These were some of my favorite books at one time, but Simmons is a right wing chud these days. When you read his books with that awareness it's actually kind of jarring how questionable some of the elements and characterizations he uses are.
I was really excited after finishing Hyperion and Endymion to read his other works, but Illium and Olympos made him out to be a one trick pony... plus those books just sucked