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Book 3 of 3 in the Golden Age Series

The Golden Transcendence: Or, The Last of the Masquerade (The Golden Age) Mass Market Paperback – June 1, 2004

4.2 out of 5 stars 46 customer reviews
Book 3 of 3 in the Golden Age Series

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Product Details

  • Series: The Golden Age (Book 3)
  • Mass Market Paperback: 414 pages
  • Publisher: Tor Science Fiction (June 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0765349086
  • ISBN-13: 978-0765349088
  • Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #782,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

By Michael Pusateri on January 11, 2004
Format: 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'.
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Format: 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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Format: Mass Market Paperback
After a fast start with "The Golden Age", Wright faltered with "The Phoenix Exultant". He's back on track with "The Golden Transcendence".

This is the third book chronicling the adventures of Phaethon in his journey from a society with a computer-integrated mind to the stars. But this is not a book for someone looking for quick action. Instead this book will appeal to readers who can enjoy almost endless debates about the best way to use a virus to attack a self-deluding computer, or the objectivity of morality, or the inevitability of the ultimate entropy. Wright masterfully describes these arguments but one must enjoy logical disputation in a computerized world to stay with the material.

On the other hand the first one hundred pages includes an exciting confrontation that proceeds microsecond by microsecond.

As in previous volumes, the author brings us long lists of things and activities like the heroine's description of the hero as "a clod who does not have the sense to see what's right in front of his nose, who keeps running off, getting in trouble, getting lost, getting shot at, losing and finding bits and pieces of his memory he cannot keep straight, ruining parties, building starships, starting wars, upsetting everybody, and keeps saying I'm not his wife whenever he's losing any arguments with me, which he does all the time." Apparently Wright's word processor can't identify run-on sentences.

It's clear that the author believes that even though computers will be smarter than men in the future, men will benefit from the association. Less clear is whether Wright has libertarian political views that are buried within the novel.

Also intriguing and irritating are the throwaway ideas, hidden in techno-bable.
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Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
All three books in this series are fantastic reads culminating in this epic conclusion. John C. Wight has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I would say going forward that anything he writes is a "must-read."
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