Golden Trancedence
01/08/2004 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
The world of hard SF is a difficult one to master. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. Buy Golden Trancedence in the USA - or Buy Golden Trancedence in the UK  check out website: www.tor.com The world of hard SF is a difficult one to master. High
technology and unhuman characters often make it hard to keep a coherent plotline
through the complex created future. Even in those books without real clarity,
a lot of interesting and inventive things can be found, as I found reading the
three books in John C. Wright's 'Golden Age' trilogy. 
The books tell of Phaethon, the son of one of the Solar System's richest
men. Convinced that the civilisation (or Oecumene as Wright calls it) is being
held back by lack of progress to the stars, Phaethon builds the greatest ship
ever built, the Phoenix Exultant. Successive setbacks in the first book, 'The
Golden Age' led Phaethon into a maze of conspiracy theories that resulted in his
expulsion.
In the concluding volume, some of Phaethon's worst fears
are realised as the remnants of a colony long thought dead attack. Phaethon and
his ship must fight a series of incredible battles to ensure that there are any
of them left to populate the stars.
It's a good story, even if the plot twists
at times do come too fast to surprise and it occasionally gets a bit over the
top. But despite the often-extreme fantastic events, there's always a core of
humanity left over that keeps the story grounded.
In fact, if there's
anything Wright's guilty of, it's not using his excellent characterisation to
the best of his abilities. Phaethon and his wife Daphne, the one-man army Marshal
Atkins and Phaethon's Sire, Helion, not to mention the hosts of AI and peers,
fascinated me. I would have loved to have seen more close-up detail exploring
their interactions as happened in the middle of the first and beginning of the
second books. It was when the characters were separated slightly from the extreme
technology and allowed to act as characters that I truly loved the writing. The
plot was so over-the-top and overly complex that it often stifled this feeling
of a simple story.
I fully enjoyed reading the three books, but the
level to which Wright amps up the conspiracies and allows his super-technologies
rather than characters control the plot is often frustrating. I would have preferred
a slightly toned-down and localised plot that focused on the people rather than
the galactic-wide attempt at seeing everything. In the end, it's a person's story
not a system's.
That said, 'The Golden Age' trilogy is still well-written
and captures the imagination. It's definitely worth reading and bodes well for
Wright in the future, but I'd prefer it if he toned down proceedings slightly
next time and allowed us quality time with his creations.
Tomas L.
Martin 
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