Yes. It answers my question. Thanks. I was kinda just fishing for features. I'll probably buy one.

So overall I guess you'd say it's worth the $300+?

Rise of Endymion is the last book in the "Hyperion" series (Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, and Rise of Endymion) and it's by far the best series I've ever read. The author tries (and succeeds) to inject something worthwhile into Science Fiction. He divides the genere into "SF" and "sci-fi" (which he intentionally malaprops as "skiffy"). SF is the good stuff. It is the writing that makes a comment on contemporary society or speculates on future society. "Skiffy" is the space fighting, glitzy, shoot-em-up crap with no real message. Clarke, Heinlein, Dune. . .these are examples of SF. Star Wars and much of Star Trek is sci-fi/skiffy (and he does acknowledge that crap, although perhaps enjoyable, is still crap).

And so the Hyperion series is a real attempt to raise the bar on SF. "Hyperion" is written in a "Canterbury Tales" fashion with 7 pilgrims telling personal stories about their encounters with the Shrike while travelling to the planet Hyperion. The Shrike is an incredible indestructible killing machine confined to a small region on Hyperion called "The Time Tombs." It can slow time in its vicinity and favor one side in a battle or the other. To predict which is futile. Its existence, and purpose throughout much of the series is a complete enigma but one thing is certain. If the Shrike shows up, there's going to be some killin'.

The pilgrims are on their way to Hyperion because the Shrike is begining to roam outside its boundaries. This leads the leaders of humanity to believe the Time Tombs will open very soon and reveal the secrets of time travel. Others are on their way to Hyperion as well. The ones who get the secrets first will gain a decisive advantage in the war with the Ousters that is if they can get past the Shrike. Oh, and one other thing. The pilgrims are of course on humanity's side. But they each have their own personal mission. And one of them harbors a deadly secret that will jeopardize humanity. There are back stabs and counter back stabs worthy of "Dune" in some places.

"Fall of Hyperion" is more conventionally structured and is really the second half of the Hyperion story. Both deal with war, betrayal, the moral impact of technological advancement, poetry, politics, differing cultures. . .the puck's all over the ice in terms of explored themes but the story is very smooth and connected.

In fact, the best aspect of the series is the characterization. The main characters (seven of them) are as diverse as: a priest, a Jewish professor, a tough female detective, a poet, a colonel, a starship captain, and a consul. The reader is pulled into each one's story and you end up giving a damn about each one (except the starship captain but only because he doesn't last long enough to tell his story. He appears to be kidnapped.) This is a welcome and effective mind stretch from the conventional three or four main characters and their interactions.

The last two books pick up hundreds of years after the catastrophe on Hyperion. Again, the characterizations are fantastic. Without going into too much detail it is the story of a savior rising from the wreckage of Hyperion and struggling for all to cast off the resulting church oppression (After the Fall of Hyperion, the church is in resurgence and becomes the political organization of last resort. . .kinda like how the church rose from the Dark Ages after the fall of Rome). The Shrike still lives and many questions are answered like what is the origin of the Shrike? How did the Technocore develop (The Technocore is a collection of Artificial Intelligences that "got smart" in a Vernor Vinge like (or Kurzweil like) singularity. They rocketed beyond humanity in their intelligence and demanded both independence from humanity and collective privacy and received both because they were too powerful to ignore. In the stories, nobody knows where the Technocore's servers are. So the plug can not be pulled. This is very troublesome.) and other questions as well.

Yes. I'd recommend reading the series. It's pretty much the best. Others will disagree with me but if you like what I've written here you may want to check out the first book, Hyperion, for yourself.