The Rise of Endymion (Hyperion Cantos, #4)

Wow, I finished! What an epic read. And satisfying to the end. This last book is really quite special, almost as much as the second book in how it deftly picks up all the threads laid out and weaves them together into a satisfying narrative and conclusion.

I particularly liked the exploration of religion and the mystical in the books, both the Pax church and the Aenea with the Void that Binds. I don't think I've read any other scifi novel that can take manifest religion and make it seem both magical and vaguely consistent with scifi rules. Usually it's fantasy that tries to do that, but it works great here in scifi. He even managed to make a time travel plot work in a way that seemed relatively clever and satisfying.

And so these books are done and I am sad. For they were excellent and I'll never have the experience of reading them for the first time again. Glad I did though!