The Rise of Endymion

It is half a decade after Aenea’s exile to Old Earth when the Pax is on the verge of starting the conclusive Crusade against the Ousters. This is the time that Aenea has to return from exile and become the One Who Teaches. ‘The Rise of Endymion’ is the fourth and concluding addition to the Hyperion cycle that will tie all loose ends of the series together. Unfortunately, it also lacks the focus of the previous novels. In his hunger for detail Dan Simmons regularly takes it too far, for example when he enumerates all the mountains on the world of T’ien Shan or when he lists every pilgrim to the temple of the Dalai Lama, most of them being irrelevant to the story, spending many paragraphs on describing their clothing. Also, at other times the story becomes quite fuzzy, such as in his dissertation on the Void Which Binds. The result is that this novel occasionally is plainly dull, requiring some persistence to get through, which is in stark contrast to the other Hyperion books that were so tight and fast paced. However, when the story does focus on the main storyline it again does so spot on. With ‘The Rise of Endymion’ the series becomes even more mysterious and epic, elegantly shedding new light on the previous books in the process. Stereotypes are skillfully avoided and all parties have their own motivations which are convincingly portrayed. This makes for an intelligent novel that offers a realistic set of players, human and even non-human, in a vastly imaginative setting. Though ‘The Rise of Endymion’ would have been better if it were 100 pages shorter it is a worthy conclusion to the Hyperion series. Recommended!

Schitterend vervolg op de vorige boeken over de pelgrims.

Dan Simmons schetst met zijn Hyperion Cantos een ongelofelijk meeslepend verhaal, dat niet voor niks de Hugo Award gewonnen heeft. Dit laatste deel ligt perfect in dezelfde lijn als de vorige drie delen. Let wel, zonder de voorkennis van de eerste boeken is het geen volume dat je op zichzelf kan lezen!