemented. To remain quotable, the saga is a spectacular tour-de-force, breathtaking in scope with heart-touching characters. Please read these books.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Same Universe, different story., July 9, 2004

By	Maximiliano F Yofre "Maxi" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

"Hyperion" cycle is a quartet divided in two halves that shares the same universe. "Endymion" starts the second part. Three hundred years had elapsed since the end of "The Fall of Hyperion" and new forces are playing the game. Some characters of the first half, as A. Bettik, Martin Silenus and The Shrike reappear here. The Catholic Church with her new resurrection "sacrament" is expanding everywhere. The "farcasters" are not working and space travel takes a toll in the form of time debt.

Simmons gives a new turn of the screw to his story: the new main character is an anti-hero. He is not very brave or smart; he is loyal and devoted to Aenea. Usually M. Endymion just goes ahead pressed by the events that pop up and strives to stay alive and protect Aenea. He is just an ordinary man subjected to extraordinary events. The Pax forces leaded by Father Captain de Soya launch an all-out persecution thru the universe and this is its chronicle.

Simmons uses a subtle humor and winks the reader to enter the game. At the same time, in another level of the story, more complex issues are touched as predestination versus free will; religion and faith; ethical and unethical choices.

Before reading this book is advisable to read "Hyperion" and "The Fall of Hyperion", to fully understand what's going on. But you will not regret doing so, you'll get in touch with one of the best sci-fi sagas written in the `90s.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ...a master storyteller..., February 28, 2001

By	"wavefunction" (Norway) - See all my reviews

Wow! This is one of the most engaging novels I've ever read. Simmons is a master storyteller. Endymion is one of those rare books, which manage to create a truly believable futuristic world, regardless of how "alien" the technology and setting might appear. It's a world you have to tear yourself away from. If you enjoyed the Hyperion books, then I really think you will like this. Simmons weaves another complex and highly original plot involving the three travelers, the Pax Church, the TechnoCore and the mysterious entities inhabiting the outer reaches of the megasphere. He reveals information slowly throughout the book and by the end you really have more questions than answers, so if you're anything like me you'll definitely want to read the final part (Rise of Endymion) of this wonderful saga as soon as possible to find out what's going on. By the way, some people find this book less action-filled than the two first, which is partly true. The novel is slightly slower than its predecessors, but in my opinion there is more than enough going on, and, as stated above, the story is a real page-turner.