Endymion

Book 3 of the Hyperion Cantos was not as bad as we initially expected. After the somewhat disappointing and torturous read of The Fall of Hyperion, we expected something in a similar vein with endless and unnecessary dialogue and excessive chapters. Sure, some of those problems remain. But Simmons uses a simpler narrative structure here, switching back and forth between fewer characters while focusing on the pursuit of Aenea by forces of the Pax, a revived Catholic Church which has accepted the cruciform and replaced the Hegemony as the dominant force of the old Web worlds. While the two later additions in the series are probably unnecessary reads, it is interesting to see how Simmons envisioned a post-Hegemony future of humanity centuries after the Fall, precipitated by Meina Gladstone when she destroyed the farcasters. 

Sort of like popular representations of post-Roman western Europe, the Church emerges as the dominant institution, but only possible in this setting through a Faustian deal utilizing enhanced cruciforms for a form of near-immortality. Instead of the older cruciforms that produced unintelligent and sexless Bikura on Hyperion, the Church has promoted a modified cruciform with none of those defects. Unsurprisingly, with its nearly immortal mechanism of the resurrection through cruciforms and combination of military power, it has replaced the Hegemony on several planets while waging war with the Ousters. For those of us readers who were expecting to see more of the unbelievable Ousters and their adaptations to live in deep space, perhaps we need to wait for the final book in the series to see if there will ever be a symbiosis of Ouster lifestyles and old Hegemony humanity.

But we digress. Endymion is basically a chase story that sees Aenea (the one who teaches), the daughter of the Keats cybrid persona and Brawne, use the old farcasters in the company of an android, A. Bettik, and Raul Endymion, a descendant of indigenie Hyperion stock. First escaping on the Consul's centuries-old ship, they use a raft to sail along the Tethys river, which once connected several Web worlds via the farcaster technology, while Federico de Soya of the Vatican/Pax military pursues them. Vatican politics and conspiracies, plus hints to the survival of the Technocore and the enigmatic genocide of Jewish and Muslim worlds add elements of suspense to the narrative. We thoroughly enjoyed it, although the ending of course is incomplete, requiring us to continue with the final novel to actually understand what it is Aenea, Raul, and A. Bettik encounter at their final destination. 

While less creative than Hyperion and not quite so literary in its pretensions and allusions as the first two books in the series, this is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the universe of Hyperion. Of course, it continues the religious themes and symbolism of the previous novels, with a more overt focus on Roman Catholicism, but also attempts to grapple with the same themes of Teilhard, AI evolution into god-like beings, and the nature of God in a world so distorted by advanced technology from the future. Naturally, we are dying to know what is motivating the Shrike to protect Aenea in this novel, which will presumably be revealed in Book 4. 

The Fall of Hyperion

The Fall of Hyperion should be read with the first novel in the series. It is the necessary conclusion to the first installment, despite it being a worse experience for the reader. Continuing right where the previous story concluded, it expands our ensemble of characters, introduces another Keats cybrid persona, and changes the narrative structure. The second John Keats persona can experience what others see and do via "dreams," allowing him to relay data on the pilgrims to Hegemony CEO Meina Gladstone. Unfortunately, the change in narrative structure is a turn for the worse, as the reader no longer has a Chaucer-like plot structure to mix up the stylistic and genre references. Moreover, the plot is stretched out with turgid, sometimes unnecessary prose and exposition. The whole experience starts to drag after a while, which is why we here at the blog took our sweet time to finish this novel. 

While there are some interesting new additions to the setting here, particularly the introduction of Ouster characters (and their vast Swarms), time travel, additional Keats allusions and more context for the development of the civil war taking place in the Core, the overall reading experience was not the greatest. It just seemed excessive and unnecessary for the story to be stretched in the manner it was, for its numerous digressions and the lack of adequate attention on more interesting characters, such as Ummon. Some of the new settings and visual language are stunning, especially the Ouster Swarm invading Hyperion, and the metasphere. 

The religious themes and apocalyptic imagery were occasionally interesting, particularly for the fusion of AI and human spirit embodied in a certain character, and the dualism of a battle between future Ultimate Intelligences crafted by humanity and AI. Sure, very Manichaean and perhaps Gnostic influences evident there, but science fiction has always reworked these themes in intriguing ways. Clearly, the Hegemony was a civilization in decline, dependent on the Core for its greatest scientific and conceptual revolutions. Thus, a civilizational change was necessary, one that would change the nature of humanity's relationship with technology and the rest of the universe. Perhaps the next civilization will fuse the cultures of the former Hegemony with the Ousters, their belief in humans adapting to the universe rather than terraforming other planets and reproducing old Earth. This is more plausible as a desirable future than the collective consciousness of Gaia in Asimov's  Foundation series. Besides, it builds on the messianic and Christian symbolism of the cybrid persona and Brawne's child. Perhaps it also appealed to Simmons and the ecological interests he clearly possessed when creating the Templars.

Hyperion

After so many friends and acquaintances have recommended it, we have finally read Hyperion. Due to its narrative structure of combining multiple stories and characters within the larger narrative of a pilgrimage to the mysterious world of Hyperion, Simmons is able to get away with combining various science fiction subgenres, tropes, and literary allusions that encompass horror, noir, cyberpunk, and a plethora of writers, ranging from Keats and Chaucer to Edgar Allen Poe and William Gibson. Sure, it's cool. It's occasionally interesting and crafts a fascinating post-Hegira future of humanity in the 29th century, under the Hegemony of Man. Neologisms are dropped throughout the text and context helps the reader keep up and figure out this fast-paced, complex world and its characters. Unfortunately, due to its very hodgepodge nature combining various tropes and genres, it lacks cohesion and the somewhat silly conclusion left a sour taste. Nonetheless, the reader is occasionally swept up in the world built by Simmons, and the sad future of humanity represented by the Hegemony, its troubled relationship with independent AI, and the Ousters. That may be enough to convince us to read the rest of the series. We shall see...