Sequel to The Fall of Hyperion.
- Seems to be like The Fall of Hyperion, in that it’s a single narrative, unlike the multiple stories of Hyperion. It’s also in first person, which I don’t think the previous book was in, although I might be mistaken.
- The first scene with the hunters and Raul’s dog dying was pretty gripping.
- The writing style of this book feels a lot different, it feels more movie like in it’s pacing, which isn’t a bad thing, I find that it’s more gripping. Not to say that the previous books weren’t, or maybe this is just a big change from Slaughterhouse 5 and the nature of an epic story feels more gripping than meta-fiction.
- I think Simmons does a really good job of referencing characters and plot from the previous books without it being too heavy-handed or detracting from the current book. It’s like what the sequel trilogy for Star Wars should’ve been like but failed at. Endymion gives enough clues for you to figure out the reference yourself and then when you get inevitably validated it feels really good. I’m excited to see where this goes.
- In a way it reminds me of how KOTOR 2 references plot from the first game.
- Like Dune, thinking machines are banned. At least in this series I have the context as to why, since the Techno Core was trying to end humanity in the first two books. In Dune, you have to read the prequels, which I guess is the same idea.
- Aenea says the Pax has brought about dark ages similar to medieval times, as they have stunted technological progress. A feel like a lot of the mid 20th century sci-fi I’ve been reading lately has been critical of religion, or at least organized religion, which I mostly agree with anyways.
- I just realized that the androids in this universe are like the robots in Rossum’s Universal Robots, in that both are organic. Interesting connection that I missed earlier.
- Another connection is that this universe has ‘thopters, just like in Dune! I don’t recall this word in previous books, but they do mention them in Endymion.
- When the main characters are at Sol Draconi Septem and talking to Father Glaucus, he mentions more about Teilhard’s (the original guy, not Duré) philosophy, that all consciousness would evolve towards the Godhead. They asked Glaucus if Teilhard would’ve included the TechnoCore, and Glaucus believes that he would’ve, and I liked that. I also agree that as soon as anything has sentience, it should be treated with the same respect as all sentient life. The idea that empathy is the main requirement/key factor in the evolution of the Godhead resonated with me. That we’re all just the universe experiencing itself. I fear that I’m misrepresenting/misremembering this ideology, I’ll definitely need to read some analyses after I finish the book.