|
-
News
- Features
- Blogs
- Events
Calendar
- Editorials
- Monthly
Zine
- Offworld
Report
- Our Daily
RSS Feed
- Google Toolbar scifi
- Movie/TV
Reviews
> Recent movies
> Movies by year
> Movies by title
- Book
Reviews
> Recent books
> Books by year
> Books by title
- Home
- Worlds
- Biography
- Bibliography
- Appearances
- Reviews
- Blog
- Community
- Press
- Links
Become
an Advertiser
- Web
Site Directory
- Search
the Net
-
Hivemind
- StephenHunt.net
- WoodenRocket.com
- Check
your E-mail
- Non Sci-Fi
News
|
The Endymion Omnibus by Dan Simmons
01/03/2006 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
pub: Gollancz. 983 page enlarged paperback. Price: £12.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-575-07634-8. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
Part of being a reviewer is seeing books coming in all shapes and sizes and some times with massive page counts and fine print like this one has. However, considering this is the two sequels to 'The Hyperion' novels under one cover, it seemed like a good time to finally reading the pair.
The first novel, 'Endymion', is the recruitment of Raul Endymion to rescue eleven year-old Aenea when she arrives from the past through the time tombs from the Pax army waiting to capture her. Endymion sees this as a nearly impossible task but considering he owes being rescued from a permanent death sentence obliges occasional hibernator Martin Silenus in the task. Of course, he doesn't know the Shrike monster will appear and practically wipe out the entire army in an instant. Endymion, Aenea and android Bettnik escape in Silenus' spaceship pursued by the Pax fleet. A manoeuvre through the farcaster gates (sorta like giant stargates if you want a better description) leaves their starship damaged and they have to go on alone.
The organised religion is run by the Catholic Church and its Pope commissions Father Captain de Soya and a small team of military to use extremely fast starships to try to catch up and capture Aenea who is the only person they know who can activate the farcaster gates. The Church and its military have a cybernetic mechanism called a cruciform embedded in their chests. The acceleration destroys de Soya and his team in transit but they can be resurrected on arrival. An added complication comes in the form of Rhadamnth Nemes who joins the crew and who believes herself a match for the Shrike whenever it appears. This story then follows a tour through this reality and Endymion's determination to protect Aenea for her designated but unknown task. It's not easy and there are several near misses.
Page counts don't always determine word counts and this is truly a massive read. Fortunately, author Dan Simmons is an exceptional storyteller and by switching viewpoints across the chapters it is possible for the reader to understand far more than the characters as to what is going on. Considering that 'Endymion' is now a decade old this is still an incredible read of corruption and deceit. Unlike the earlier 'Hyperion' novels, this is not loosely based on 'Pilgrim's Progress'. Quite what else Simmons might have used will take some thinking about which neatly brings me to 'The Rise Of Endymion' which was written a year later.
Without wishing to give too much away between novels, a difference in time differential catches up and brings Raul Endymion to a reunion with Aenea as a young adult as she gathers her own forces to redeem the Catholic Church. Oddly enough, this novel tends to get rather more talkie with less action but it does creep up on you when you least expect it. Allegiances change rapidly in this story, mostly because of the outrageous actions the Church and Pax have with any world that rebels against them.
If anything, it goes back to its roots in terms of biblical terms crossing Aenea with Joan of Arc and Christ illustrating that only true sacrifice being capable of redemption against corrupted souls. There's more to the novel than that obviously and I'm sure many of you reading it will go away and have a serious think afterwards. In some respects, I think Simmons explains too much to ensure there is some closure here providing most of the answers for the last 3 books. This made it rather too easy to figure out the ending solution only because he dwelt on it for so long.
Having said that, the 'Endymion' books will have you riveted provided you read the 'Hyperion' books first to bring you up to speed about all the characters. To call it 'simply an epic' makes those words lack meaning. It really is a modern day SF classic that deserves time being read and put on your shelves.
GF Willmetts
|
|
