I had someone gush to me about Ilium and Olympos, so I bought them on his word, excited to know that Hyperion would await me afterward. Sorry I did that. The story never really gelled for me, and I never really identified with any of the characters. It felt like all the history the author wanted to present wasn't as relevant to the plot as he thought it was. I kept wanting to know about this or that feature, this or that lost tech, and he never took me there. The main storylines really focus on their present circumstances, and the past is shrouded in ignorance. Yes, this is critical to two of the story arcs. But it grated on me. I prefer stories with a little more depth. It feels odd to say that about this huge pair of books, but it really felt to me like Simmons spent a huge amount of effort keeping me in the present until certain points in the story required a past detail.

Also, too many pink scrotums.

The storyline with Helen of Troy just smacked of too much Gary Stu. Couldn't take it seriously. And the final defeat of one of the bad guys came off as ridiculously easy. Trite, even, compared to the effort put into the rest of the plot.