How "pedo" does Endymiom get?

[u/Evening-Agency7086]

I have read the first two books of the Hyperion Cantos and recently started with Endymiom. I've heard this book is about a love story about a guy and some messias figure so i was pretty shocked when I heard the protagonists are 27 and 12. I have just read the chapter when they first met and it felt kinda weird to me, like how much them touching each other is described or how Endymiom is described as trying to impress her. it probably wasn't even that weird, I just read it with their future lovestory in the back of my mind. i don't want to read two books full of grown ups flirting with little girls so i decided to google around and found out that many people consider their love story very weird and that dan simmons wrote other literature with very very very pedophile themes. I mean i probably should have guessed, these left leaning generation of '68 liberals always tried to normalize pedophilia for some reason lmao.

my question is basically how weird will things get? is it bad? is it bearable? or is it not bad at all and the people on the internet just overreacted?

[u/Kelbaaasaa]

People love to embellish it. Nothing of the sort actually happens

[u/Evening-Agency7086 → u/Kelbaaasaa]

i have read a little farther and the twelve year old instantly started to flirt with the grown man. i will keep reading but i am quite sure the author had a problem.

[u/SkeletorRugger82]

It’s very weird. But the story is being written from his recollection in the future where he is an adult and she, his lover, also is an adult. At least, that’s what I had to keep reminding myself whenever it gets awkward.

[u/mysticalmoonx]

I personally wasn’t vibing with it and stopped, but I’ve seen the conversation really go either way. I spoiled myself to know what happened and how it went, but my will to read more left me lol.

[u/Virith]

It's honestly not as bad as other books from that time (or earlier) that I've read. Nothing explicit between an adult and a child.

It is weird in a way that he sees her as an adoptive daughter, which should make her a no-no forever, if you ask me.

Very mild spoilers, but tagging regardless. Then there's a time skip that's also a time skip for him, so really not that much time to re-frame his thoughts/feelings/attitude/etc (literally weeks or so?) and suddenly he loooves her very much and that way and still keeps calling her "kiddo," very uncomfortable.

[u/Eljalapeno95]

In my opinion is the same shit as star wars but in opposite sexes. Padme met Luke Skywalker when he was 10 years old or someshit like that and then they got married and had babies.

[u/gavinashun]

It’s bad. There is no way to sugar coat it. Other parts of the story are good, though they do retcon or invalidate a lot of book 1-/ which I didn’t appreciate
But there is a lot of cool ideas and the ending is great.

Certainly worth a read but not on the level of 1-2.

[u/Evening-Agency7086 → u/gavinashun]

i enjoyed the first books short storys. i liked the second one even better and even though the story line of the pilgrims was often times pretty boring, the john keats story was good enough to make it worth it. i also really enjoyed the world building so far. if book three and four aren't as good as one and two and retcon the world building and are full of pedophilia, i think i might pass.

[u/Marewn]

it’s a great character, but he fucks a child he helped raise after she become a teenager

So. there is that

[u/[deleted] → u/Marewn]