Customer Reviews

Glory

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Glory, the first novel in the Goldenwing cycle, reads as though it had been written by one of the luminaries of the Golden Age of Science Fiction, such as Codrwainer Smith or Robert Heinlein. The book begins the story of a space-faring merchant sailing ship and its crew of humans and cyber-enhanced monkeys and cats. Mixing elements both antique and futuristic, the author weaves a tale of delightful technical wonder and familiarly human failures.

Although the title focuses attention on the ship itslef, Glory is really the tale of a young girl and her autistic-savant companion bth of whom will be recruited to the greatest adventure available to any human being: to become crew members of the light-sail ship Gloria Coelius. Set against the background of a stunted and regressive Afrikaner society isolated on a lonely, far-flung planet, the novel resonates with interwoven themes of cruelty, sadness, repression, wisdom and, finally, joy.

As the crew of Glory search for an ailing member of their crew, the Black Clavius, they become enmeshed in the family turmoil of young Broni and her friend, the deceptively slow-witted Bruele. As the crew of Glory struggles to understand a society inexplicably hostile to them, they lose one member of their crew and another is critically injured in a flare-up of local factional disputes. In the end, the two youngsters, each possessed of a staggering potential unsuspected by the population with whom they have lived their entire lives, render aid to the crew and are subswequently added as new members of the ship's company.

Underappreciated at the time of its release, Glory is an unsuspected gem of a read. Highly recommended!

An ingenous work of science fiction, not appreciated at the time it was published, Glory provides us with a look at what could become of human culture in the distant future if the prejudices and social injustices of twentith century earth are not corrected. Set against a background of near-speed-of-light space travel and a futuristic, interstellar cargo cult, Glory explores such then unheard of concepts as hard-wiring human spacefares into cybernetic networks and sailing tachion winds as a means of interstllar travel.

But this gem is not a simple sci-fi plot vehicle for futuristic technical concepts. Glory provides a look at broad scale social ills and complicated interpersonal relationships that take place over the decades of interstellar space travel. Many of the concepts introduced in Glory are now staples of science fiction movies and television.

Glory is a book well worth the small investment of time required to read it. Readers will be delighted by whimsical touches such as Glory's simian-brained robotic deck hands and the ship's cat that is also networked into Glory's central computer. If you're looking for run-of-the-mill, cookie cutter science fiction writing, don't read Glory. If your looking for something that's fresh, entertaining, thought provoking and offers us a glimpse of what may happen if we fail to evolve socially, then open the pages of Glory and see how science fiction should be writen.

Rarely do I give space opera 4 stars, but this book deserves it. Glory is full of rich settings, engaging characters, and fascinating conflict. I really enjoyed this series, and this book, the first volume, is the best of the three. The details of both the culture of planet Voerster and the nearly-angelic world the Goldenwings is done in depth and detail that is rare. Coppel has a gift for storytelling and setting, and this book is a delight to read with every page.