Chapters 1-3 Summary

Endymion by Dan Simmons is a fantasy novel set in the year 3099 A.D. Earth has fallen into a black hole and the humans who were able to escape have colonized hundreds of planets in distant solar systems. The Catholic Church has created an army known as the Pax, and has converted or destroyed these colonies. The Pax has great power and is the ruling government connecting the worlds. Great power becomes an insatiable desire for more power, and the willingness to do anything necessary to preserve that power. Aenea is a threat to the church, the Pax, and the key to discovering the Core.

In Chapter 1, an unnamed narrator speculates about why the reader has selected this book, assumes all the reasons are wrong and offers his reason for writing. He has made love to the messiah, and heard the...