Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Cantos

Step through, it said, and you will see the war’s true cause. Not the Hegemony. Not the Ousters. Not even the AIs.

A story of war, time-altered combat, and a mysterious lover who might be a monster. Dan Simmons - The Hyperion Cantos

Simmons makes a bold choice: he moves from "hard" metaphysical horror to "soft" metaphysical grace. The secret of the universe, he suggests, is not a superweapon, but a shared human ability that even the gods cannot replicate: the empathy of shared suffering. Step through, it said, and you will see

Essential. A stone-cold masterpiece. Read it before the Shrike finds you. is not a superweapon

It did not move. It replaced space. One moment it stood before the Tombs; the next, it was behind me, a blade resting against my spine.