A nice conclusion to a great series. Not as good as the first two, but if you were hooked there, you have to finish the series through to its completion ( )

Hyperion was lovely, but the Endymion books just don't need to exist at all. Well-written, but... ( )

(Alistair) Alas, now, for a tragically inadequate review of The Rise of Endymion. I had put it off since we had entered the quarterly busy period here just as it bubbled to the top of my booklog pile, thinking that it really deserved more attention than my tragically sleep-deprived brain could muster, and so now I find myself booklogging it sufficiently long after reading it that weakness of memory shall impair my writing instead.

Ah, well.

I am forced, thus, to generalize, even more so than I would do ordinarily for the sake of spoiler-avoidance. I highly recommend this series, then (Endymion, The Fall of Hyperion, and Hyperion being the preceding works), for a multitude of reasons: for its well-realized setting, in the shape of the fallen Hegemony's rebirth as the Pax; for a good use of a non-linear timeline in the plot; for excellently drawn characters (and a special note here for the priest who maintains and demonstrates the virtues of his faith despite the massive corruption of the Church in this timeline); for a good portrayal of one possible clade of transhumans; for a multi-character exposition scene which seems, when reached, both necessary (if not inevitable) and fitting neatly into the plot, not just as infodump; and finally, for actually delivering a satisfying ending to a series which, I must admit, seemed increasingly unlikely to have one as the pages turned and the difficulty of delivering same seemed to increase.

I have a few more notes, but frankly, I can't make head nor tail of them in retrospect, so I guess I'll leave it there.

( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/ce... ) ( )

This is the conclusion to the Hyperion series. While this one is a little more about metaphysics and less about action and plot, it still follows the general theme of the series. For very advanced science fiction with a lot of personal drama, its hard to do better than this series. A fitting conclusion. I highly recommend this for science fiction fans. ( )

This is really a fine piece of writing. If you like intelligent science fiction, read this series, starting with the Hyperion books. Unlike some science fiction and fantasy series that become formulaic or less interesting over time, Simmons really pulls out all the stops in THE RISE OF ENDYMION, the best of the series. ( )