Endymion (Hyperion Cantos, Bk. 3)
by Dan Simmons
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Book Summary Information
Author: Dan SimmonsIllustrator: Gary Ruddell
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1996-11-01
ISBN: 0553572946
Number of pages: 576
Publisher: Spectra
Book Reviews of Endymion (Hyperion Cantos, Bk. 3)
Book Review: "What mad pursuit?"
Summary: 5 Stars
Dan Simmons' third installment in his Hyperion Cantos takes off in a different direction from the original two novels, Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion. Instead of following the adventures of seven pilgrims on their way to save the galaxy, we are treated to new characters (as well as a couple of old faces to ease the way in) whose mission is not altogether clear, at least not at first, although you can guess it has something to do with saving the galaxy. It is 274 years after the Fall of the Farcasters, the Fatline, and the Hegemony, all that was keeping the World Web of planets together back in the year 2852 AD. In The Year of Our Lord 3126, it is the Catholic Church, known now as the Pax, that holds the universe together as tenaciously as a steel trap on a fox's leg. The Church's power is paramount, remarkably stemming from the "taming" of the cruciform parasite that is capable of resurrecting dead individuals. However, as we learned in the Hyperion novels, the cruciform, a pet of the TechnoCore artificial intelligences, though capable of resurrection, did so in ways that were dehumanizing, leaving cruciform hosts imbicilic and sexless. Somehow the Church bargained with the Core to temper the cruciform so that it kept its host intact, resurrection after resurrection. What a Faustian bargain has been reached though! Now trillions of humans are infected with the cruciform and are capable of living multiple lives, including the current Pope, who was once Father Lenar Hoyt, a major character in the first novel Hyperion. But all is not right with this new way of living. The new characters, Aenea, daughter of Brawne Lamia and the cybrid John Keats, and Raul Endymion, hint that the Core has turned the Church into something more in line with the Old Church of the Inquisition during the 1500s. Aenea, the One Who Teaches, is a threat to the Pax, or will be when she reaches of age. The Church wants nothing more than to stop her before she matures. It sends Father Captain Federico de Soya, a priest/warrior to capture the girl, only 11 years old. Raul Endymion, a shepherd (what else) cum bargemaster cum guardsman is summoned by none other than Martin Silenus, the old poet whose "Cantos" Raul memorized as a child. Of course, Raul thinks the "Cantos" are mere legend, but he soon discovers that most of what Silenus wrote in the them was true. Endymion is to be the hero, the one who rescues and protects Aenea from the Church that is intent on capturing and silencing her forever. And Raul lives up to the challenge in his first adventure by rescuing Aenea from a Pax ambush, with a little help from the Shrike who shows up to, of all things, protect Aenea . Hmm, a kinder, gentler Shrike? Well, at least to Aenea he appears to be, but merciless to the thousands of Pax soldiers he slaughters. As the book progresses, we see Aenea and Raul, along with the android A. Bettik (a peripheral Hyperion character), travel through space in the Consul's old ship, through old farcasters that only work for Aenea, and down the River Tethys to traverse several planets once in the old World Web. Encounters both fearsome and baffling await them. Aenea seems to know what the future will bring, or at least parts of it, but Raul is left in the dark; all he knows is that he needs to protect his charge. With most of the universe out to get Aenea, he has his work cut out for him. Can he succeed? The fate of the human race is at stake. But in the meantime, Raul Endymion must earn his "sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing."
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