The Golden Transcendence: Or, the Last of the Masquerade

by John C. Wright

Book Overview

Beginning with The Golden Age, continuing with The Phoenix Exultant and now concluding in The Golden Transcendence, The Golden Age is Grand Space Opera, an SF adventure saga in the tradition of A. E. van Vogt and Roger Zelazny, with perhaps a bit of Cordwainer Smith enriching the style. It is an astounding story of super-science, a thrilling wonder story that recaptures the excitements of SF's golden age writers in the suspenseful and passionate tale...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765307561
• ISBN13: 9780765307569
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Climactic and Moving

"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

Back on Track

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. For example one character wonders how differing engineering system philosophies can result in different outcomes to end events. Maybe this idea is old hat to engineers, but it stopped me in my tracks and made me wish there was more discussion of this point. Like the previous books, nothing is what it seems at first, and the plot has as many twists, turns, red herrings and surprises as any mystery. And like the previous books the hero seems as much of a naïve prig as before. Yet, even with all these complaints, the Golden Transcendence is a fitting close to the Golden Age trilogy.

Should be up for a Hugo/Nebula

It's a bit of a sin that this book hasn't been nominated while a book like Singularity Sky is, but the Golden Transcendence series really should get wider exposure. It is a truly original series with very memorable characters (especially Atkins, the one-man military force of the Golden Oecumene) and some truly funny scenes, yet also manages to have a sense of grandeur and scope by this, the last volume of the series, My only complaint about the series is that it is obvious in hindsight that it was meant to be two books, as The Phoenix Exultant was a little longer than necessary and felt too drawn out.The hyper-libertarian future portrayed in these books is an interesting contrast to the quasi-socialist futures seen in books by Ken MacLeod or Charles Stross, quite a cultural commentary on American writers like Wright versus UK writers.

Engrossing

"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.

A satisfying conclusion to a great series

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