Rating: 
Summary: A bitter-sweet ending.
Review: I think the comparisons of this series of novels by Simmons to Asimov's Foundation series is unfair. I read predominately science fiction, and in my humble opinion, there will never be another Asimov. I believe that Simmons is mainly a horror writer with a penchant for science fiction. I was disappointed that a series that explores the human condition with such poetic vigor would seem to lack a certain poetry at the finale. But then perhaps that is the poetry. I've never really understood poetry. Serial novels are money makers for book publishers, and I suspect that this was a factor in this series. Certainly serial novels by writers such as Asimov and Tolken have made money in their time, but I didn't have a such a feeling of "full circle" as I did when reading works by Asimov. Again, maybe this is Simmons using poetry. I have the feeling that the series was not completed to the satisfaction of Simmons. Perhaps Simmons will revisit this story another few hundred years into the future. I certainly hope so. Asimov was able to conceive of a humanity thousands of years into the future and I think this is one of the strong points for me with the Foundation series. One of Simmons' greater strengths is to look outside of humanity and conceive of a greater universe of diverse and intelligent life forms, something Asimov never really explored. Are the characters two dimensional? I don't think so. At least no more two dimensional than other ordinary people. We all follow a certain destiny whether we realize it or not. We watch the ones we love in life move toward their own destinies, for either better or worse, feeling powerless sometimes to deprive destiny when it hurts the ones we love. So into this science fiction enters an occasional reality or truth. So rather than compare Asimov to Simmons, I prefer to contrast the two. Simmons has a style unique for science fiction, and I look forward to watching him progress as a writer in the genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Alas, so ends the Hyperion Cantos...
Review: Of this book I must raise two points. The first is about the storyline. It's not just a conclusion to a story about a girl, a guy, an android and a big, barbed, bad guy. This saga is about faith in the face of the inevitable, in the face of people and organization that are truly amoral. It's about standing up and showing that evil can be identified and beaten, even if it requires a terrible price that few of us would have the balls to pay. It's about learning to judge for ourselves who and what the real monsters are when they appear before us. As for Simmons, he has proven that he is one of the few authors today who can write a tragic saga. Not one that is just a long, on-going story with the occasional surprise, but truly a story where each book brings so much more to the table that you have to wonder how it can ever come together into one cohesive "Ah, I get it." And yet Simmons pulls it off. If you enjoyed the way Julian May pulled together all of the seemingly-random threads of The Pliocene Saga in the book The Adversary, you're going to LOVE The Rise of Endymion.
Rating:
Summary: Great Love Story
Review: Aenea is truly the "new age" messiah. Never has a series compelled me to look up Keats, Hawking, and Tu Fu! Amazing love story, amazing sacrifices... Aenea and Raul seemed a bit mismatched, but that was the beauty of the relationship-- a martyr with a plain lover. Beautiful.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Book and I was sorry when I finished reading it.
Review: It's hard to say anything that hasn't been expressed by the earlier readers. Yes Simmons is challenging. But its worth it. Yes sometimes there is a some predictability but it is forgiven. I galloped through this book and then went back to read Hyperion from the start because it still left me so hungry for more. It's the best book I've read recently, and that's against some stiff competition.
Rating:
Summary: We want more! We want more!!!
Review: I have bought Hyperion, just to discover that "The Fall of Hyperion" is unavailable for three months. After a year I discovered "Endymion" and finished it with no breath. And now now after A YEAR AND A HALF (!!!!) I have read the Grand Finale - "The Rise of Endymion" and although Mr. Simmons wrote "Adieu, Hyperion universe" I am still hoping without hope that there will be a sequel to this amazing series. This book is a more than worthy end to this grand series. I have nothing further to say but run and read it, it surely at the same level of "Foundation", "Space Oddessey" and "Dune". Go and read!!!
Rating: 
Summary: A disappointing finale to a brilliant series
Review: I've read all the previous books in the Hyperion series, and loved them. The Rise of Endymoin, however, was a major comedown. First, the two protagonists, Raul Endymion and Aenea, were about as 2D as you can get. Raul was just a camera on legs, and Aenea lost all sembelance on humanity and became a cloyingly sweet saint. The Pax bad guys were far more interesting, and Father Captain de Soya was a truely brilliant character. The ending was worst of all -- transparently a frantic attempt to wrap up loose ends. This is a thought -provoking book -- the thought being, why the hell did a writer as good as Dan Simmoins write this dog?
Rating:
Summary: What else is left to explain?
Review: You don't realize how much Simmons actually left dangling from the previous three books until you get to the end of this one. Still, it's a testament to his genius that he manages to get mostly all of it explained in a way that makes sense. This book continued the grand tradition of the Hyperion books, not surpassing them but carrying it with ease. Most of it was suspenseful though the first person past tense/present tense switching was at times inexplicable and hinted that at least Endymion survived to the end. One thing that Simmons never failed to do was shock me though, scenes like the TechnoCore explaining what their final motivation was still enough to give me a chill and some parts made me wonder just how far Simmons had planned in advance. Several things weren't explained, such as who the Lions and Tigers and Bears actually were and what they wanted, and how the hell the Shrike came about in the first place (we find out who he is, but never who's side he's on). Still those are minor complaints to what was one the best series ever to come out of science fiction, ever. Though I did miss the like forty plot threads from Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion and how they mixed this book was not only a suitable addition but a grand and graceful finale. The end is as close to perfect as they come, and shows that Simmons can always leave you wanting more. I eagerly await to see where he's going to go from here.
Rating:
Summary: If you wanted answers, here you are
Review: Though I felt confused in some parts of the book, the story was wrapped up with good style and a very, very good ending. I hope to read something more from Dan Simmons
Rating:
Summary: One of the best finishes ever!
Review: Dan Simmons is one of the best sf writers. In "The Rise of Endymion" he created an universe so immense and yet so understandable. He added a realistic philosophy to bind the story together and make the ending a masterpiece. If you passed this book up "think again"!
Rating:
Summary: Simply One Of The Best Books On The Universe!!
Review: Dan Simmons concludes this final episode of the Hyperion series like no Sci-Fi author I have read in my life, the whole series is filled with imagination, good style and that "Simmons" touch in the writing that is actually breath-taking. What can one say to praise one of the best conclusion to an awsome series?? After I read the Foundation Series from Asimov, I thought that nothing would compare to those books, but after I read now the Hyperion series I found out how wrong I was, they are astonishing and I put those two series as "la creme de la creme" of the Sci-Fi cathegory.
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