At once too ambitious and poorly executed. There are some big ideas which, even though Simmons may have planned from the first pages of “Hyperion”, don’t really fit the feel of the first half of the cycle. You can tell this is the case because there is far too much exposition that the characters teach each other about 3000 years of computer and human evolution that takes pages and pages of long hard reading and concentration on part of the reader. This sermon-like approach to world building actually holds back the plot that it seeks to reinforce and accelerate.
Originally eager to read this book because I was caught up in a good story that had flowed from the first two “Hyperion” novels, by the time I was done with “The Rise of Endymion” I was exhausted and glad that it was over. I always worry when an author has difficulty keeping the size of each novel in a series consistent. “Hyperion” is slim, compact, and well-edited. By the time Simmons reaches “The Rise of Endymion”, the book is at least three times as long and the reader is not given any more value for their investment of time.