Endymion
Dan Simmons's Hyperion was an immediate sensation on its first publication in 1989. This staggering multifaceted tale of the far future heralded the conquest of the science fiction field by a man who had already won the World Fantasy Award for his first novel (Song of Kali) and had also published one of the most well-received horror novels in the field, Carrion Comfort. Hyperion went on to win the Hugo Award as Best Novel, and it and its companion volume, The Fall of Hyperion, took their rightful places in the science fiction pantheon of new classics. Now, six years later, Simmons returns to this richly imagined world of technological achievement, excitement, wonder and fear. Endymion is a story about love and memory, triumph and terror--an instant candidate for the field's highest honors.
Stats for nerds
10recommend
32mentions
30people
2012–2026years
31% recommend56% neutral13% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- A pair of books I’d recommend for 2024, which I didn’t get the chance to reread this year, would be:
- The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Gaiman), which is beautiful in a way I can’t quite describe
- Century Rain (Reynolds), which is best described as a hard boiled 1930’s noir hard science fiction novel.
Books I read this year which I really enjoyed:’
- Exploding The Phone (Lapsley): Super engrossing description of the phone phreak scene almost from its start to its end
- Hyperion and sequels (Simmons): Probably one of my favourite science fiction series now, and I’ve already felt the need to go back and re-read passages from it. Also really enjoy how each part of the series (Hyperion, then Fall of Hyperion, then the Endymion books) re-invent the style and the story.
- The Annotated American Gods (Gaiman, Klinger): 1000’s of footnotes is a great way to revisit the story :)
- Hyperion and Endymion by Dan Simmons are quite good.
It's set in the far future, when humans have colonized the whole Galaxy, and AIs have become so advanced that they are sentient and have their own world, somewhat parallel to the human world.
- Foundation is great. Dune (original 6 books). All of Iain M Banks sci fi. Alastair Reynolds’ books. Dan Simmons’ Endymion series.
- I've read enough of the list that I think I'll hang onto it to check out stuff that I haven't read.
Obviously it's down to personal preference which of these are the best, but I'm curious how other readers feel about a couple of these (potentially contrarian views):
1. Speaker For the Dead is my favorite of the Ender stuff.
2. I like Endymion duo better than Hyperion. (maybe my favorite ever, actually)
3. The Stand is also an all-time great to me, especially in light of current events.
4. I think the author should read more Niven - I guess he didn't really like Ringworld, which is another of my favorites.
- > 2. I like Endymion duo better than Hyperion. (maybe my favorite ever, actually)
Strong agree. The technical term for the advantage the Endymion books had is "a coherent plot". Also, using human reconstitution as a way to get around the acceleration constraints of space travel is awesome.
Simmons' Ilium and Olympos (SF interpretations of the Iliad and [sort of] the Odyssey) are also super well-conceived.
- Favorite books of the year: (I'm primarily a sci fi and short story novel reader)
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang Like Brothers by Mark and Jay Duplass A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller Jr Endymion by Dan Simmons Hyperion by Dan Simmons
A few classics that I'd never read before. Really great year of books for me.
