23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A satisfying conclusion to a great series, January 11, 2004
This review is from: The Golden Transcendence: or, The Last of the Masquerade (The Golden Age, Book 3) (Hardcover)
I recently finished reading The Golden Transcendence by John C. Wright. A great novel that serious science fiction readers should pick up.
The Golden Transcendence is the third book in The Golden Age trilogy. The first two books were The Golden Age and The Phoenix Exultant.
The book are firmly in the space opera genre with a dash of Heinlein libertarianism tossed in for good measure. The story takes place in the far future when artificial intelligences (known as sophotechs) and humans live immortal lives in a libertarian society of near unlimited technology. The experience of real physical interaction is replaced in many cases by remote bodies, recorded experiences of others, and complete control of what a person perceives. Humanity has moved beyond the one body - one brain system and has adopted many different systems of thought and even physical form.
Mr. Wright puts forth a brilliant vision of technology and society in the far future where wealth is measured in seconds of computer time and physical labor is non-existent. In this future, there is are still wealthy and poor people but in a different way. In a good interview, Mr. Wright explains:
"There would still be rich and poor, even if the poorest of the poor were absurdly well off by our standards. No advancements can eliminate differences in the abilities of men, or the differences in how men value the abilities of their fellow man (which is what causes inequality of prices and hence of incomes). If only by comparison, there will be poverty, even in Arcadia. My characters Ironjoy, Oshenkyo, and the Afloats [...] are meant to represent this idea of future poverty; the Seven Peers represent wealth."
As an example as just one of the concepts presented, we can look at the idea of 'sensefilters'. Perception is no longer what organic senses directly tell the mind. The signals received by the body or remote bodies are processed to be acceptable to the person's particular preferences. If a person doesn't like to see advertising, their mind eliminates the advertising from their vision and fills in the scene with what would be there if the advertisement wasn't there. Consciously, the person isn't aware of this, only that they have requested not to see advertisements. Sensefiltering can be used to remove (or add) objects, people, and even ideas from an individual's perception. The plot devices are interesting stuff that Mr. Wright explores in just enough detail to keep you wanting more throughout the trilogy.
The protagonist, Phaethon, is the son of one of the most important people in the society (known as the Golden Oecumene). In the first two books, Phaethon struggles against first the realization that he is missing parts of his memory, his struggle against society, his fall into exile, and his return to strength.
The third book finds Phaethon poised to fight against the true enemy that has been revealed to him. Without spoiling too much, Phaethon is forced to fight for the very survival of his society (which tossed him out) or allow it to be destroyed.
The author, John C. Wright, obviously has a libertarian heart and embodies the attributes of individuality, resourcefulness, ingenuity and desire for progress in Phaethon, the hero. In the opening novel, we find a society content with things how they are, willing to simply stop progress to prevent anything from changing their utopia in any meaningful way. Phaethon is a man of action in opposition to the statist Golden Oecumene. The underlying theme is that without mankind's strive for exploration and new goals, it is doomed.
Overall, an excellent book and series for the science fiction reader looking for something more than blasters and evil six-legged aliens. Getting used to the terminology and concepts is slow at first but well worth the effort.
If you enjoy Iain Banks's Culture series, Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn, or John Varley's Eight Worlds, you will enjoy the The Golden Transcendence and the entire Golden Age Trilogy.
The author, John C. Wright, is a retired attorney and is working on the upcoming novel, Orphans of Chaos.
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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Engrossing, April 20, 2004
This review is from: The Golden Transcendence: or, The Last of the Masquerade (The Golden Age, Book 3) (Hardcover)
"The Golden Transcendence" is a book of ideas that works--a rare bird indeed. Wright weaves philosophy, action, and character skillfully into a wildly creative novel that is very hard to put down. It's refreshing to read a good optimistic space opera that isn't all about galactic-scale battle strategy and tactics.
Most "books of ideas" at some point become talky at best, or preachy and didactic at worst. Wright avoids these pitfalls and integrates the ideas pretty seamlessly into the story. For those familiar with objectivist philosophy, you will be on familiar ground. In some respects, the hero Phaethon, more so in than in the previous few books, is reminiscent of the architect from "The Fountainhead." Both have similar values, and both have constructed a magnificent structure to express those values. However, this novel is far from a clone of "The Fountainhead," and any baggage the reader may have with regard to Rand's novels should not affect his or her opinion of this book.
The glossary at the end does clear up some of the terminology and naming conventions used in the three books of this Golden Oecumene trilogy. However, I recommend waiting to read it until you're done, unless you are completely baffled, because there are potential spoilers in there.
A great read--don't hesitate to read all of the books in this trilogy. You'll be glad you did.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Climactic and Moving, July 6, 2005
"The Golden Age" as a trilogy will take its place among notable space operas but should exceed them in importance and influence. Particularly, fans of Alastair Reynolds, Peter F Hamilton, Dan Simmons, and other notable space opera, hard-science enthusiasts should embrace Wright who will quickly supersede these other authors. He will do this precisely because he will take on literary themes that are ignored in favor of the action and the special effects that publishers believe the audience demands. Where Wright's influence will extend is in the notions of artificial intelligence, legalistic understandings of individuals in an age where consciousness can be transferred, manipulated, and quantified, and in the freedom to explore the Golden Age of times rather than dwelling in the aftermath of some collapse as is so often the case in science fiction.
WHO SHOULD READ:
It is often said that Isaac Asimov's Foundation series is re-telling of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In many ways, The Golden Age trilogy feels much like the golden age of classical Greece just before its absorption and transmogrification in to the Roman Empire. Only these people, with the transcendence at hand, are able to foresee their own long age of warfare. It's a beautiful moment and concept; it is what we would call a worthy triumph to a series that has been besotted with notions of immortality, super-intelligence, and cosmology. It is unthinkable that those who have started the series should not finish it.
WHO SHOULD PASS:
For those people who were not impressed with the philosophical speculations of the first novel The Golden Age and are reading ahead in reviews to see if there is any change let us be blunt: there is not. The debates do not slacken though neither does the action. However, the importance of the action takes a far second place to the outcome of the ethical dilemmas faced by these protagonist. Those readers who were hoping for serious warfare to break out (at least the kind with guns, bombs, and the like) between the Golden and Silent Oecumenes will be disappointed and should avoid this novel. It is the case, though, that Daphne provides a levity lacking in the first novel that was introduced in the second and comes to full flower here in the third. Yet in the end, when the last page is turned, this novel is somehow more like a classical symphony or a poem and those looking for something besides poetry and music should seek elsewhere.
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM
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