Glory (Goldenwing Cycle, Book 1) [Hardcover]

Alfred Coppel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1993 | Series: Goldenwing Cycle, Book 1

Glory, a spaceship that once transported humans to colony planets, approaches Voerster carrying essential supplies, but discord among the crew and revolution on the planet jeopardize the mission. By the author of The Hastings Conspiracy. National ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nearly 3000 years in the future, much of mankind lives on struggling colony worlds connected by a few Goldenwings, vast ships sailing the tachyon wind. To the planetbound, the technologically superior crews of the Goldenwings appear almost immortal because of their ability to travel through time at near light-speed. Living together uneasily on Planet Voerster, settled thousands of years ago by Afrikaner refugees from South Africa determined to continue their way of life, are the white Voertrekkers, the black Kaffirs and the Planetians, genetically engineered to live at high altitudes. The arrival of the Goldenwing "Glory," bearing livestock ordered generations ago, threatens to disrupt the balance of power established a millennium earlier during the Great Kaffir Rebellion, which led to greater suppression of the blacks. Ian Voerster, Voertrekker-Praesident, plans to marry his only daughter, Broni, to a Planetian despite the opposition of his strong-willed wife Eliana, who fears the frail girl will not survive in the brutal high-altitude Planetian habitat. As the domestic struggle escalates, the hidden cracks of a petrified patriarchal society begin to widen. Coppel's ( The Hastings Conspiracy ) insightful depiction of existence on a physically hostile planet, as well as the almost spiritual life of the Goldenwings' Wired Starmen, bodes well for volumes to come.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-On Voerster, the inhabitants have been waiting 400 years for supplies to be delivered. Settled by White South Africans with the purpose of perpetuating apartheid, the planet has stagnated to the point of almost no redemption. Now, the people are about to be visited by a supply ship, which will rip apart the fabric of their lives. As the story opens, Glory is orbiting around Voerster ready to unload her cargo. In the events that follow, an armed rebellion ensues, people are killed, and Voerster starts the long, slow process of being reborn. Coppel creates believable, interesting characters with real motivations. The story is compelling and a real page turner. YAs interested in science fiction-or even those who just like a good story-will enjoy this book.
Susan McFaden, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 349 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st Tor ed edition (May 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312854692
• ISBN-13: 978-0312854690
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,018,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully readable space opera., May 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Glory (Paperback)

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!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Social Alla-Glory, January 26, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Glory (Paperback)

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved This Book, August 12, 2011

By 

Dave Bara "db" (Auburn, WA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Glory (Paperback)

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.