‘The shortest route to courage is absolute ignorance’ – Endymion, Dan Simmons
We’re back to give you book three in the Hyperion Cantos with Endymion, an incredible continuation of the epic saga. It has been an absolute pleasure to continue work on this seminal piece of sci-fi literature, and our artist has been blowing us away with every submission of art. We can’t wait to bring this to life and get it on your shelves next to the first half of The Cantos.
This is a Series Rights release, so that means owners of The Fall of Hyperion will have an opportunity to match their copy. The public pre-order will be for copies not taken up by rights holders.
Our edition has two tiers:
- Deluxe Edition – x300 copies
- Lettered Edition – x26 copies
All copies across all tiers continue with their Series Rights, so those who buy Endymion will get rights to purchase The Rise of Endymion.
For now, here is our release of Endymion!
Endymion
As the time period pushes forward another two-hundred and seventy years after the events of The Fall of Hyperion, Raul Endymion, an ex-soldier and wilderness guide, is sentenced to death for a murder he committed in self-defense, is tasked with an impossible mission – to protect Aenea from the Pax, the church, and the TechnoCore. The introduction of Aenea, who is fated with knowledge and wisdom, brings danger to herself and those around her, as her existence triggers her manhunt across the galaxy. Aenea, who was previously hidden on the planet Hyperion and raised in secret to protect her from the church, is the daughter of Brawne Lamia and the cybrid incarnation of John Keats, linking her directly to the events of the earlier Hyperion saga.
Since Simmons’ previous novel The Fall of Hyperion, the galaxy has dramatically changed, and the Pax now control the majority of human space. Our reluctant hero Raul Endymion is able to continue the storyline of the Hyperion universe, including the fate of the Shrike and the implications of the TechnoCore. As Raul and Aenea travel across the dangerous worlds, their journey entails harrowing escapes, interstellar travel via the Farcasters, and confrontations with Church forces and Core-created assassins. Amongst their journey, Raul is acutely aware of his own mortality, his physical limitations, and his vulnerability in the face of forces far beyond his control. He experiences fear, doubt, and moments of despair, which make his courage and loyalty all the more compelling. Raul’s very human qualities, his flaws, uncertainties, and emotions serve as the lens through the narrative of the story, while Aenea’s transcendent insight and sense of purpose provide a striking contrast. Their juxtaposition highlights the tension between human limitation and the possibility of enlightenment or transformation while the journey they are on tests their courage, trust, and moral resolve while they build alliances and try to evade death. The story of Endymion explores themes of faith, free will, immortality, love, and rebellion against authoritarian systems all through the narrative of a reluctant hero.
Reviews praise Simmons for his work on Endymion, namely with his outstanding and imaginative world building and the inspired narrative continuing on from the previous novels. One reader writes about the ‘quick, engaging action, and solid relatable characters.’ – Monday Morning Theologian.
The influence Endymion has had, especially on speculative fiction, has been immense, particularly in its thematic ambition, genre-blending, and philosophical depth. Endymion deepens the series’ legacy by reshaping the narrative, expanding its universe, and introducing visionary ideas that continue to echo in modern science fiction and fantasy. Simmon’s exploration into the philosophical and corrupt natures of religion in sci-fi through the use of the character Aenea inspire more complex theories of messianic figures within the genre.
Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons is the author of the widely popular and hugely successful Hyperion Cantos (1989-1997), is an American author who is known for blending genres such as Sci-fi with literary fiction and horror with historical fiction. Born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1948, Simmons began his writing career after a decade as a teacher, drawing on his love for literature and storytelling. He has been awarded throughout the years for his writing, including the Hugo Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the Locus Award. His work is celebrated amongst scifi fans throughout the world. His unique style is characterised by his rich imagination, vivid descriptions, and skillful interweaving of complex themes like mythology, history, and human consciousness.
He is also known for his other works such as Song of Kali (1985) Summer of Night (1991), Ilium and Olympos (2003) The Terror (2007).
Simmons uses The Hyperion Cantos as the title for his four-book science fiction saga to evoke a sense of poetic structure, literary references as well as thematic depth. Simmons’s ingenious use of the cantos is displayed within the Hyperion series, which in turn, refers to the series of sections commonly used in epic works to break a narrative into parts, much like chapters but in a poetic tone which Simmons captures perfectly. His literary references include Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, where each poem is portrayed or narrated by a different character, much like the Hyperion series. The series itself contains many literary forms of poetry, prose and lyrical writing. Endymion rests as the third and penultimate novel within the series by Simmons, followed by the 1997 novel, The Rise of Endymion.
Art
Thomas Elliott is the outstanding illustrator for the release of Endymion. His specialisation in sci-fi and fantasy art brings to life the overarching themes of destiny, religion, and control within the Hyperion Cantos. Originally having been trained in fine art, he was able to develop his portfolio as an inhouse illustrator for Games Workshop, where he produced internal illustrations that depicted battle scenes.
His art is characterised through dystopian settings, body‑horror elements, industrial sci‑fi machinery, and surreal creatures, fitting perfectly into the universe of Hyperion with its time‑tombs, Shrike, farcasters, and messianic themes. Elliott frequently blends traditional media with digital finishing, giving a layered, textured look. His aim to encapture a dark world universe has been brought to life over the years through his dark imagery and focus on the characters in a scene.
Elliott will be producing eight colour printings and twenty black and white illustrations.
Thomas Elliott‘s exceptional talent has been praised by many and of course earned him numerous awards including the World Fantasy Award for Best Artist (2004), and seven Chesley Awards, recognising excellence in science fiction and fantasy art.
Deluxe Edition
Limited to 300 copies only, the Deluxe Edition stands at 544 pages and is two colour letterpress printed by Nomad Letterpress on Munken 120gsm Rough Cream.
The book is fully bound in Red Leather Crimson goatskin, and has an all over blind-stamped labyrinth design (waved to imitate the river tethys) to follow on from The Fall of Hyperion. The front board and spine also has 3 colours of foil stamping. The top edge has also been gilded in copper for the final duology.
We have gone with another solander box matching the first two, with updated designs of The Shrike Palace and an updated labyrinth design.
The solander is covered in black metallium with an all over blind stamped tethys/labyrinth design, and the front boards have also had 3 hits of foil stamping. The endpapers are illustrated and painted by Thomas Elliott.
This book comes with all 8 colour pieces and 20 B&W illustrations by Thomas Elliot and is signed by both Author and Artist.
Pre-order Price: £665
Published Price: £690
Lettered Edition
Limited to just 26 copies, the Lettered Edition also has 544 pages and has been two-colour letterpress printed by the wizards at Nomad Letterpress on Liber Charta 145gsm paper.
We have a new red marbled leather produced by the incredible Freya Scott at Paperwilds which adorns the books leather onlays and solander edges. The book is fully bound in finest harmattan black goatskin, with two onlays and 3 colours of foil stamping. This includes the Shrike Palace on the front of the book and an imposing image on the back of the Shrike.
The solander is covered in Harmatan Black and is rounded with four raised bands, has two leather onlay, and the edges are finished by the custom marbled leather also. The front and back cruciform design has progressed from Hyperion’s and Fall of Hyperion (and will continue through all the series).
This book comes with all 8 colour pieces and 20 B&W illustrations by Thomas Elliot and signed by both Author and Artist.
There is no Keats book with this edition.
Pre-order Price: £2,250
Published Price: £2,450
As with other releases I will still be tweaking the designs before they go into production as there are often small improvements that can be made from the initial prototypes.
Pre-order Information
The Rights Holder period for those with Series Rights to the Hyperion Cantos trilogy is now open and owners will be contacted via email later today with a private link to purchase their matching copy.
If you believe you should have been contacted and haven’t by the morning of the 28th of January GMT then please get in contact via our info@curiousking.co.uk address. Please ensure you check spam or any other email addresses you may have used.
Series Rights owners will have until Tuesday 3rd February at 15:00GMT to take up their copy, any copies not purchased by then will go into the public pre-order.
Any copies not taken up with go up for public sale on:
Tuesday 3rd February at 20:00GMT
Links will be sent out at the end of the week ready for the sale via newsletter. All copies purchased on the public sale will come with Series Rights to the next book in the trilogy (but they do not come with Publishers Rights).
This release is a pre-order and currently scheduled to ship Q1 2027
