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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780765349088
ISBN number: 0765349086
Label: Tor Science Fiction
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: 2004-06
Publishing house: Tor Science Fiction
Release Date: June 01, 2004
Sale Popularity Level: 189976
Studio: Tor Science Fiction
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Begun with The Golden Age, continued with The Phoenix Exultant, and now concluding in The Golden Transcendence, The Golden Age trilogy is Grand Space Opera, an SF adventure saga in the tradition of A. E. Van Gogt, Roger Zelazny and Cordwainer Smith. It is an astounding story of super-science, a thrilling wonder story that recaptures the elan of SF's golden age writers in the suspenseful and passionate tale of Phaeton, a lone rebel unhappy in utopia.
The end of the Millennium is imminent, when all minds, human, posthuman, cybernetic, sophotechnic, will be temporarily merged into one solar-system-spanning supermind called the Transcendence. This is not only the fulfillment of a thousand years of dreams, it is a day of doom, when the universal mind will pass judgment on the all the races of humanity and transhumanity.
The mighty ship Phoenix Exultant is at last in the hands of her master, Phaethon the Exile is at her helm and his dream of starflight in alive once more. He is being hunted by alien agents, the eerie and deadly Lords of the Silent Oecumene, who would steal the Phoenix Exultant and turn it into a weapon.
The all-encompassing Mind of the Golden Transcendence is waking. Will it endorse Phaeton's dream or face the very first interstellar war?
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Rated by buyers 
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After reading The Golden Age, I quickly went out and bought the subsequent to books of the trilogy. The Golden Age started a little slow and then by the end I was blown away. Then the last two, for me, spent more time treading water than getting anywhere.
Before I was halfway through The Golden Transcendence, I found myself wishing that Wright had a strong editor. This trilogy really could have been one masterful book, or even two. But the material, as brilliant as it is, was just stretched too far.
If you liked the very first two, buy this just to end the story. But be warned, I found myself seriously just skimming pages. This is something that I almost never do.
Rated by buyers 
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The final book in Wright's Golden Age Trilogy does not disappoint. Definitely don't read this before reading the very first two books (Golden Age and the Phoenix Exultant). It starts off with an insanely intense battle and then shoots for the sun - literally! It does slow down for a bit, but then takes off quite energetically again.
This is the climactic book in an amazing trilogy, and Wright does an excellent job of bringing together all the different links and elements which he began weaving in the very first two books. What is most satisfactory about this, in my mind, is that you are never completely sure exactly where things are going. There are so many twists and turns in the plot, but not so many or so often that you begin to get lost in it.
In my mind, The Golden Transcendence, along with Golden Age and Phoenix Exultant, are supreme examples of science fiction at it's best. It's hard to compare what Wright has written with Asimov's fiction, because he (Wright) really is going in a different direction creatively. Nonetheless, I highly recommend it to all fans of the genre.
That said, I might not recommend this as the very first science fiction book you read. Some of Wright's concepts are so "out there" that someone not used to science fiction might get a little lost. However, if you're up to a dive off the creative deep end into an incredible story wrapped around characters of immense depth in a truly visionary society - don't hesitate! Snatch up copies of all three books and just dive in.
Rated by buyers -
You are in danger of having your head hurt if you don't like the tech overload sort of thing, for the very first 60-70 page. It even had me scratching my head for a bit.
Then Wright skewers that, literally, as near the end of that confrontation, out come the samurai swords!
He does slip in a few Golden Age references and jokes here and there, of course.
For example, in the last part of the novel, when the conflict between the Silent and Golden Oecumenae has been going and going : "Emphyrio took out a tablet from his garb, and held it up. ââ,¬Å"Here is my prophecy: This New College, at least for a time, is dominated by Dark-Grays and Invariants. A warlike spirit grows.
ââ,¬Å"The Bellipotent Composition forms again. Other war heroes, Banbeck and Carter and Kinnison, Vidar the Silent and Valdemar the Slayer, are recompiled out of archives, or constructed, or born."
Then, a lighter style prevails as before, while the machine intelligence infiltration situtation is sorted out.
Conversely, the last part, post conflict with the Nothing Sophotect might seem to drag a little bit, but it is worth getting to the end part. A handy appendix, too, explaining all the mental structure, stuff.
Rated by buyers -
I was really quite disturbed by the negative reviews listed on the book page and by one or two readers. If you enjoyed the very first book of this series then it makes sense to read until the end. As a professor of Human Computer Interaction I found the ideas and discusion quite compelling, although this book is not as exciting as the very first two it does round off a superb story overall.
Rated by buyers 
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Too esoteric, even for a sci-fi lover. The jargon and characterization is so dense and bizarre in the early pages that I could not finish this book.
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