What do you think?
Rate this book
Golden Age #2
Dreams of the Golden Age
Title: Dreams of the Golden Age <>Binding: Mass Market Paperback <>Author: CarrieVaughn <>Publisher: TorBooks
318 pages, Hardcover
First published January 7, 2014
22 people are currently reading
1026 people want to read
About the author
Carrie Vaughn
280 books4,544 followersCarrie Vaughn is the author more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories. She's best known for her New York Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. In 2018, she won the Philip K. Dick Award for Bannerless, a post-apocalyptic murder mystery. She's published over 20 novels and 100 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. She's a contributor to the Wild Cards series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin and a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop.
An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado, where she collects hobbies.
Visit her at www.carrievaughn.com
For writing advice and essays, check out her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/carrievaughn
An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado, where she collects hobbies.
Visit her at www.carrievaughn.com
For writing advice and essays, check out her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/carrievaughn
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews
May 2, 2015
After the Golden Age
was a great superhero book, a satisfying read that didn't require a sequel, but, thankfully, Dreams of the Golden Age is a welcome return to Commerce City, another well told story of superheroics, this time with even more superpowered action!
It's twenty years later, and a new generation of superheroes is itching to take up the mantle, inspired by the now-retired Olympiad. One of them is Anna, Celia's daughter, and Vaughn alternates between mother and daughter so that we see both sides of the story...especially the secrets they're keeping from each other. It's not a superhero story without secrets!
As Steven Gould does with Impulse , Carrie Vaughn introduces a new teenage POV into the series, which gives the book a bit of a YA feel, although she balances it well with the maturity of the adult POV: Celia is now running West Corp, and she has many responsibilities to her company and the city itself on top of keeping track of her daughters and wondering whether they have superpowers. Both Celia and Anna are dealing with their problems on their own, and it's both frustrating and amusing to know what they're missing.
Following Anna and her superpowered friends is fun, especially since they're dumb, ambitious teenagers trying to figure out how to be crimefighters. It's sort of adorable, but they also disagree on how best to be crimefighters, which leads to conflict! Meanwhile Celia faces off with, um, a slimy out-of-town investor? Like I said, she has adult problems.
Dreams of the Golden Age is a more straightforward book than After the Golden Age, which felt much more epic in scope, thanks to the large focus on the backstory of Celia and the other heroes. Vaughn does again show her skill in juggling multiple plot elements, but the book is not quite as stuffed, though it has just as much emotional depth. Dreams of the Golden Age makes superhero fiction look easy.
It's twenty years later, and a new generation of superheroes is itching to take up the mantle, inspired by the now-retired Olympiad. One of them is Anna, Celia's daughter, and Vaughn alternates between mother and daughter so that we see both sides of the story...especially the secrets they're keeping from each other. It's not a superhero story without secrets!
As Steven Gould does with Impulse , Carrie Vaughn introduces a new teenage POV into the series, which gives the book a bit of a YA feel, although she balances it well with the maturity of the adult POV: Celia is now running West Corp, and she has many responsibilities to her company and the city itself on top of keeping track of her daughters and wondering whether they have superpowers. Both Celia and Anna are dealing with their problems on their own, and it's both frustrating and amusing to know what they're missing.
Following Anna and her superpowered friends is fun, especially since they're dumb, ambitious teenagers trying to figure out how to be crimefighters. It's sort of adorable, but they also disagree on how best to be crimefighters, which leads to conflict! Meanwhile Celia faces off with, um, a slimy out-of-town investor? Like I said, she has adult problems.
Dreams of the Golden Age is a more straightforward book than After the Golden Age, which felt much more epic in scope, thanks to the large focus on the backstory of Celia and the other heroes. Vaughn does again show her skill in juggling multiple plot elements, but the book is not quite as stuffed, though it has just as much emotional depth. Dreams of the Golden Age makes superhero fiction look easy.
October 17, 2021
The sequel to After the Golden Age picks up about twenty years after the conclusion of that first volume. Celia, the protagonist of book one is now the CEO of a vast conglomerate as well as being a wife and a mother to two daughters. While we do get a number of scenes from her point of view, the primary focus has now shifted to her 17-year-old daughter, Anna. After the 20-year time passage from the first book, the survivors of the city’s primary superhero team, The Olympiad, have now mostly retired. But it would appear a new teenaged group with extraordinary powers has come together.
I found this to be another enjoyable entry in the series and would wish for more books, although given the publication date of 2014, I’m doubtful that’s in the cards. There is plenty of coming-of-age plot in this one as well as family issues and a climactic and complex superhero battle. All good stuff. One theme running throughout the novel is that of the hazards of keeping secrets: secrets from your parents, secrets from your friends, secrets from your children. This always leads to drama and a flood of emotion when the secrets are finally revealed so I see why authors do this. But had the characters not kept those secrets in the first place, much of the danger could have been avoided. Easy to say from an outsider’s perspective but much harder in practice, especially when those secrets are being kept in order to protect a character’s loved ones.
My philosophizing aside, I enjoyed the read. It pulled some of my emotional strings to be sure, but not to the breaking point.
I found this to be another enjoyable entry in the series and would wish for more books, although given the publication date of 2014, I’m doubtful that’s in the cards. There is plenty of coming-of-age plot in this one as well as family issues and a climactic and complex superhero battle. All good stuff. One theme running throughout the novel is that of the hazards of keeping secrets: secrets from your parents, secrets from your friends, secrets from your children. This always leads to drama and a flood of emotion when the secrets are finally revealed so I see why authors do this. But had the characters not kept those secrets in the first place, much of the danger could have been avoided. Easy to say from an outsider’s perspective but much harder in practice, especially when those secrets are being kept in order to protect a character’s loved ones.
My philosophizing aside, I enjoyed the read. It pulled some of my emotional strings to be sure, but not to the breaking point.
January 21, 2014
This is not a book about superheroes. It's a book about people and how they've been affected by superpowers...and that's what really lets it shine.
In several ways, this is exactly the opposite of a comic book. It's common for the costumed personas to hog the spotlight, with the secret identities barely figuring in. Not so here; these are quite clearly people first and superheroes a distant second, yet their powers are always there, quietly influencing everything. A family dinner is still a family dinner even if Grandma doesn't need a stove to make stir-fry, and the dynamics of a daughter trying to keep secrets from her dad are the same despite the additional complication of his telepathy.
This book takes place a good twenty years after the first, time enough for Celia to have two teenaged daughters of her own...and to worry about whether they or their friends will develop powers. Most of the story indeed focuses on six budding superteens, and how they attempt to cope with curfews while figuring out how to hone their abilities and make a place for themselves. There's also a corporate plot that's more than it appears, as well as some unexpected fallout from the first book. All in all, it's excellently done and should serve as a model for anyone who wants to depict superhumans instead of settling for four-color characters with one-track minds.
Highly recommended, but make sure to read the first book, um, first. :)
February 28, 2014
Ideally the sequels should be written only if the author can maintain or improve the quality of the original and/or has something new to say. Neither of which was the case with this book. I read a lot, so I don't remember the exact details of the first book, but I remember liking it, it was fun, exciting, ebullient even, original and, despite my initial concerns, didn't slide into the abyss that is chicklit realm. This book has managed none of those things, moreover it had a distinct YA flavor to it. Set 20 years from the events of the first Golden Age story, the main focus here is on the new generation of superheroes emerging in Commerce City, told primarily from the perspective of Anna West, the latest in line of West superheroes. This time around the story was flatter, the villain was lamer, the humor and joy considerably turned down. It was an ok read, plenty of action, quick enough, but completely unnecessary. Essentially more of a business than art, a YA book marketed to adults, meaning higher cover price. And as such, of course, set up for part three.
February 18, 2014
This dual review was originally published at Reading Reality
Cass: After the Golden Age was better.
Marlene: (refers Cass to Sidney Harris cartoon). Not that I don’t agree with you. After the Golden Age was better. But I think we need to be a little more explicit in our reasons. (and for anyone who is wondering, no, Sidney Harris is not a relative. And DAMN)
Cass: FINE. I can work with that. If you insist.
The primary issue with Dreams of the Golden Age was Anna. As a protagonist she left me utterly cold. I do not mind teenage narrators, so it wasn’t an issue of youth. She was just so damn boring. I didn’t care about her powers, or her typical teenage drama. For example, after a (SARCASTIC SPOILER ALERT) very bad thing happens, she immediately jumps tracks to talk prom. Seriously? There aren’t more important issues for you to deal with right now?!
More Celia and Arthur! The whole book should have been about them.
Marlene: I’m with you on Anna. So much of Anna’s angst is about her power being such a boring kind of power. It’s not showy, and it’s not offensive. It’s not even defensive. The problem is that her endless internal whinging about how dull a power she got dealt also gets boring.
Celia and Arthur? Now there’s a fascinating story. Also Celia and Mark, for that matter. Celia is dealing with so much very real and heart-rending “stuff” during the whole book. If it had been all her again, I’d have been much happier.
Cass: Absolutely! Anna’s “wah wah my powers are terrible” just made me want to reach into the book and slap her. Really? Your mother and sister have no powers at all. Remember how your mom spent her teenage years being abducted and held hostage? Maybe use your brain and figure out how to capitalize on what you’ve got. Which is so much more than 99.99% of the boring humans out there get.
I really wanted more of Celia and Arthur. I just skimmed through the Anna Chapters looking for references to them. Celia’s troubles were so much more engaging than Anna’s, I couldn’t even figure out how Carrie could stand to write Anna’s perspective alongside Celia’s.
Hell, even stories about how they dealt with all the trauma from After The Golden Age would have been better. Also, will no one EVER acknowledge the serious PTSD Celia has to be rocking due to her horrific childhood?
Marlene: In Dreams of the Golden Age, so much of what felt like the “true” story rested on Celia. And Celia’s story was a bigger and stronger story than anything focused on Anna’s point of view. Anna’s perspective was just too small. I think one of the differences between After and Dreams is that in After, Celia was an adult. She still had tons of trauma that she had to get over (and probably never got therapy for) but she had some perspective on the scope of the events taking place that was beyond her headspace. Even if some of that perspective might have been her version of the mutation.
Anna doesn’t feel mature enough to carry the story.
Cass: I didn’t think the problem was with Anna’s lack of maturity - I really blame the problem on the writing. Showcasing Anna’s perspective could have provided a very interesting counterpoint to Celia’s decisions to keep things from her children, or how Celia and Arthur’s parenting was so clearly superior to what Celia was subjected to.
The problem was that Anna’s chapters read like someone had studied teenagers by watching The WB and the Cartoon Network without ever interacting with real young people. Just because kids are hormonal doesn’t make them useless, stupid, or oblivious to the world around them. Anna’s limited perspective would have made more sense for a child much younger. Someone who was say, 10 or 12.
However, I did really enjoy the glimpses we got of what it was like living in a City of Superheroes/Villians. From both the idiotic child and elite businesswoman perspectives.
Marlene: It may be that I just plain didn’t like Anna. There were times when her younger sister Bethy seemed to have a more sensible head on her shoulders, powers or no powers.
There are plenty of totally immature adults, and mature teenagers in real life as well as fiction. Anna’s perspective just didn’t work for me in the same way that Celia’s did in the first book.
It still felt like Celia was the real central character in this story. It was her plan to arrange for all the children and grandchildren of the original experiment to get into Elmwood Academy one way or another and for her to see if the Olympiad recreated itself by, what, spontaneous generation?
She’s still obeying her own mutation, and giving her all, and it very nearly is absolutely everything she has, to see that Commerce City flourishes.
And the poor woman manages to get kidnapped. Again.
Cass: We’re definitely in agreement. Celia was the true protagonist and star of the show. I admit that I started laughing when she got kidnapped. You’d think after so many years, people would learn.
I hope that if the author returns to Commerce City, she sticks with the real movers and shakers (namely, Celia and Arthur) rather than forcing us to spend too much time with what is properly the supporting cast.
I did love Celia’s long term plans to regenerate the Olympiad. It was great to see her acknowledged for her intelligence, something that I felt most people overlooked in After the Golden Age. Brilliance may not be as flashy as setting shit on fire with your mind, but I’d rather have a Celia in my city than the (old or new) Olympiad any day.
Escape Rating C: This is hard. I want to give Anna an F, and Celia an A. So I’ll split the difference.
I would not recommend anyone read Dreams unless they’ve already read After. Too much of the plot and character development depends on knowledge of what took place in the first book.
Marlene: Let’s get past the “Up with Celia, Down with Anna” rant to talk about the overall story just a minute. And for that, I need to quote Battlestar Galactica. “All this has happened before, and all this will happen again,” with a dose of Euripides by way of Star Trek, “Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.”
The plot in Dreams has a ton of recycled elements from After, starting with using the daughter’s perspective, which is why we got so much Anna shoved at us.
But the crisis is kind of the same; a secret attempt to take over Commerce City’s halls of power, hidden behind a smokescreen. The smokescreens are different, but the baseline concept feels the same. Celia’s kidnapping is just the icing on that cake.
Cass: Excellent point! "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (Though I’m loving the Cylon reference, it’s not working for me, since they have thousands upon thousands of years to repeat their mistakes. This is only one generation!)
Would it kill a supervillain to crack a book on occasion? Maybe not fail at taking over the city the exact same way their predecessors did?
Marlene: The Cylons are quoting J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. A historical footnote that perturbs me no end.
It would also be a terrific thing if all the supervillains didn’t have the same parent-child rivalries, but that’s not necessarily something they could prevent by cracking open a book. Sometimes the apple does fall pretty far from the parent tree. And in a really good way.
Cass: I forgive it in this case - if only because the genesis of Commerce City Powers stems from a very limited genetic pool - it’s not uncommon for relatives to have the same mommy/daddy issues.
Marlene: This is my case of not forgiving the writing as much. It makes sense that families have similar dynamics, although we don’t know that the supervillain family in After is the same as the supervillain family in Dreams. It’s only speculation. And since family dynamics are nurture as much as nature, and there was no contact that we know of, that stretches it even further for me.
Also it’s part of the cascade of repeats. Daughter perspective, supervillain has same plot to take over Commerce City, and supervillain family has the same kind of parent/child breakaway issues.
But the grand scenes at the climax where all the supers, old and new, got together and used their powers could have been part of a climactic battle for an Avengers franchise movie.
Escape Rating B: In spite of having too much Anna and not enough Celia, the parts of Celia (and Arthur) that I got were awesome. I loved the bits about “getting the band back together”. Celia’s angst was real and heartfelt, I could feel her being pulled in every direction and never sure if she was doing the right thing.
Like Cass, I would love to see the “stories in the middle”; how Celia and Arthur managed to heal after the big mess of After the Golden Age. Or a future now that Celia is going to have to let go a little bit. And poor Mark, he’s an unsung hero in all of this. And someday, Bethy is going to be awesome.
Cass: My grade stays the same! In case anyone was wondering. There was just not enough awesome despite all the potential. (Bethy is counted amongst all the potential.)
Cass: After the Golden Age was better.
Marlene: (refers Cass to Sidney Harris cartoon). Not that I don’t agree with you. After the Golden Age was better. But I think we need to be a little more explicit in our reasons. (and for anyone who is wondering, no, Sidney Harris is not a relative. And DAMN)
Cass: FINE. I can work with that. If you insist.
The primary issue with Dreams of the Golden Age was Anna. As a protagonist she left me utterly cold. I do not mind teenage narrators, so it wasn’t an issue of youth. She was just so damn boring. I didn’t care about her powers, or her typical teenage drama. For example, after a (SARCASTIC SPOILER ALERT) very bad thing happens, she immediately jumps tracks to talk prom. Seriously? There aren’t more important issues for you to deal with right now?!
More Celia and Arthur! The whole book should have been about them.
Marlene: I’m with you on Anna. So much of Anna’s angst is about her power being such a boring kind of power. It’s not showy, and it’s not offensive. It’s not even defensive. The problem is that her endless internal whinging about how dull a power she got dealt also gets boring.
Celia and Arthur? Now there’s a fascinating story. Also Celia and Mark, for that matter. Celia is dealing with so much very real and heart-rending “stuff” during the whole book. If it had been all her again, I’d have been much happier.
Cass: Absolutely! Anna’s “wah wah my powers are terrible” just made me want to reach into the book and slap her. Really? Your mother and sister have no powers at all. Remember how your mom spent her teenage years being abducted and held hostage? Maybe use your brain and figure out how to capitalize on what you’ve got. Which is so much more than 99.99% of the boring humans out there get.
I really wanted more of Celia and Arthur. I just skimmed through the Anna Chapters looking for references to them. Celia’s troubles were so much more engaging than Anna’s, I couldn’t even figure out how Carrie could stand to write Anna’s perspective alongside Celia’s.
Hell, even stories about how they dealt with all the trauma from After The Golden Age would have been better. Also, will no one EVER acknowledge the serious PTSD Celia has to be rocking due to her horrific childhood?
Marlene: In Dreams of the Golden Age, so much of what felt like the “true” story rested on Celia. And Celia’s story was a bigger and stronger story than anything focused on Anna’s point of view. Anna’s perspective was just too small. I think one of the differences between After and Dreams is that in After, Celia was an adult. She still had tons of trauma that she had to get over (and probably never got therapy for) but she had some perspective on the scope of the events taking place that was beyond her headspace. Even if some of that perspective might have been her version of the mutation.
Anna doesn’t feel mature enough to carry the story.
Cass: I didn’t think the problem was with Anna’s lack of maturity - I really blame the problem on the writing. Showcasing Anna’s perspective could have provided a very interesting counterpoint to Celia’s decisions to keep things from her children, or how Celia and Arthur’s parenting was so clearly superior to what Celia was subjected to.
The problem was that Anna’s chapters read like someone had studied teenagers by watching The WB and the Cartoon Network without ever interacting with real young people. Just because kids are hormonal doesn’t make them useless, stupid, or oblivious to the world around them. Anna’s limited perspective would have made more sense for a child much younger. Someone who was say, 10 or 12.
However, I did really enjoy the glimpses we got of what it was like living in a City of Superheroes/Villians. From both the idiotic child and elite businesswoman perspectives.
Marlene: It may be that I just plain didn’t like Anna. There were times when her younger sister Bethy seemed to have a more sensible head on her shoulders, powers or no powers.
There are plenty of totally immature adults, and mature teenagers in real life as well as fiction. Anna’s perspective just didn’t work for me in the same way that Celia’s did in the first book.
It still felt like Celia was the real central character in this story. It was her plan to arrange for all the children and grandchildren of the original experiment to get into Elmwood Academy one way or another and for her to see if the Olympiad recreated itself by, what, spontaneous generation?
She’s still obeying her own mutation, and giving her all, and it very nearly is absolutely everything she has, to see that Commerce City flourishes.
And the poor woman manages to get kidnapped. Again.
Cass: We’re definitely in agreement. Celia was the true protagonist and star of the show. I admit that I started laughing when she got kidnapped. You’d think after so many years, people would learn.
I hope that if the author returns to Commerce City, she sticks with the real movers and shakers (namely, Celia and Arthur) rather than forcing us to spend too much time with what is properly the supporting cast.
I did love Celia’s long term plans to regenerate the Olympiad. It was great to see her acknowledged for her intelligence, something that I felt most people overlooked in After the Golden Age. Brilliance may not be as flashy as setting shit on fire with your mind, but I’d rather have a Celia in my city than the (old or new) Olympiad any day.
Escape Rating C: This is hard. I want to give Anna an F, and Celia an A. So I’ll split the difference.
I would not recommend anyone read Dreams unless they’ve already read After. Too much of the plot and character development depends on knowledge of what took place in the first book.
Marlene: Let’s get past the “Up with Celia, Down with Anna” rant to talk about the overall story just a minute. And for that, I need to quote Battlestar Galactica. “All this has happened before, and all this will happen again,” with a dose of Euripides by way of Star Trek, “Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.”
The plot in Dreams has a ton of recycled elements from After, starting with using the daughter’s perspective, which is why we got so much Anna shoved at us.
But the crisis is kind of the same; a secret attempt to take over Commerce City’s halls of power, hidden behind a smokescreen. The smokescreens are different, but the baseline concept feels the same. Celia’s kidnapping is just the icing on that cake.
Cass: Excellent point! "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (Though I’m loving the Cylon reference, it’s not working for me, since they have thousands upon thousands of years to repeat their mistakes. This is only one generation!)
Would it kill a supervillain to crack a book on occasion? Maybe not fail at taking over the city the exact same way their predecessors did?
Marlene: The Cylons are quoting J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan. A historical footnote that perturbs me no end.
It would also be a terrific thing if all the supervillains didn’t have the same parent-child rivalries, but that’s not necessarily something they could prevent by cracking open a book. Sometimes the apple does fall pretty far from the parent tree. And in a really good way.
Cass: I forgive it in this case - if only because the genesis of Commerce City Powers stems from a very limited genetic pool - it’s not uncommon for relatives to have the same mommy/daddy issues.
Marlene: This is my case of not forgiving the writing as much. It makes sense that families have similar dynamics, although we don’t know that the supervillain family in After is the same as the supervillain family in Dreams. It’s only speculation. And since family dynamics are nurture as much as nature, and there was no contact that we know of, that stretches it even further for me.
Also it’s part of the cascade of repeats. Daughter perspective, supervillain has same plot to take over Commerce City, and supervillain family has the same kind of parent/child breakaway issues.
But the grand scenes at the climax where all the supers, old and new, got together and used their powers could have been part of a climactic battle for an Avengers franchise movie.
Escape Rating B: In spite of having too much Anna and not enough Celia, the parts of Celia (and Arthur) that I got were awesome. I loved the bits about “getting the band back together”. Celia’s angst was real and heartfelt, I could feel her being pulled in every direction and never sure if she was doing the right thing.
Like Cass, I would love to see the “stories in the middle”; how Celia and Arthur managed to heal after the big mess of After the Golden Age. Or a future now that Celia is going to have to let go a little bit. And poor Mark, he’s an unsung hero in all of this. And someday, Bethy is going to be awesome.
Cass: My grade stays the same! In case anyone was wondering. There was just not enough awesome despite all the potential. (Bethy is counted amongst all the potential.)
December 7, 2025
Eighteen years after the events of the first book, the next generation of Commerce City superheroes ditch high school and try to form their own supergroup. Without telling their parents. It's a coming-of-age tale in a superhero setting.
I like this practical approach. Dumb but earnest teens figuring out how to use super-abilities effectively. Using invisibility to beat up muggers isn't a given; it takes practice and skill and can go wrong in a thousand ways. I appreciate that Vaughn writes about people, who happen to have special abilities.
I did get awfully tired of reading about teenagers though. Golden Age #2 reads substantially more YA than #1 did, and it grated. Idiotic lies, stupid fights with their friends, hormone-fueled jealousies
I like this practical approach. Dumb but earnest teens figuring out how to use super-abilities effectively. Using invisibility to beat up muggers isn't a given; it takes practice and skill and can go wrong in a thousand ways. I appreciate that Vaughn writes about people, who happen to have special abilities.
I did get awfully tired of reading about teenagers though. Golden Age #2 reads substantially more YA than #1 did, and it grated. Idiotic lies, stupid fights with their friends, hormone-fueled jealousies
October 12, 2017
Good Superhero prose. I enjoyed the first book a lot more but this is a nice sequel. Easy read. Recommended
March 20, 2014
I loved the "regular girl among superhumans" setup of After the Golden Age. This sequel's next generation of heroes premise didn't hook me to the same extent.
Celia's solo moments stood out, but I found it difficult to warm up to Anna. Her story was more predictable, and none of the other teens were built up enough to make their friendship drama feel natural. Her romance was thin enough that it could have been ditched entirely without making a bit of difference.
The only moment that gave me the same thrill as the first novel was Celia's return to a familiar situation. Watching Arthur spring into action was really satisfying.
I might have liked this one better if it had been plotted in a way that kept us more in Celia's point of view, largely because I enjoyed her transition from the daughter of supers to the mother of one. The book was written well enough, but I still left it with a sense of disappointment that the main protagonist was less interesting than the people who surrounded her.
Celia's solo moments stood out, but I found it difficult to warm up to Anna. Her story was more predictable, and none of the other teens were built up enough to make their friendship drama feel natural. Her romance was thin enough that it could have been ditched entirely without making a bit of difference.
The only moment that gave me the same thrill as the first novel was Celia's return to a familiar situation. Watching Arthur spring into action was really satisfying.
I might have liked this one better if it had been plotted in a way that kept us more in Celia's point of view, largely because I enjoyed her transition from the daughter of supers to the mother of one. The book was written well enough, but I still left it with a sense of disappointment that the main protagonist was less interesting than the people who surrounded her.
June 17, 2015
Decades ago, an accident in a research lab led to a whole cohort of people getting superpowers. Some became villains, some became heroes, but altogether, they changed Commerce City. In After the Golden Age, the child of two of these heroes had to come to terms with her own place in the world after years of kidnappings and near-brushes with adventure. Now, the grandchildren of these superpowered people are coming of age, and some of them have acquired powers of their own.
I enjoyed this. Both the would-be-superhero teens and their parents get narrative focus and accomplish parts of the plot, and altogether it means this otherwise lightweight story has some lovely bits about family and growing up and creating identity. I grew impatient with the amount of hiding super-identities that was required for the plot to work, but by the end all is revealed in various satisfyingly dramatic ways.
I enjoyed this. Both the would-be-superhero teens and their parents get narrative focus and accomplish parts of the plot, and altogether it means this otherwise lightweight story has some lovely bits about family and growing up and creating identity. I grew impatient with the amount of hiding super-identities that was required for the plot to work, but by the end all is revealed in various satisfyingly dramatic ways.
March 1, 2015
I enjoyed this sequel to After the Golden Age, but not quite as much as the first one. Celia West, un-powered daughter of Golden Age heroes and star of the first book, now has two teenaged girls of her own. This story focuses on Anna, who has gathered a group of powered friends together and is trying to form a new crime-fighting team. Things never go easy for those who wear costumes, of course, but it eventually seems to work out after some interesting and unexpected twists and turns. Anna isn't as likable or interesting as Celia was at her ago, but there's a large supporting cast of characters, including many of the originals from the previous generation, that keep things going.
March 31, 2014
This was really a 4.5 but I decided to round up because even though it was slow in places it was still a super story. This is a sequel to After the Golden Age but it skips the middle years. Instead, Celia West and Arthur Mentis have two teenage children and Celia runs the West Corporation with a tight fist. She is no longer the kidnap victim of the week. The Olympiad is no more and hasn't been since her father died protecting her. But Celia has carefully manipulated the children and grandchildren of the Leyden Labs experiment and has arranged for them all to have scholarships at an elite private school hoping they would meet and ultimately develop their powers together. Which is what happens. What she also hopes is that her own teen daughter would come to her. That doesn't. She doesn't even know what power her daughter has. And her husband deliberately refuses to read her to find out. What Celia didn't predict is that danger would come from outside of Commmerce City and that it would take the combined powers of the old and the new to take it down and that Celia would, again, be the central point of contention. Some things don't change. It was a terrific story. I hope Vaughn is able to write another in this world.
March 3, 2018
I wanted to love this book. The only other book I've read by this author was the first, After The Golden Age, which was a bit disappointing but I figured that an author with as many titles to her name had to be good so I tried again. The plot felt thin and contrived. The best aspects of these books are the characters who feel like they have deep and meaningful stories. Unfortunately the stories the author hints at are the ones she never tells. What determines the type of power a person develops? Is there a way to test for them? Where did Delta's supers get their powers from? Why is Danton Majors obsessed with them?
I think the thing that bothered me most was that the whole story sets up a case for Celia to actually be The Executive then chickens out and makes the bad guy, who was always clearly the bad, a random character we aren't invested in. How much better if our trusted heroine discovers that all her machinations for the "good" of all have turned her into the villain without her even realising? Opportunities lost.
I think the thing that bothered me most was that the whole story sets up a case for Celia to actually be The Executive then chickens out and makes the bad guy, who was always clearly the bad, a random character we aren't invested in. How much better if our trusted heroine discovers that all her machinations for the "good" of all have turned her into the villain without her even realising? Opportunities lost.
January 16, 2014
Lately, I’ve been complaining quite frequently about unexpected sequels, but, in this case, I was actually really excited when an announcement happened that the standalone After the Golden Age would have a sequel. Of course, Dreams of the Golden Age is somewhere between a companion and a sequel, with a new crop of characters, but it’s still a bit hypocritical of me. What matters, though, is that Dreams of the Golden Age is good, well worth the wait.
Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions.
Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions.
September 24, 2015
Decent follow-up to "After the Golden Age", but for me it was less compelling shuttling between the POV of Celia West and her teenage daughter rather than just focussing on one.
Also, the teeny-bopper heroes all going to high school together was a little too Y.A. fiction for my usual tastes. Still, Vaughn is an accomplished writer and I'd definitely read a third installment should it come out.
Also, the teeny-bopper heroes all going to high school together was a little too Y.A. fiction for my usual tastes. Still, Vaughn is an accomplished writer and I'd definitely read a third installment should it come out.
September 9, 2014
Second in a series, this continues the story of Commerce City's superheroes. Several years have passed and Carrie West os now the CEO of West Corporation. She keeps track of the children on the Olympiad, hoping they will manifest superpowers and grow into the same kind of vigilante team. I thought the whole thing was rather infantile and insipid.
February 18, 2014
Now that I don't have the space, most all of my new books are e-books, while I get rid of most of my dead tree library. Carrie's non-Kitty books are exceptions.
January 1, 2024
The sequel to 'After the Golden Age' a book I highly enjoyed continues with a similar premise and yet, like some truly good Sequels, doesn't just serve up more of the same.
Decades after the prior book the Protagonist of that book has inherited her parents' company and, along with her superpowered husband, has both had a couple of children and become a prominent player within the city. Trying to protect it, not as her parents did, but through genuine efforts to improve the day-to-day conditions for the people of the city. More and better housing. Support for better programs, etc.
The book unfolds through both that character's life and that of her eldest child. Having grown up in the shadow of her amazing 'grandparents' and her telepathic father and brilliant, mundane mother, the Teen of this book has the obvious problem of her emerging superpowers, but also how to reconcile her own legacy into that of her family.
The First book was really about being the mundane 'side-character' in a comic to some extent, but also about what legacy could mean. This book extends and expands that later theme.
Said Teen, along with a host of other 'legacy' teens are trying to form their own super-team to fill the gap left by the death, retirement/etc of the previous heroes. Yet that shadow extends not just from their superheroics, but from the way the city has changed and the way the character from the first book deals with things.
There was a lot in this book I loved. The characters are, as always, very fun, and the mystery that unfolds(is there a rising new supervillain in the city? Who is it? What are their goals? Can the new heroes rise to the challenge?) had enough turns and twists to keep me reading.
it was some of the smaller character moments I liked though; For example, the Telepathic husband/father demonstrated how difficult that would be as a parent, especially of growing teens. How do you extend privacy and respect boundaries when you literally cannot help but hear your children's hormone-infused thoughts from time to time? How do you remain a 'good father'. It wasn't a premise I think I had seen before and it was handled here with a range of maturity and thought i appreciate.
Carrie Vaughn's books remain imminently readable, and if you liked the first one, this is worth the rad.
Decades after the prior book the Protagonist of that book has inherited her parents' company and, along with her superpowered husband, has both had a couple of children and become a prominent player within the city. Trying to protect it, not as her parents did, but through genuine efforts to improve the day-to-day conditions for the people of the city. More and better housing. Support for better programs, etc.
The book unfolds through both that character's life and that of her eldest child. Having grown up in the shadow of her amazing 'grandparents' and her telepathic father and brilliant, mundane mother, the Teen of this book has the obvious problem of her emerging superpowers, but also how to reconcile her own legacy into that of her family.
The First book was really about being the mundane 'side-character' in a comic to some extent, but also about what legacy could mean. This book extends and expands that later theme.
Said Teen, along with a host of other 'legacy' teens are trying to form their own super-team to fill the gap left by the death, retirement/etc of the previous heroes. Yet that shadow extends not just from their superheroics, but from the way the city has changed and the way the character from the first book deals with things.
There was a lot in this book I loved. The characters are, as always, very fun, and the mystery that unfolds(is there a rising new supervillain in the city? Who is it? What are their goals? Can the new heroes rise to the challenge?) had enough turns and twists to keep me reading.
it was some of the smaller character moments I liked though; For example, the Telepathic husband/father demonstrated how difficult that would be as a parent, especially of growing teens. How do you extend privacy and respect boundaries when you literally cannot help but hear your children's hormone-infused thoughts from time to time? How do you remain a 'good father'. It wasn't a premise I think I had seen before and it was handled here with a range of maturity and thought i appreciate.
Carrie Vaughn's books remain imminently readable, and if you liked the first one, this is worth the rad.
August 14, 2019
Not quite as strong as the earlier outing (After the Golden Age) but still very good. This volume takes place about 18 years after the first, with the next generation of heroes taking the stage. Mostly high school kids, they are trying to figure out both how to use their powers safely and where they fit in the world—all with a healthy dose of teenage angst. I especially liked how some of the powers the kids have aren't as easy to be heroic with as others, and the conflicts that arise as a result. The plot is straightforward with almost none of the mystery of the earlier novel; it was pretty clear who the bad guy was from his first introduction (a bit of the author's political stance on housing shows through here, where the hero has an economic redevelopment plan that adds density and revitalization in the city core and the villain's competing plan enhances suburban sprawl. I approve, but it makes me a bit sad that in my hometown of Austin the villain would be winning...), although the universe expanded nicely with a lot more super-powered people running around. Considering Dreams of the Golden Age was released in 2011, though, I'm sadly not sure if a third volume is forthcoming, but I'm hopeful the world-building wasn't for naught. A lot of fun, this is a nice easy read.
First Sentence:
Celia West sat alone in her office, a corner suite in the family penthouse at West Plaza.
June 23, 2020
I did not really enjoy this book. To start, it was a difficult novel to really get into. The book is sci-fi/fantasy which is a little different from what I normally read but I decided to give it a shot because a friend suggested it. However, the first half was extremely slow and at some points downright boring. I typically read a lot but during most of the book I could not will myself to sit still and just read it.
Now don't get me wrong, some parts were interesting, but the majority was slow. The last 50 pages were very action packed and enjoyable to read but almost the rest of it was rough. When I read a book, I really enjoy when there is a mystery to solve or even just something that the main character does not know. However, this book did not contain a mystery of any kind and the plot was just layed out for you. Also, I really enjoy when there is a romantic interest for the main character. Now, while there was a romantic interest it was a very small part of the book and it was not fully embraced. I would have enjoyed this book more if there was a bit more substance or if it contained more of my must have substances but if you like sci-fi/fantasy a lot you would probably enjoy it.
To add on, this book was written from two different points of view. I do enjoy this technique and it was a positive part of this book. I think the two different view were very helpful and it added a unique spin on the book. Overall, I would give this book a 2.5 out of 5 rating because it was just not up my alley. The book wasn't for me and I honestly would not read it again.
Now don't get me wrong, some parts were interesting, but the majority was slow. The last 50 pages were very action packed and enjoyable to read but almost the rest of it was rough. When I read a book, I really enjoy when there is a mystery to solve or even just something that the main character does not know. However, this book did not contain a mystery of any kind and the plot was just layed out for you. Also, I really enjoy when there is a romantic interest for the main character. Now, while there was a romantic interest it was a very small part of the book and it was not fully embraced. I would have enjoyed this book more if there was a bit more substance or if it contained more of my must have substances but if you like sci-fi/fantasy a lot you would probably enjoy it.
To add on, this book was written from two different points of view. I do enjoy this technique and it was a positive part of this book. I think the two different view were very helpful and it added a unique spin on the book. Overall, I would give this book a 2.5 out of 5 rating because it was just not up my alley. The book wasn't for me and I honestly would not read it again.
March 26, 2020
I picked this one up semi-randomly at the library during the last-day-open-before-the-library-closes-because-of-corona rush. All of the half-empty shelves scared me so I didn't look at this closely enough to realize that it was the second book in a series. Fortunately I didn't feel like there were any holes in my background knowledge or like I jumped into the middle of the story.
Celia is a middle-aged business woman in commerce city. Her parents were superheroes and she grew up immersed in the world that came along with it. Being superhuman is genetic, the result of a lab experiment gone wrong many years ago, and Celia is carefully watching her daughters, Anna and Bethy, to see if they exhibit super powers themselves.
Anna has a power: she knows the location of everyone she knows. But she doesn't want to tell her parents - although it's hard when your father is telepathic - instead struggling along with her superhuman friends to find her identity and how to be a successful vigilante. Until suddenly she is up against way more than she was prepared for.
This is a story of personal struggles, of emotions and dilemmas instead of just fire-fights and shoot-outs. Although there is certainly action as well. It's well-told, if a little slow, and a different look at the superhero world. I enjoyed it.
Content: a smattering of swearing, about 5 instances of the f-word. A mother hopes her daughter is not sneaking out to be a stripper (she isn't).
Celia is a middle-aged business woman in commerce city. Her parents were superheroes and she grew up immersed in the world that came along with it. Being superhuman is genetic, the result of a lab experiment gone wrong many years ago, and Celia is carefully watching her daughters, Anna and Bethy, to see if they exhibit super powers themselves.
Anna has a power: she knows the location of everyone she knows. But she doesn't want to tell her parents - although it's hard when your father is telepathic - instead struggling along with her superhuman friends to find her identity and how to be a successful vigilante. Until suddenly she is up against way more than she was prepared for.
This is a story of personal struggles, of emotions and dilemmas instead of just fire-fights and shoot-outs. Although there is certainly action as well. It's well-told, if a little slow, and a different look at the superhero world. I enjoyed it.
Content: a smattering of swearing, about 5 instances of the f-word. A mother hopes her daughter is not sneaking out to be a stripper (she isn't).
December 16, 2017
Really a 3 1/2 star book, as it's a step weaker than the first volume. I think that the difference was that this was more of a YA novel, but as a sequel to an adult novel it had to get sold as an adult novel, which was unfortunate.
The central character is Anna, but sometimes she's not really the star of her own story, which is also a minor weakness. Too often she is a witness to events that, to the reader, may seem to be the important ones. Also, Teddy and the other teen characters are just not quite developed enough, especially Sam.
Set a full twenty years after "After the Golden Age," this is about the next generation of super-powered folks growing up in Commerce City. Celia, Anna's mother, has been keeping tabs on all of them, since she had pretty much figured out they all were, only...who's the guy with obvious powers that wasn't on her list? And why is a big businessman from another city trying to derail her attempt to rebuild downtown Commerce City in a sensible way?
The story is a mixture of superhero fiction with a short treatise on how urban redevelopment really should work, which was actually a very interesting part of the book.
There are several plot hooks left hanging by this book, in case the author wants to revisit the setting.
The central character is Anna, but sometimes she's not really the star of her own story, which is also a minor weakness. Too often she is a witness to events that, to the reader, may seem to be the important ones. Also, Teddy and the other teen characters are just not quite developed enough, especially Sam.
Set a full twenty years after "After the Golden Age," this is about the next generation of super-powered folks growing up in Commerce City. Celia, Anna's mother, has been keeping tabs on all of them, since she had pretty much figured out they all were, only...who's the guy with obvious powers that wasn't on her list? And why is a big businessman from another city trying to derail her attempt to rebuild downtown Commerce City in a sensible way?
The story is a mixture of superhero fiction with a short treatise on how urban redevelopment really should work, which was actually a very interesting part of the book.
There are several plot hooks left hanging by this book, in case the author wants to revisit the setting.
March 28, 2018
'Dreams of the Golden Age' was an enjoyable, relaxing read, and I finished it in one evening.
What really endeared me most to Anna was that her superpower was nondescript. Poor Anna, her power is there just enough for her to be considered a superhuman but not cool enough to be on par with her other super friends who can shoot lighting out from fingers, turn invisible, and they get all the attention and glory. Teen angst ensues but it's, thankfully, not too overbearingly so.
Celia, the non-powered daughter of the most famous Captain Olympiad and Spark from the first book, and one-time henchwoman of super villain Destructor, is Anna's mom and co-sharer of this sequel. Celia's portions are more interesting than Anna's since the former is still dealing with the repercussions of what happened before the sequel. She's still not married to Arthur but they're very in love still and he's a loving dad to their two daughters. Although I was never quite convinced into how Celia and Arthur conveniently got together in 'After the Golden Age' but here, their relationship is more believable and warm and the only complaint I have is we only get Dr Mentis, telepath superhero in action, near the end.
What really endeared me most to Anna was that her superpower was nondescript. Poor Anna, her power is there just enough for her to be considered a superhuman but not cool enough to be on par with her other super friends who can shoot lighting out from fingers, turn invisible, and they get all the attention and glory. Teen angst ensues but it's, thankfully, not too overbearingly so.
Celia, the non-powered daughter of the most famous Captain Olympiad and Spark from the first book, and one-time henchwoman of super villain Destructor, is Anna's mom and co-sharer of this sequel. Celia's portions are more interesting than Anna's since the former is still dealing with the repercussions of what happened before the sequel. She's still not married to Arthur but they're very in love still and he's a loving dad to their two daughters. Although I was never quite convinced into how Celia and Arthur conveniently got together in 'After the Golden Age' but here, their relationship is more believable and warm and the only complaint I have is we only get Dr Mentis, telepath superhero in action, near the end.
April 10, 2020
Dreams of the Golden age
By Carrie Vaughn
The beautiful story of living in the shadow of family legacy. Like her mother before her Anna West is struggling to put her life in perspective. She is a teenager, but more than that she is a legacy the granddaughter of a set of superheroes. Her grandparents saved the city countless times, their daughter hundreds of times. Now Anna has to find a place for her unique power. She needs to solidify a team and find a mission. Her mother without super powers has been kidnapped again. This time she does not have her hero father. She dies have a loving daughter with powers. Great look into human nature, families, and the willingness to risk all for love.
By Carrie Vaughn
The beautiful story of living in the shadow of family legacy. Like her mother before her Anna West is struggling to put her life in perspective. She is a teenager, but more than that she is a legacy the granddaughter of a set of superheroes. Her grandparents saved the city countless times, their daughter hundreds of times. Now Anna has to find a place for her unique power. She needs to solidify a team and find a mission. Her mother without super powers has been kidnapped again. This time she does not have her hero father. She dies have a loving daughter with powers. Great look into human nature, families, and the willingness to risk all for love.
June 23, 2021
This one's a sequel to After the Golden Age. Years have passed since that adventure. Celia West is now married, the president of West Corp, and the mother of two teenage daughters. Her eldest, Anna, is acting moody and secretive. Is it just plain adolescence? Or has Anna developed super powers and a compulsion to don a costume and fight crime? After all, it does run in her family...
Overall, the book was pleasant to read. But, like most sequels, it doesn't quite live up to the original.
Overall, the book was pleasant to read. But, like most sequels, it doesn't quite live up to the original.
June 25, 2017
I enjoyed this second outing in Vaughn's superhero series. There is a lot of angst in these books, which got on my nerves a little bit, but Vaughn is able to ground it in realistic motivations, which I appreciated. I also liked seeing how the characters from the previous book ended up and getting to know about their children. I think she did a wonderful with the plot again, but the only loose end that nagged me was she never explained the superheroes from Delta.
September 28, 2017
Vaughn returns to Commerce City, this time with the new generation of Superheroes.
Like the comics that inspired the story, the younger generation has grown up with
the stories about the Olympiad and are eager to prove themselves: faster and stronger than the
older generation.
A fan's tribute to the genre of comic book superheroes.
Like the comics that inspired the story, the younger generation has grown up with
the stories about the Olympiad and are eager to prove themselves: faster and stronger than the
older generation.
A fan's tribute to the genre of comic book superheroes.
February 18, 2023
Anna is the granddaughter of superheroes. She has telepathic powers. She finds other teen with powers and train to be a superhero team on their own. Anna's mom, the non power Celia, is concerned. Will these teens become the next generation of heroes. A great story about a family and good mix of superheroics.
November 7, 2017
I quite liked this, actually??? It's been so long since I read the first I wasn't sure if I was going to remember a thing about it, but it turned out not to have mattered. I love the backside of superheroing and coming of age tales.
April 26, 2021
Oh my goodness this book takes a concept that I have thought of (superhero children) and goes all the way with it. And I did not realize it was a sequel to after the golden age until I was part-way through. That is now on my to be read list.
May 14, 2017
Not as good as the first one, but still quite good. I think the material in this just wasn't as compelling or as unique a take of super hero life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 153 reviews