Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: "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.
Rating:
Summary: Back on Track
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Brilliant!
Review: All those familiar with the Objectivist Epistemology will automatically recognize the influences of both Ayn Rand and Robert Heinlein, upon John C. Wright's work. To call this book, and it's two precursors "hard science" is a gross understatement of Wright's deconstruction of rationality and the human conscience.
The science fiction concepts take back seat to the ethical and moral issues which stem from their use. For instance, a "noetic device" is that which stores the entire knowledge, memories, and psyche of a human. This is what gives the human race its immortality, for if one's physical flesh is to perish, society can simply resurrect that person from their last saved copy contained within the noetic device. But what happens if many profound events occur between the last update to the noetic device and the person's death-- can they resume being the person they were before, or are they simply a relic, a duplicate with no rights to the property of the body which contained those thoughts previously?
This, and many other litrerary devices make this one science fiction series hard to beat.
Rating:
Summary: Mindboggling SF at its very best
Review: All three books in this saga are awesome! Hard science fiction, philosophical destiny of man, utopian notions, humans in far space... they have it all. Couldn't agree more with reviewer Rhunter. I've been reading sci-fi since age 16 and I'm 55 now. This trilogy is way up there on my all-time favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: strong cerebral futuristic tale
Review: For all practical purposes humanity is immortal, but with the Millennium ending, the Transcendence begins. Anything sentient in the solar system whether the creature is biological, mechanical, technological, or hybrid briefly merges into one super mind. These end days will judge the merit of all species to determine who will survive the Transcendence. Phaethon the Exile has regained control of the Phoenix Exultant, but he has no time to rejoice, as the Lords of the Silent Oecumene, beings of a dead star system, hunt him for they need his ship. The invader's plan to destroy any sentient being in the Inner System, but need to use the superpower of the Phoenix Exultant to achieve this objective. As Phaethon struggles to stop his deadly foe, he wonders if he wastes his time as he has doubts about his future. He ponders whether the Lords of the Silent Oecumene, if inside the Transcendence range, will be judged and why risk his life now when he may be condemned by the final verdict? The final tale in the Golden Age trilogy is a cerebral story that leaves the audience pondering many, perhaps too many, concepts. The author rightfully believes his fans will intelligently consider philosophical issues such as the meaning of life, when is war the right answer to a conflict, what is truly humanity, and whether it is religious or science in origin how will you and your species stand up in a life or death judgment, etc. The exciting action grips readers, but readers will think about the messages that make this novel and series transcend most science fiction books attaining the golden status of powerhouse. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: jeeze, enough already
Review: I enjoyed the Golden Age, but by the end, the main character had begun to knaw at me a little. By two books later at the end of The Golden Transcendence, I was so sick of the pompous bastard that I almost threw the book away.
What began as an interesting universe and a mystery to solve,descended into a maze of endless shells of lies and deception. The apparent solution to the mysteries that began this whole saga was revealed, proven wrong, and re-revealed so many times that i just didn't care anymore. It was the this faction, no it was this faction, no it was this faction controlling that faction... on and on... Whatever.
Rating:
Summary: A satisfying conclusion to a great series
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Trapped author makes a masterful escape
Review: I think the "Golden Age" books are a tremendous work, and I am eager to see what this author produces next. In some ways the conclusion to the series was not nearly as good as the lead up in books 1 and 2 were, but he ties it up nicely in the end.
In general the actual "bad guys" were a bit of a let down, and in true Captain Kirk style the main character nearly talks it to death. It proves the old axiom that any intelligent space faring species can be annoyed and bored to the point where it would rather die than let you go on.
The most enjoyable aspects were the activities of Atkins, the resolution of the "crazy old man at the beginning of the book" bit (very well done!) and the penultimate ending sequence. Again I would have rather had the might engineering guy driving the starship have to be a lot more inventive when facing a technologically superior enemy (thinking on his feet) than what happened, but the author did a great job of wrapping this up.
Rating:
Summary: Should be up for a Hugo/Nebula
Review: 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.
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