Henry Avila's Reviews > Endymion

In the faraway year of 3126 the 32nd century , things have regressed in a remote corner of the Milky Way Galaxy some two -hundred -seventy -four after the fall of the Hegemony Empire, a young man is sentenced to death on the once prosperous planet Hyperion were he was born, for a crime that was in actuality self-defense. Raul Endymion a hunting guide, was very angry understandably at a rich spoiled jerk , he and his friends disobeyed safety rules endangering him and others firing wildly, missing the flying ducks but killing his best friend. a four legged animal, his beloved dog. Throwing the idiot out of his boat and into the filthy swamp, later Raul barely escaping with his own life the gunman was seeking revenge, shooting at him instead the would- be assassin is killed . After a hasty kangaroo trial conviction, authorities here need the financial benefits hunters bring from the off worlds and the former shepherd in childhood awakes ... the day after his execution...it had been faked bribes paid and the confused Raul Endymion is taken to the deserted city of Endymion ( his family took that name for themselves). The famous poet who wrote Cantos Martin Silenus, now forbidden to be read, ( lives on an abandoned university campus) by the new rulers the Pax ( greatly influenced by a new Christian Church ) is still alive, modern medicine has preserved the 1,000 -year -old , he looks awful though, wrinkles over his whole body faint weak voice, the carcass cannot walk, a living fossil from the distant past of old long gone Earth. Martin has an impossible mission, save his "niece" Aenea ( a late friend's daughter) from being eliminated by the Pax and the Church, the 12 -year -old will be a threat to them in the future she is some kind of enigmatic messiah, arriving soon in the Time Tombs where the killing machine, the unstoppable .The Shrike's home is located, yet has not been seen for centuries...A flying carpet right out of an Arabian Nights fantasy will greatly help Raul and his new companion Silenus's former servant, the blue man A. Bettik well partly human still more human than many humanoids. A large lethal Pax Army awaits the duo but so does The Shrike, unbelievable carnage springs out of the Valley of Death thousands perish, a miracle occurs and the three now, (Aenea joins the party) flee in the vast confusion , through a "Farcaster " (an instant transportation apparatus) then ride a small raft they built from planet to planet , ice , desert, jungle, and even water worlds always searching for the next farcaster to find. And the relentlessly pursuing Father Captain, Frederico de Soya of the Pax never gives up in hunting them down, where they go he will follow... on the immense endless treacherous River Tethys in a long perilous journey , their unknown fate awaits , and still another menace is lurking about ... A terrific read and highly enjoyable for the adventurous crowd. Dan Simmons is a superb writer this series shows that undeniable fact...