Toast.x2

People who want to read the Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin a have to be some of the most self-torturing bastards on the planet.. I am proud to say that i will be one of them, waiting (what could be) a decade for the remaining books to become available. I started reading the first book in the Fire/Ice series, about a month ago. It took me a little while to actually get into it. Martin introduced what seemed to be at least fifty characters in the first quarter of the book. For a hundred and fifty pages, I was inundated with back story and history for people I should have had no care for. I set the book down at least 3 times and had to come back to it. The problem was that each time I thought I could handle no more of it, some small character point would suck me in just enough to keep moving forward (or return to reading). After that first hundred and fifty pages, the character introductions dwindled and I was mid stride in one of the greatest series I have had the hono...

I hate to see good things come to an end. Simultaneously, I feel that a well crafted conclusion to a great series is one of the highlights to reading. There was no disappointment to the Hyperion Cantos. Warning to readers, this book is far more dense than others in the series. You have to expect as much considering that there is so much to discuss. The religious, technological, and philosophical merge in this novel. The far flung planet of Hyperion has been left behind. The palindromic character Aenea and her partner Endymion begin on Old Earth. Rise of Endymion (book 4) picks up a few years after the close of Endymion (book 3). With the death of The Architect, the crew is forced to leave the relative safety of this Magellanic Cloud which hides the stolen planet earth from the Catholic Pax monstrosity. What is the Shrike? What’s the real purpose driving the Techno-Core? What are the lions, tigers, and bears? etc. To avoid spoilers, I will just advise that your questions will be answere...