Endymion

By Dan Simmons
First Published: 1996
274 years ago, Hegemony CEO Meina Gladstone ordered the destruction of all farcaster portals to stop the TechnoCore from eliminating humankind. This resulted in the collapse of civilization on most planets. Brawne Lamia, pregnant by the first John Keats cybrid, gave birth to a daughter called Aenea. Lamia died when Aenea was still young, and Silenus raised her. When Aenea was twelve years old, she entered the Time Tombs and disappeared into the future.

Before the Fall, Father Paul Duré was elected as Pope under the name of Teilhard. When he died unexpectedly, Lenar Hoyt was resurrected from their shared body and elected Pope. The Church developed new technology that improved the results of the resurrection, so Catholics who accepted the cruciform became virtually immortal. With help of its military forces (the Pax), the Catholic Church filled the void left by the Hegemony after the Fall. With each subsequent death, Hoyt was resurrected, and Father Duré never again appeared in the public eye.