Dan Simmons – Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, Rise of Endymion

As a follow up to my review of “Hyperion”, here is my take on the rest of the series: As the titles suggest, the series is split into two times two books (with more reappearing cast than one thinks possible at their respective beginnings). “Hyperion” is the tale of the 7 pilgrims, the “Fall of Hyperion” is the story of a poet, “Endymion” is the story of a chase, and the “Rise of Endymion” is the story of one who teaches. And they are all excellent, more relying on emotions and characters than on hard science, but they are not worse off for it as the scope is huge. In fact, I am (once again) drying tears from my cheeks at the ending. Which is perfect.
I have also fallen for many a red herring (whether through my own overly vivid imagination or because they were meant as such I do not know), and as such have been pleasantly surprised that Simmons has not resorted to clichés I thought were coming.
Very recommended (but then I usually do not bother writing about bad stuff ). I have a feeling that the story of the last two books (in particular the final one) — and thus pretty much all of it — will stay with me for quite some time…