The Rise of Endymion
by Dan Simmons
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Book Summary Information
Author: Dan SimmonsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-07-01
ISBN: 0553572989
Number of pages: 720
Publisher: Spectra
Book Reviews of The Rise of Endymion
Book Review: "On the shores of darkness there is light."
Summary: 4 Stars
Is it possible to go wherever you wish in the galaxy, to seemingly defy the laws of physics, to bring back the dead? In Dan Simmons' The Rise of Endymion, all this is within reach. This tale continues and ends the Hyperion Cantos, Simmons' science fiction tour de force. There's much to like in this book, but by virtue of the fact it is the last in a series, it will be inevitably compared to its predecessors. That being said, the most positive aspect of this book is the obvious merit of ending a story satisfactorily (or at least tying up most loose ends). For those of us who are Hyperion fans this is a critical issue, as we have become attached to these characters and want to know what happens in the end. The story of Raul Endymion, one-time shepherd, Aenea, possibly humankind's savior, A. Bettik, the android, and other assorted characters is a compelling one, full of intrigue, mystery, love, death, and hardship. Raul has been assigned as protector to Aenea, child of a human woman and cybrid man, foretold to be the new messiah who will save mankind from the clutches of the TechnoCore (the loosely organized artificial intelligences that has meddled one too many times into human life). Unfortunately, Raul cannot save her from what the Core has in mind for her. But at least he tries, plus he loves Aenea and will do anything for her.
At the beginning of the book, Raul and Aenea are on Old Earth, moved into the Lesser Magellanic Cloud by some strange force, where she is indoctrinating others in her philosophy, which is basically that people must be allowed to be human and evolve naturally and that love is the Void Which Binds (an abstruse concept Simmons toys with but never really develops or explains thoroughly). The TechnoCore has a hold on mankind, since it has developed a nanotech parasite called the cruciform that allows resurrection from the dead. (In the previous book, Endymion, we learn that The Core lured the struggling Catholic Church into using the cruciform as another sacrament, thus enabling all Catholics to be like Christ.) Little does anyone know (except Aenea and her adherents) that the cruciform is a trap created by the Core to ensnare human intelligence once more. (In the Hyperion novels, the Core was dealt a serious setback when Meina Gladstone, CEO of the Hegemony of Man, destroyed the Core's instantaneous travel farcaster system, thus eliminating the Core's access to the collective human consciousness.) The relationship between Aenea and Raul intensifies on Old Earth, but because she is only 16 and he 32, not much can be done. Then Aenea announces that everyone must leave Old Earth by farcasters that work only for Aenea's group. Raul is instructed to find the old Hegemony starship, then rendezvous with Aenea on T'ien Shan, a vaguely Asian inspired planet inhabited by followers of Eastern religions. Because of the time debt Raul accrues during his journey in space, by the time he reaches Aenea's planet, she is now 21 and more than ready to begin a loving relationship with Raul. But The Pax (the Catholic Church controlled by the Core) has been pursuing Aenea since she was born. They are about to catch up with her, and it is only a matter of time before Raul and Aenea are captured, tortured, and given death sentences. Raul's death sentence is unique in that he is put into an orbiting prison cell, called a Schrodinger's Cat box, that has a vial of cyanide that will be released when a random isotope emission from radioactive decay hits a switch. Luckily for us, Raul's demise does not happen, otherwise we wouldn't be reading his story, since he is writing it down while serving time on quantum death row. Aenea's death sentence is much swifter, but not swift enough to be painless. In fact, everyone in the galaxy who has been touched by Aenea feels all her pain and suffering in what they call the Shared Moment. One would think that would be the end, a sad ending, but everything we dutiful readers would have anticipated, given all the foreshadowing in the two Endymion books. However, the story doesn't end so simply as that. Without spoiling too much, the ending is in keeping with the themes and plot devices of the Hyperion Cantos.
What is Aenea's message? What can we gain from this book? It is deep philosophically, but not as literary as some of Simmons' other books. It delves into religion, particularly Catholicism, and seeks to separate out the basic tenets of this religion from the bastardization of it. At first glance, a practicing Catholic might be offended at some of the ways the Catholic Church is portrayed in this book, but if one reads carefully, it becomes obvious that it is not Catholicism that is the problem, but the powers that be who want to subvert and pervert it. It's sad, but it is not the first time Catholicism has been subverted by those in power. Another unsettling image is Aenea's version of the sacrament of Communion. She mixes her blood with wine to spread the nanovirus she carries that will eventually cause the Core lose its hold on the Church by making people immune to the cruciform. But Simmons' vision of the Catholic Church is not all gloom and doom. It will be reborn in a simpler, purer form in the future, we are foretold, by one of Aenea's converts, Father Federico de Soya, once hell-bent on capturing her. Probably the most enduring theme is the value of love and its power over everything. Maybe Simmons is a little over the top with this idea. Just a bit trite from my end, but maybe that's where he and I differ. Not that I don't think love is valuable or wonderful or important, but I don't see it as "conquering all." Maybe I felt that way when I was 19 and fresh as the frost, but I am more dubious now.
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