The novel “Endymion” by Dan Simmons was published for the first time in 1995. It’s the third book of the Hyperion Cantos and is the sequel to “The Fall of Hyperion“.

It’s been almost three centuries since the Fall. Raul Endymion is a guide and during a hunting kills a man in self-defense but it’s his word against that of a group of important men. Sentenced to death, he gets rescued by Martin Silenus, who convinces him to help Aenea to avoid the Pope’s armies when she comes out from the Time Tombs.

Accompanied by the android A. Bettik, Raul Endymion begins a long journey among the stars to help Aenea. Pursued by the team commanded by Father Captain Federico de Soya, he must find a number of truth sometimes hard to accept about the latest centuries of human history.

After the events of “The Fall of Hyperion” Dan Simmons made a leap forward of almost three centuries showing the long-term consequences of the collapse occurred at the end of the second book. Without the farcaster network, interstellar travel may only happen using spaceships and in this situation there were also significant changes in the balance of power.

From the chaos the Catholic Church emerged and after centuries offers not a promise of a supernatural resurrection but a real chance for the faithful. That thanks to the cruciform seen in the previous books, which gives the people who convert a real resurrection of the body in case of death.

As in the Middle Ages, when the Catholic Church came to power it imposed its authority by force and in the 32nd century has its own army called the Pax. Any potential threat is crushed and the only real force that can counter it consists of the Ousters. In this scenario, the Pope seems frightened by a little girl, Aenea, a potential messianic figure who could become a serious problem.

Aenea is a special little girl, daughter of Brawne Lamia and the John Keats cybrid. To protect her there’s another of the characters from the previous books, Martin Silenus, who survived during the last centuries living in hiding. Now, however, the poet is too old so he saves Raul Endymion from getting executed and asks him to become Aenea’s protector.

“Endymion” is the first part of Raul Endymion’s story, told in the first person in the form of memoirs written years later. For this reason, the protagonist also provides hints of events that happen after the ones in this book. In many ways, it’s the story of his relationship with Aenea and his reactions to a child who seems to have impossible knowledge but at the same time does’t really seem a messianic figure.

The story of Raul Endymion, the android A. Bettik and Aenea intersects with that of Father Captain Federico de Soya, who was ordered to capture Aenea alive. This part of the book is told in the third person and in many ways is in my opinion the most interesting in particular because it allows Dan Simmons to describe some intrigue within the Catholic Church.

The adventure among the stars with the group led by Raul Endymion chased by the team led by Father Captain Federico de Soya is a way to develop themes for the most part already seen in the previous books. The political and religious elements are still crucial and slowly Dan Simmons gives us information on the situation in the 32nd century on the planets controlled by the Catholic Church and on the Ousters.

In some ways the narrative in “Endymion” it is more linear since it’s based on the intertwining of Raul Endymion and Federico de Soya’s stories. As with “Hyperion” and “The Fall of Hyperion”, Dan Simmons wrote a novel in two books and the third book is the first half. This is a problem especially because the impression I got is that he stretched it so it could be published in two separate parts.

The pace of the story is quite variable with very intense and dramatic moments alternate with slower ones. Especially the central part of “Endymion” honestly seemed unnecessarily long. While “Hyperion” had a pecualiar structure, different from that of “The fall of Hyperion”, the two sequels are homogeneous from this point of view so Dan Simmons simply interrupts the story at a moment that is arbitrary even if important.

The other problem of “Endymion” is the fact that Raul Endymion is a weak protagonist. The impression is that the author wanted to use an ordinary man who becomes an unlikely hero finding himself in the midst of extraordinary events due to circumstances. Unfortunately, at least for me this choice makes him not very interesting.

In the end, the really interesting protagonist is Federico de Soya. In the course of the novel, Dan Simmons unveils his past to us making us understand the development of his personality and his motives. Federico de Soya’s story is complex because he isn’t a fanatic so some orders he receives are a problem for him. His doubts, faith and obedience are elements that give strength to his story, enriching the whole novel.

Writing the sequel to a masterpiece keeping the same level is almost impossible. “Endymion” has some flaws and you need to read “The Rise of Endymion”, the second part of this novel. In my opinion Dan Simmons still managed to continue in an interesting way the development of an extraordinary fictional universe and that’s why it’s worth reading.