Rise of Endymion

Rating:
Summary: Matta Matta
Review: Rise of Endymion is the apex of the Hyperion storyline. Dan Simmons writes so beautifully and so in depth. I could not put it down. Between the time that I opened the cover, to the time that I put the book down - there was nothing else. I was in the middle of everything, looking Aenea straight in the eye, standing behing Nemes in battle, and dodging the Shrike's fists. The places that are described in the book, are so full, and lush, it's like Dan Simmons was describing a real place.

Where the hobbit was nothing compared to the trilogy, hyperion and fall of hyperion was nothing compared to endymion and rise of endymion. It wraps everything up, but leaves tantalizing little things for you to ponder about.

Full of suprises, full of fun, full of wonder, even has some extremely sad parts... If you have read the first three, you can't stop now.

and if you haven't read the first three, read them, so you can read this book!

Rating:
Summary: A reasonable conclusion to an excellent series
Review: The Hyperion Cantos is one of the most interesting science fiction series I have ever read, with a massive scope, compelling characters and an intriguing range of interweaving stories. Although The Rise of Endymion brings the story to a satisfactory close, it is somewhat disappointing as the writing and imagination do not rise to the level of the first two books in the four book series.

I felt that the writer's personality broke though the narrative on a few occasions, which detracted from the flow. For example, the regular interjection of 20th century culture was annoying: "Hi Boo", "Hi Scout". Okay, so you've read "To Kill a Mockingbird" this adds to a story set centuries in the future how? The fact that there were no references to the hundreds of years in between the story and the 20th century only underlined these breakthroughs.

Hyperion, in all its fullness, is a great series well worthy of the time invested, but it does rather stagger across the finish line.

Rating:
Summary: Worst book in the series. DON'T BOTHER WITH IT.
Review: After the first two suppendous books in the Hyperion series, I had high hopes for "Endymion" and "Rise of Endymion". However, both are surprisingly dissappointing. Simmons chooses not only to add on to his original story but also to CHANGE some of the plot already established by the first two books. Besides not meshing with the rest of the series, these last two books, especially "Rise of Endymion" lack any of the author's original brilliance and seem to be a disparate attempt to tack another two books onto a story that should have been left alone.

In conclusion, there really should have only been one Hyperion book. The first two should have been combined into one and the last two shouldn't have been published at all. DON'T EVEN BOTHER WITH "ENDYMION" OR "RISE OF ENDYMION"!

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary.
Review: .
Whereas typical writers introduce, fill in, and conclude their stories, Simmons' Hyperion books just start and then slowly end. This, to me, is the most natural and welcoming way any story can be written. Nevermind all that self-conscious structuring; you'll see none of that here. That's not to say that there isn't structure in Simmons' books. He structures, alright, but he does it for a reason.
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In the Hyperion series (for the record, the order of the series is: Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and The Rise of Endymion) you'll find many of the elements that make any literary work spectacular - parallels, symbolism, empathy, historical references, foreshadowing (as much as there is unpredictability), openmindedness, etc..
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You'll come across countless instances where Simmons' biases as a writer shine through in bold statements - and then you'll watch him approach and unravel these statements from opposing perspectives. Few of the underlying statements Simmons makes are not thoroughly analyzed and criticized. If any. The only possible exception I can think of is Simmons' recurring usage of the concept of love. And I must say, he does some marvelous things with it...
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You won't see just one lengthy, drawn-out climax in this book - rather, the entire book is a series of delightful encounters, some profound and some delicate. You'll be shocked at a tragic or wondrous turn of event, or you'll be in awe at the clarity of a particular description, or you'll find yourself nodding, smiling, and murmering crude names to the conniving Simmons as loose ends tie themselves up before your unsuspecting eyes.
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Don't expect to fly through this book (why is that deemed a good thing anyway?). Expect to savor every last detail, re-reading entire chapters if you must. Are you a wine-drinker with an imagination? The Hyperion series is the perfect read for you. Simmons' mastery of language, understanding of human nature, and confidence as a writer place him far, far ahead of nearly all (if not all) of today's other authors.
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Dan Simmons is now my favorite writer. Orson Scott Card takes second.

Rating:
Summary: finaly the end
Review: i must confess that i have read all the 4 books of hyperion series.
i can't speak about this book without mentioning the previous ones.

the first was hyperion - it was actually a bunch of weird short stories with a comon theme, but they were all great.

the second book try to take those stories, that seem to be not connected at first, and tie them together into a one sensible plot - it partly succeeded, the outcome was good, even the book was not initiative like the first one.

then came the endimion series, and i must break the series into 2 sub serieses, which are like written by different author.

while the characters in hyperion are complex charachter, that often are not apearing to be what they realy are, the characters in endimion are like chracters for "star wars" - one dimention characters, and thus very anoying.

while the plot in hyperion series is very complex, the plot in endimion is very simple : mixture of a chase that reminds you the "terminator 2 movie"

"endimion rising " follows it - again a kind of chase is taking place, while we know the outcome of it in advance, and with a litle I.Q you can even guess the only remaining ridle in the book about the heroin's disaperance.
again we have the same disapointing one dimentional heros, and there are very rought stiches that are added in order to complete the 4 books story into something that suppose to be convincing - i wasn't convinced and that's a shame.

Rating:
Summary: A grinding finish to a great series
Review: Anyone who read Hyperion feels compelled to read all of the books in the series. The first book was one of the most creative and fascinating SF books I have ever read. Unfortunately, by the time you reach the finale, things have changed. The thick-headed, dim-witted hero, Raul, can be quite tiresome. He is nothing, however, compared to the messiah, Aenea. She spends the entire book brooding and depressed. The reader is promised that her emotions will be explained later. An explanation comes at the end, but it is much too late for me. The author, through Aenea, seems to insist that we listen to his philosophies on love, religion and technology. The scenes with Aenea teaching (there are many)quickly become tiresome. The two stars I give are for the authors wonderful efforts leading up to this conclusion. He is obviously a gifted writer, he just needs to know when to say when.

Rating:
Summary: One of the all time greats
Review: The best of the Hyperion/Endymion series.

Like all the books by Simmons it is for mature sci-fi readers. Complex and with enough ideas to fill five books, but not so complicated as to overwhelm the reader. Poetry is kept to a minimum too.

In my opinion one of the best sci-fi books ever.
5 stars of course.

Rating:
Summary: Some flaws, still brilliant
Review: First off, if there were such a thing as too much action and adventure, well, this concluding volume would have it.

To be fair, Simmons fails to perfectly tie up some of the loose ends from earlier in the series. It seems he started writing the books with a general direction in mind, but realized that his original concept just wouldn't quite work. In shifting the story to a new direction, he uses some clumsy devices such as trying to convince the reader that they were "deceived" by characters earlier in the series, when actually the facts in question were learned from the narrator. Despite this, however, he transforms the direction of the story gracefully and convincingly enough that you forgive any bumps along the way. The conclusion is both satisfying as a narrative and has the proper sense of spiritual significance that he was looking for. What I think makes "Rise" really work as a finale is that Simmons manages to retain the same subtlety that made him so cool all along. Some mysteries are never explained, some only partially. Rather than collapsing into certainty, the end of "Rise" explodes into possibility and Mystery. The only similar effect I can think of in sci-fi is "Chapterhouse Dune."

This series rocks. go read it.

Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: Simply put, the Hyperion cantos is THE best sci-fi series I have read. And I've read a bunch. RoE is, like the other three books in the series (but perhaps not so much Endymion, which seemed like a huge build up to RoE) a masterpiece. I could really feel the love between Aenea and Raul, and somehow, despite the little voice in my head that kept saying, "This should be corny! This should be too sappy!" I never found it to be so. Simmons really makes you care about the characters, and when he writes in the first person (much of the novel is set in that viewpoint), you feel the emotion all the more. RoE is the only book EVER that has made me actually cry at the end. Aenea's fate is truly tragic and the reader can't help but feel sorry for Raul. But the characters are not stereotypical, they are not hackneyed, they are human and right, and that is what makes this book (and series) genius. This is my second reading, and I really felt that I had to write something about it. Maybe I just really get into the books I read, but the emotion at the end left me dazed for days--and from the other reader reviews I've read, I'm not alone. This book and the Hyperion series should be on everyone's shelf.

Rating:
Summary: World escapes Author
Review: Science Fiction usually not the forum for clever dialogue and I have to say that this book tantilized us with clever characterizations but never caplialized on it with great character interactions. All the interactions were "Star-Warzy" with the 2-D characters. (2-D good-rogue, 2-D andriod, 2-D woman messiah etc.) What saves the book is the great scientific concepts but unfortunately, you could see where the world outgrew the author and you can feel the strain everywhere trying to keep the myriad of concepts and characters consistent and relevant.

I loved the Hyperion book and liked the way it tried not to make sense of everything as it would have destroyed the flow and balance of the stories. Here, explaining everything bogs the story down and makes it tedious to make sense of the story avoiding contracdictions.
I also wish the narrator (Raul) was not such a boring character. He needed some redeeming vice or even an unpredictable adjective every now and then would have spiced him up a bit. I eneded up having to skip over a lot of his descriptions of his journeys.

The ending saved this book for me which I didn't see coming but the "happily ever after" otherwise was a bit primative.
I think Dan Simmons wrote a masterpiece with Hyperion but I imagine publishing deadlines have caused a bit of rush with the sequels which spoiled a perfectly good mysterious magical world and a fantastic recreation of the cantebury tales.