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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary bridge for an extraordinary trilogy., August 9, 2004
This review is from: The Phoenix Exultant: The Golden Age, Volume 2 (Golden Age (Tor Paperback)) (Mass Market Paperback)
I abstained from writing reviews on any volumes of this trilogy until and unless I finished them all. I just recently completed the final volume of The Golden Age Trilogy, and am happy to report that each book is a wonderful read in its own right.
For me, the first was a mind-bending introduction into a world so strange, so fascinating, it took an entire volume to get me comfortable with the basic attributes of the environment. This book, the second volume in the trilogy was a real treat to read. I was already comfortable with the "user interface" of GA, and the plot unfolded with less strain. The third book, Golden Transcendence is the most remarkable of them all.
But back to Phoenix Exultant. I won't spoil any of the developments this book offers (warning: some reviews below do), and it's difficult (having read all 3) to parse out what is now a blended understanding, but some general impressions:
This was a much more exciting read than the first book. Phaethons transition from immortal to mortal, his struggle for survival, and the effects such turmoil had on his basic belief system was at times mindblowing. The effects environment has in changing or reinforcing a mans basic virtue is always interesting, but when that man is thousands of years old, well, infinitely more so.
It was also intriguing to explore the basic history, tendencies, and roles each major character (and neuroform) play in this colorful and highly detailed future. In particular, the relationship between Daphne (Phaethons wife), their present, and VERY interesting past.
If you're like me, you'll sail through this book and enjoy every minute of it. Trust that as good as the first two volumes are, John Wright saved the best for last.
Enjoy
Christian Hunter
Santa Barbara, California
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An elaborate bridge between start and finish, June 17, 2004
John C. Wright has done it again with a fantastic follow-up to "The Golden Age", which set the stage for a sweeping space opera pitting an adventerous soul against a complacent and stagnating society. "The Phoenix Exultant" begins with our hero, Phaethon, in exile. He finds relative safety in a Seussian town peopled by the dregs and outcasts of the Golden Oecumene. Phaethon is trying to reclaim his ship, from which the book takes its title, but to do so he must first overcome the vice and lethargy of those around him, skirt the terms of his exile, and battle agents of his unknown enemy. One of Mr. Wright's strengths is his ability to craft an amazing array of fascinating characters, and he certainly delivers again in this book. We learn quite a bit more about Phaethon's wife, Daphne. Or rather, it is a close copy of Daphne, which sets the stage for interesting complications in the love story. Some reviewers found the Daphne subplot too corny, but I felt it charming. Other interesting characters include, but are not limited to, Old-Woman-Of-The-Sea, the Bellipotent Composition, and the soldier Atkins, who sees a little action. There are many more characters, and Mr. Wright helpfully includes a lengthy list of "dramatis personae" at the beginning of the tale to help readers keep track. The book also continues the philosophic and moral themes begun in the first volume. Phaethon, a man of ability, intelligence and ambition opposed in the first book by society's elite for threatening the peaceful order of civilization, is challenged in this story by the lowest rung of humanity, people who prefer to lose themselves to drugs or computer stimulation rather than to engage in productive and satisfying work. Phaethon also grapples with fundamental questions when he realizes whom he is fighting and comes to understand that they stand for everything anathema to his understanding of a rational and sane universe. Those looking for something meaty in their space opera will find plenty to gnaw on here. As in the first book, there is plenty of imaginative technology kicking about Mr. Wright's future. He avoids the temptation to flaunt fundamental physics like the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Special Theory of Relativity, but delights in speculating about the far-out possibilities offered by quantum weirdness and computing on a planetary scale. Practically each page has something weird and wonderful that would be worthy of a short story in its own right. Finally, the writing is simply great. These novels have more in common with classic literature and plays than with the gritty, journalistic/pulp style that marks much science fiction today. It has been a long time since I've had the pleasure of simply savoring dialogue and turns of phrase in a science fiction book. If there's anything negative to say about "The Phoenix Exultant" it is that it is wedged between two stronger tales (the sequel is "The Golden Trascendence", which I read before writing this review). The first book concluded by saying Phaethon's tale would be wrapped up in "The Phoenix Exultant", so it appears Mr. Wright may have had too much material for one sequel. This proved to be a good thing since the trilogy definitely stands as is, but the second volume perhaps suffered slightly by being made into a bridge between the firmer shores of the first and third books. Nonetheless, I wholeheartedly recommend this book for those who liked the first one.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jack Vance meets Olaf Stapledon, November 14, 2003
This review is from: The Phoenix Exultant: The Golden Age, Volume 2 (Golden Age (Tor Paperback)) (Mass Market Paperback)
Having read all three volumes in this trilogy now, I can say that this is truly a masterpiece. John C. Wright manages to update Jack Vance into the nanotech/deity-computer age. His future universe is remarkably well-imagined, an all the more difficult feat since it takes place thousands of years in the future. But rather than create a "Dying Earth" going-forward-means-backwards milieu, as did Jack Vance and Gene Wolfe, Wright aggressively imagines a high tech (and, unlike Gene Wolfe, explicit rather than implicit) future. Godlike AIs, mass-minds, augmented humans, and many other creations populate this remarkable universe. In these volumes, Wright shows himself a master of dialogue (here is where he most often resembles Vance), although he is occasionally somewhat too twee (the conversations between Daphne and Phaethon). He shows himself a master of plot, with a number of unexpected plot twists. And, as alluded to above, he shows himself a master of invention. Strangely, the three volumes resemble the three Matrix movies in their nature. The first volume, The Golden Age, is by far the best, for the simple reason that the reader is immersed for the first time in this wonderfully realized world (just as in the Matrix). The Matrix Reloaded did not have the newness of the first movie, but compensated for it by dangling mysteries in front of the viewer and by dazzling pyrotechnics and action. This is largely the case for the second volume of Wright's trilogy, The Phoenix Exultant. We are familiar with Phaethon's world, so it is comfortable rather than new and exciting, but the plot itself drives us along. The third volume, the recently released The Golden Transcendence, is the least satisfying of the three, just as the third Matrix movie is the least satisfying, as what mysteries are revealed are not quite as interesting as we might have hoped. But it nonetheless is still a winner by any standards. Together, they represent a remarkable achievement. So, get this if you love good science fiction, but also especially if you like: 1) Jack Vance
2) Gene Wolfe
3) Iain M. Banks
4) Walter Jon Williams' Aristoi
5) literate high tech space opera
6) far far future romance These are, truly, very good books (and deserved to have better proofreading by Tor).
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