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The Golden Oecumene #2
The Phoenix Exultant
And now The Phoenix Exultant , a second epic novel of an heroic quest in a far future world of super-science from an important new talent.
The Phoenix Exultant is a continuation of the story begun in The Golden Age and, like it, a grand space opera in the tradition of Jack Vance and Roger Zelazny (with a touch of Cordwainer Smith-style invention).
At the conclusion of the first book, Phaethon of Radamanthus House, was left an exile from his life of power and privilege. Now he embarks upon a quest across the transformed solar system--Jupiter is a second sun, Mars and Venus terraformed, humanity immortal--among humans, intelligent machines, and bizarre life-forms, to recover his memory, to regain his place in society and to move that society away from stagnation and toward the stars. And most of all Phaethon's quest is to regain ownership of the magnificent starship, the Phoenix Exultant, the most wonderful ship ever built, and to fly her to the stars.
It is an astounding story of super-science, a thrilling wonder story that recaptures the verve of SF's Golden Age writers The Phoenix Exultant is a suitably grand and stirring fulfillment of the promise shown in The Golden Age and confirms John C. Wright as a major new talent in the field.
The Phoenix Exultant is a continuation of the story begun in The Golden Age and, like it, a grand space opera in the tradition of Jack Vance and Roger Zelazny (with a touch of Cordwainer Smith-style invention).
At the conclusion of the first book, Phaethon of Radamanthus House, was left an exile from his life of power and privilege. Now he embarks upon a quest across the transformed solar system--Jupiter is a second sun, Mars and Venus terraformed, humanity immortal--among humans, intelligent machines, and bizarre life-forms, to recover his memory, to regain his place in society and to move that society away from stagnation and toward the stars. And most of all Phaethon's quest is to regain ownership of the magnificent starship, the Phoenix Exultant, the most wonderful ship ever built, and to fly her to the stars.
It is an astounding story of super-science, a thrilling wonder story that recaptures the verve of SF's Golden Age writers The Phoenix Exultant is a suitably grand and stirring fulfillment of the promise shown in The Golden Age and confirms John C. Wright as a major new talent in the field.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
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793 people want to read
About the author
John C. Wright
137 books451 followersJohn C. Wright (John Charles Justin Wright, born 1961) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy novels. A Nebula award finalist (for the fantasy novel Orphans of Chaos), he was called "this fledgling century's most important new SF talent" by Publishers Weekly (after publication of his debut novel, The Golden Age).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
January 10, 2019
In book two of The Golden Age series, we pickup with protagonist Phaethon trying to survive after his exile from society. The big ideas are fewer and farther between in book two. This is not unexpected, as the world-building, back story, characters, and much of the plot were already established in book one. The trade off is the story telling gets a bit richer and we meet more unique and interesting characters. The first half of the book lands Phaethon in an encampment filled with misfit fellow exiles. The imagery reminded me of the artificial outcasts in Spielberg’s “A.I.”; a discarded, shunned assortment of unwanted creatures.
My primary disappointment for this book is once again the characterization of women. First, there aren’t many, most of the big thoughts and actions are done by men and masculine machines. The primary female character is the super-hot Daphne, who is really a duplicate (called a doll) of the actual wife of Phaethon. She’s still madly in love with Phaethon and would do anything to save him. Daphne gets much of her knowledge from Romance stories, and flips her hair, and giggles. After she’s exiled, she irrationally wastes precious nano-material on making riding boots and a hat. At one point, when Phaethon looks at her body, she sighs with pleasure, “as if his glaze were warm sunlight”. Get the picture?
Despite that annoying flaw, I couldn’t help but once again admire the complex thinking that went into the development of this story. There are some excellent twists and turns in the middle of the story. The final third is once again full of exposition, and again becomes an onerous read. It held my interest with its complexity and intrigue and the occasional revelation, but the action severely slows down. Many parts of the plot are revealed in this second book of the trilogy, but there is still plenty for Wright to unveil in book three.
Another jaunt through a creative far future which starts with more distinct characters and improved storytelling, but later falls back on the reliance of imaginative, but sluggish exposition and intricate, but arduous plot points.
My primary disappointment for this book is once again the characterization of women. First, there aren’t many, most of the big thoughts and actions are done by men and masculine machines. The primary female character is the super-hot Daphne, who is really a duplicate (called a doll) of the actual wife of Phaethon. She’s still madly in love with Phaethon and would do anything to save him. Daphne gets much of her knowledge from Romance stories, and flips her hair, and giggles. After she’s exiled, she irrationally wastes precious nano-material on making riding boots and a hat. At one point, when Phaethon looks at her body, she sighs with pleasure, “as if his glaze were warm sunlight”. Get the picture?
Despite that annoying flaw, I couldn’t help but once again admire the complex thinking that went into the development of this story. There are some excellent twists and turns in the middle of the story. The final third is once again full of exposition, and again becomes an onerous read. It held my interest with its complexity and intrigue and the occasional revelation, but the action severely slows down. Many parts of the plot are revealed in this second book of the trilogy, but there is still plenty for Wright to unveil in book three.
Another jaunt through a creative far future which starts with more distinct characters and improved storytelling, but later falls back on the reliance of imaginative, but sluggish exposition and intricate, but arduous plot points.
April 16, 2012
Exiled from everything he knows, Phaethon goes to Ceylon and joins up with a band of exiles. His goal: regain his ship, the Phoenix Exultant, and find those responsible for his predicament. That is, unless, the Silent Ones find him first...
The Phoenix Exultant picks up where The Golden Age left off and kicks things into high gear. Not only is it shorter than The Golden Age, it's a lot easier to follow since Wright established all of the concepts and many of the characters in the first book. Phaethon's primitive conditions on Death Row further facilitate easier reading. When the tech level isn't much higher than our current one, not much thinking is required.
Phaethon's exile from the Oecumene was well done. How many books have you read that feature a man having to take a million flight maintenance staircase down from an orbital settlement rather than taking advantage of a space elevator? Poor Phaethon! Phaethon starts at the nadir of his adult life and has to kick and scratch his way past many obstacles just to get back to being poor. Ironjoy and the other Afloats were quite interesting. Phaethon's pomposity contributed quite a few laughs to the book.
The relationship between Phaethon and Daphne is thrust to the forefront in this volume and is hilarious, even more than Rhadamanthus taking the form of a flying penguin in the first book. Daphne nearly eclipsed Phaethon as my favorite character. Atkins was fleshed out quite a bit and seems to be quite a bad ass now, as he should be, being the sole member of the Oecumene's army.
I'd say the Phoenix Exultant surpasses the Golden Age and is quite a read. Bring on the Golden Transcendence!
The Phoenix Exultant picks up where The Golden Age left off and kicks things into high gear. Not only is it shorter than The Golden Age, it's a lot easier to follow since Wright established all of the concepts and many of the characters in the first book. Phaethon's primitive conditions on Death Row further facilitate easier reading. When the tech level isn't much higher than our current one, not much thinking is required.
Phaethon's exile from the Oecumene was well done. How many books have you read that feature a man having to take a million flight maintenance staircase down from an orbital settlement rather than taking advantage of a space elevator? Poor Phaethon! Phaethon starts at the nadir of his adult life and has to kick and scratch his way past many obstacles just to get back to being poor. Ironjoy and the other Afloats were quite interesting. Phaethon's pomposity contributed quite a few laughs to the book.
The relationship between Phaethon and Daphne is thrust to the forefront in this volume and is hilarious, even more than Rhadamanthus taking the form of a flying penguin in the first book. Daphne nearly eclipsed Phaethon as my favorite character. Atkins was fleshed out quite a bit and seems to be quite a bad ass now, as he should be, being the sole member of the Oecumene's army.
I'd say the Phoenix Exultant surpasses the Golden Age and is quite a read. Bring on the Golden Transcendence!
July 24, 2010
4.5 to 5.0 stars. This book continues the story that began in the The Golden Age and will finish in The Golden Transcendence and is turning out to be one of the most unique, and well done science fiction trilogies to come along in a long time. The description on the back of the book (and many of the professional reviews) compares it, in concept, to the works of Roger Zelazny, A. E. Van Vogt and Cordwainer Smith. While I don't disagree with that comparison (especially in the case of Zelazny and Smith), I would have to throw in Jack Vance as well as that is to whom the author's prose style reminded me the most.
The reason for this comparison to Vance is that, like Vance, the author generally used short, concise sentences and paragrpahs that carried A TON OF INFORMATION. Jack Vance could do as much world-building in a single paragraph as others would do in a whole chapter. I think the best way to describe Vance's prose when it comes to world-building is dense without a lot of flowery or excess descriptives. This dense, concise prose is what has always made Vance a wonderful (but very slow) read for me as I find I often have to re-read sentences and paragraphs to allow all the nuances of what Vance was saying sink in. Jack could pack more story into a 200 page paperback than any other writer I have ever come across.
Well that is what I was reminded of when reading this book. There is so much going on and the world-building is so amazingly complex that I found myself going very slowly through the book (and loving every minute of it). Now when I say the world-building is complex, I don't want to give the impression that it is too difficult to follow. Not at all. I just mean it takes careful reading and doesn't lend itself well to skimming. Thus, I do not think this is an easy read but I do think it is incredibly worth-while.
Part of the reason the book worked so well for me (and maybe won't for others) is that the author focused on complex "ideas" "technologies" and "concepts" in his world-building without going into long winded, detailed explanations regarding the "science" behind them. Again, this is very much like Vance (and a lot of other classic "golden age" science fiction). For example, the incorporates into the narrative the concept that people can instantly access complete, detailed information on any person or subject through a multi-layered future version of the internet incorporated directly into their brain but doesn't spend five pages going through the scientific basis for the ability to do so. Again, big concepts without getting bogged down in the scientific explanations.
With all that said, I think the best way I could describe this book is a classic "golden age" science fiction story written for the 21st century and I have not come across anything similar in a long time. If you read it, definitely start with the first book, book:The Golden Age|207410], and make sure you are prepared to read at a slightly slower pace than you normally would. I think it is definitely worth the extra time. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!
The reason for this comparison to Vance is that, like Vance, the author generally used short, concise sentences and paragrpahs that carried A TON OF INFORMATION. Jack Vance could do as much world-building in a single paragraph as others would do in a whole chapter. I think the best way to describe Vance's prose when it comes to world-building is dense without a lot of flowery or excess descriptives. This dense, concise prose is what has always made Vance a wonderful (but very slow) read for me as I find I often have to re-read sentences and paragraphs to allow all the nuances of what Vance was saying sink in. Jack could pack more story into a 200 page paperback than any other writer I have ever come across.
Well that is what I was reminded of when reading this book. There is so much going on and the world-building is so amazingly complex that I found myself going very slowly through the book (and loving every minute of it). Now when I say the world-building is complex, I don't want to give the impression that it is too difficult to follow. Not at all. I just mean it takes careful reading and doesn't lend itself well to skimming. Thus, I do not think this is an easy read but I do think it is incredibly worth-while.
Part of the reason the book worked so well for me (and maybe won't for others) is that the author focused on complex "ideas" "technologies" and "concepts" in his world-building without going into long winded, detailed explanations regarding the "science" behind them. Again, this is very much like Vance (and a lot of other classic "golden age" science fiction). For example, the incorporates into the narrative the concept that people can instantly access complete, detailed information on any person or subject through a multi-layered future version of the internet incorporated directly into their brain but doesn't spend five pages going through the scientific basis for the ability to do so. Again, big concepts without getting bogged down in the scientific explanations.
With all that said, I think the best way I could describe this book is a classic "golden age" science fiction story written for the 21st century and I have not come across anything similar in a long time. If you read it, definitely start with the first book, book:The Golden Age|207410], and make sure you are prepared to read at a slightly slower pace than you normally would. I think it is definitely worth the extra time. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!
February 23, 2013
5 Stars
Wow, even though books one and two are extremely different novels in the Golden Age Series by John C. Wright, they both are equally amazing for very different reasons. Book one the Golden Age is very much a difficult to read hard science fiction mystery that unfolds slowly while showing us the inventions of the far future society. The Phoenix Exultant, book two in the series, is an intimate quest for our hero Phaetheon to reclaim is precious space ship while being a man of nothing.
After the events of book one Phaethon can trust no one, has no one, and has nothing. He is exiled and shunned and made into zero after being a Manor born rich. Wright does an amazing job at penning out how far he fell, how difficult his new life was, and made the risks out to be so final. One thing after another Phaethon is knocked down to the very bottom of the social ladder and hopelessness. Yet, his dream lives on, he persevere, he moves on, he plans out and executes the unthinkable. He triumphs in heart, in his mind, and for his life, in his soul.
I loved the change of pace that this story brought. I felt the weight of his desperation. I believed his paranoia. This is science fiction at its best. Even though book one needs to be given credit for its bold telling, I think that this is actually the better of the two novels.
What a world that Phaethon lives in!!! Nothing is really real, no one can be trusted, heck you cannot even trust your own recollections:
“"I conclude that the readings were tampered with."
"And your support for this conclusion is ... ?"
"Well, obviously the evil mind-virus tampered with them."
"Let me see if I understand this, young aristocrat. We live in a society where men can edit their brain-information at will, so that even their deepest thoughts, instincts, and convictions can be overwritten and rewritten, and no memories can be trusted. You find you have a memory of being attacked by a nonexistent mind-virus created by a nonexistent Sophotech from a long-dead colony. Upon examination, readings show the memory is false, and your conclusion is that your unbelievable, entirely absurd memories are true, and the readings showing them to be false are unreliable. Is that right?"
"That's right."”
Wow cool stuff!!!
===================================================
===================================================
Spoilers Ahead:
===================================================
===================================================
Finally, the ending is obvious from the get go and also from the title of the book, but boy did it work for me…I loved it. A quote that sums up the ending perfectly….definitely a spoiler. Phaethon talking to Atkins.
“"Come! I fear no Silent Oecumene, no dark swans from a dead star, no evil Sophotechs! I fear nothing. My heart is filled with fire; I have the strength of titans in me! Here all around us is my dream, come true in the form as I would have it, each erg of energy, each molecule and field of force fitted to my design; from prow to stern, keel to superstructure, this is all my thought made real; and made real to defy a world that has forgotten what that word 'real' once meant. Welcome aboard my ship, Marshal Atkins! We will face the foe together; we shall triumph, or perish with honor; that is my promise. Here is my hand on it."”
Fantastic, awesome, and just down right hard science fiction to love…My highest recommendations!
Wow, even though books one and two are extremely different novels in the Golden Age Series by John C. Wright, they both are equally amazing for very different reasons. Book one the Golden Age is very much a difficult to read hard science fiction mystery that unfolds slowly while showing us the inventions of the far future society. The Phoenix Exultant, book two in the series, is an intimate quest for our hero Phaetheon to reclaim is precious space ship while being a man of nothing.
After the events of book one Phaethon can trust no one, has no one, and has nothing. He is exiled and shunned and made into zero after being a Manor born rich. Wright does an amazing job at penning out how far he fell, how difficult his new life was, and made the risks out to be so final. One thing after another Phaethon is knocked down to the very bottom of the social ladder and hopelessness. Yet, his dream lives on, he persevere, he moves on, he plans out and executes the unthinkable. He triumphs in heart, in his mind, and for his life, in his soul.
I loved the change of pace that this story brought. I felt the weight of his desperation. I believed his paranoia. This is science fiction at its best. Even though book one needs to be given credit for its bold telling, I think that this is actually the better of the two novels.
What a world that Phaethon lives in!!! Nothing is really real, no one can be trusted, heck you cannot even trust your own recollections:
“"I conclude that the readings were tampered with."
"And your support for this conclusion is ... ?"
"Well, obviously the evil mind-virus tampered with them."
"Let me see if I understand this, young aristocrat. We live in a society where men can edit their brain-information at will, so that even their deepest thoughts, instincts, and convictions can be overwritten and rewritten, and no memories can be trusted. You find you have a memory of being attacked by a nonexistent mind-virus created by a nonexistent Sophotech from a long-dead colony. Upon examination, readings show the memory is false, and your conclusion is that your unbelievable, entirely absurd memories are true, and the readings showing them to be false are unreliable. Is that right?"
"That's right."”
Wow cool stuff!!!
===================================================
===================================================
Spoilers Ahead:
===================================================
===================================================
Finally, the ending is obvious from the get go and also from the title of the book, but boy did it work for me…I loved it. A quote that sums up the ending perfectly….definitely a spoiler. Phaethon talking to Atkins.
“"Come! I fear no Silent Oecumene, no dark swans from a dead star, no evil Sophotechs! I fear nothing. My heart is filled with fire; I have the strength of titans in me! Here all around us is my dream, come true in the form as I would have it, each erg of energy, each molecule and field of force fitted to my design; from prow to stern, keel to superstructure, this is all my thought made real; and made real to defy a world that has forgotten what that word 'real' once meant. Welcome aboard my ship, Marshal Atkins! We will face the foe together; we shall triumph, or perish with honor; that is my promise. Here is my hand on it."”
Fantastic, awesome, and just down right hard science fiction to love…My highest recommendations!
August 30, 2011
2.5 - 3
Wow, I was really disappointed with this one, especially considering how much I had enjoyed its predecessor. In many ways this just did not feel like a true continuation of the first book in the series. One of the major stumbling blocks for me was that I just couldn't believe the way Wright handled the voices he used for the characters in this volume. Considering his mannered and baroque set up in the previous volume I found the dialogue to be way too colloquial (and 20th cent. colloquial at that). Now maybe he was trying to show Phaeton 'stepping down' a level, both
socially due to his exile and intellectually due to his loss of certain artificial brain upgrades, but it really grated on me. Atkins and Daphne were also throwing around way too much colloquial verbiage in my humble opinion.
I also think Wright relied far too much on exposition for character actions and motives...he told us way more than he showed us, as if he felt he had to explain all of the details to us because we'd never figure it out for ourselves.
I understand that these characters are posthumans who are able to modify themselves in various ways, but it seemed like the character of Daphne became a completely differtent person. She goes from victim to hero in one mighty leap that has no explanation...I guess she must have downloaded the Nancy Drew persona since the last volume.
Ultimately, in looking back after I finished it, it seemed that not very much really *happened* in the course of the novel. Phaeton just acts more or less clueless and like a pompous ass and eventually finds the loopholes (and hidden allies) he needs thanks to the plot master (don't look behind the curtain!).
Certainly it wasn't all bad, but the sensawunda and deeper level of thought and execution of the first volume were missing for the most part.
Wow, I was really disappointed with this one, especially considering how much I had enjoyed its predecessor. In many ways this just did not feel like a true continuation of the first book in the series. One of the major stumbling blocks for me was that I just couldn't believe the way Wright handled the voices he used for the characters in this volume. Considering his mannered and baroque set up in the previous volume I found the dialogue to be way too colloquial (and 20th cent. colloquial at that). Now maybe he was trying to show Phaeton 'stepping down' a level, both
socially due to his exile and intellectually due to his loss of certain artificial brain upgrades, but it really grated on me. Atkins and Daphne were also throwing around way too much colloquial verbiage in my humble opinion.
I also think Wright relied far too much on exposition for character actions and motives...he told us way more than he showed us, as if he felt he had to explain all of the details to us because we'd never figure it out for ourselves.
I understand that these characters are posthumans who are able to modify themselves in various ways, but it seemed like the character of Daphne became a completely differtent person. She goes from victim to hero in one mighty leap that has no explanation...I guess she must have downloaded the Nancy Drew persona since the last volume.
Ultimately, in looking back after I finished it, it seemed that not very much really *happened* in the course of the novel. Phaeton just acts more or less clueless and like a pompous ass and eventually finds the loopholes (and hidden allies) he needs thanks to the plot master (don't look behind the curtain!).
Certainly it wasn't all bad, but the sensawunda and deeper level of thought and execution of the first volume were missing for the most part.
April 26, 2019
He retomado este libro para acabarlo, no sé si por orgullo, por dignidad o porque soy imbécil. Al menos ahora puedo decir, con propiedad, que esta es la peor mierda que he leído en mi vida (y he leído unas cuantas). Tal vez al señor Wright se le fue la cabeza, o puede que sencillamente le apeteciera reírse de sus lectores en la cara; sea cual fuere su intención, este amasijo antiliterario —tan pobremete concebido, estructurado y ejecutado— es una parodia, una bufonada, una burla. Todo lo que había de bueno en la primera parte, que tampoco era mucho, aquí desaparece por completo para transformarse en una especie de Piratas del Caribe con robots, o algo así. Hasta ahí llega mi reflexión. Lamento no aportar una crítica constructiva, pero prefiero ahorrar tiempo de vida por si algún día me da por leer la tercera parte.
March 3, 2012
This is the second novel of Wright's trilogy that is set in the far distant future. The first 150 pages are not too bad, then the author reverts to the excruciatingly-detailed, mind-numbing and meaningless descriptives that make the book so deadly. He also tries to introduce a romantic thread to the plot that can only be described as sappy. I have purchased the third book of the trilogy, but am reluctant to start reading it. The book, like the first one, is characterized by poor editing, although not as egregious. Not recommended!
April 4, 2015
I loved the first book from this trilogy, the golden age. Awesome sci-fi, imaginative, serious and consistent. This one was a deception. The girl turned the main character into an almost idiotic puppet. That almost killed the book. John C. Wright just don't seem not to know how to handle a girl in a history.
What a throwback on expectations!
What a throwback on expectations!
December 7, 2022
Okay, this is slightly better. Or maybe I'm just getting a little more patient in my old age.
When we last left our hero, the mythically named Phaethon, he had learned that some of his memories had been erased and that he had agreed to the erasing and that if he let his memories get unerased then everyone would hate him and he'd be exiled from society, broke and lonely. But although "I'd rather be rich and popular" is the answer people would give in real life, it doesn't make for good drama and so quicker than he can say "My name is a metaphor" it's revealed that he created a giant star-spanning craft, everyone freaked out because they were afraid he would venture into the stars and allow doom to find them and since conformist safety is the thing Wright wants us to be mad about Phaethon is convinced to abandon his principles and agreed to letting himself by neuralyzed or whatever (as well as a bunch of other people).
Now, if you want to interpret that as "he was too awesome for this society to allow his level of sheer awesomeness" that's . . . seemingly almost exactly how Wright wants you to perceive it, positioning Phaethon as the only bold man in a world of pudding soft people and thus he must be stopped. So his ship is taken, he's exiled, he discovers his wife would rather put herself into a coma than deal with him (ouch) . . . in fact he's exiled so hard that anyone who even talks to him or engages in even the most minor of commerce with him is also exiled.
And that's where we left him, walking down a space elevator the hard way with just two things that can help him . . . a very versatile set of armor and an overbearing level of confidence that borders on the obnoxious. Just kidding, its one hundred percent obnoxious.
With the basic setup finally out of the way (after Wright takes four hundred sometimes painful pages getting us to zero) this novel should feel a bit zippier and in the beginning it does. First of all its much shorter, barely scraping three hundred pages (and looking so strangely thin between the first and third volumes that it almost feels transitional) and second Phaethon has an actual goal here instead of doing the "fish or cut bait" thing from the last novel when deciding if he wanted his memories back. Here he's a little more focused . . . he's trying to get his ship back, figure out who is after him and maybe reverse his exile and convince his wife to love him again.
To do that he's cut off from almost every tool except what he has on him personally. With people shunning him left and right and cutting himself off from the Mentality because he's afraid there's a secret evil virus lurking there that might take him down he has to survive by his wits and when that fails sheer force of personality.
Wright changes the venue a bit here, which was probably for the best because the sheer barrage of characters that didn't make of an impression and the rather slippery at times backgrounds didn't make it very clear what everyone was supposed to be doing in this book . . . honestly you probably could have omitted all but four or five characters and not noticed much difference in the story. After his exile Phaethon lands on an island of exiles where he meets fellow misfit toys and tries to fit in by telling everyone constantly how much smarter he is than the rest of them.
Maybe I jest but that's not too far off from what really happens. Phaethon meets a bunch of people, learns that the rules of the land aren't totally in his favor and then proceeds to steamroll over everyone anyway because all he cares about is his big, beautiful ship. Its amusing in parts, I guess, to see the often high and mighty Phaethon taken down a peg or two but he's the kind of person that just wears you down because he never stops never stopping. Its fun in a way and maybe Wright is going for that Golden Age vibe of sheer exuberance but Phaethon almost completely lacks the charisma required to pull this off . . . more often than not he's pompous as all heck and most conversations are just him and someone else shouting cutesy giant paragraphs at each other that are alternating forms of complaints or "gotcha" statements.
As mentioned it does move a bit quicker than the previous novel but often it doesn't feel like Wright is really developing the scenario as opposed to just skimming a stone over it and hoping the inventiveness of what he's doing will carry the day. And it helps but I'm not sure its enough, not with Phaethon in the driver's seat. But since he's both the driver and the engine almost everything depends on him, for better or for worse. For most people a lot of it is going to come down to how much you buy into the idea of Phaethon as the put-upon innovator kept down by society because they can't handle his awesomeness and that his magic ship is the best contraption of all time and worth all the trouble that we've spent now two books on.
I'll be honest, I'm not totally there. The book does improve a bit when we shift things to his sort-of-wife Daphne (short version: his real wife is in a self-imposed dream world coma so they make a doll-person that looks like her and has all her memories to get around the fact that his actual wife is not around) who has the lioness' share of the charm that her sort-of-husband lacks. Madly in love with him because she has all the real Daphne's memories she comes across as helping because she genuinely cares about what happens to him (even as he caddishly keeps insisting she's not his wife) which is a welcome bit of humanity in a book where every paragraph is trying to out-important the paragraph before it.
This even ropes in Wright's version of OMAC, Atkins, who seems to handle all the defense and sometimes seems like Bugs Bunny pulling endless weapons out of his pants. Phaethon, Daphne and him wind up making up the core of the book and its only when all three of them are together that we start to feel like we're getting somewhere (though the most effective moment is Phaethon remember what happened to the Silent Oecumene, which is decently bizarre, at least it stood out for me).
Unfortunately Wright can't seem to get out of his own way and seems determined to kill his own momentum by having people debate just about any point for what feels like fifteen pages longer than it needs to be. We first get this when Phaethon and Daphne go back and forth over the use of some device for what feels like an endless period of time . . . Wright clearly thinks we're going to get more out of their semi-flirty banter than we actually do. Let's just say they're not about to hire him for the writing staff of a "Moonlighting" revival. Daphne's got some spunk, I suppose, but as the book goes on there's this vaguely unsettling undercurrent as this goes on that her primary motivation for everything is that she's in love with Phaethon and she wants him to love her back.
But it doesn’t matter who he's talking with (though Daphne has the annoying habit of speaking in parentheticals, which I find irritating in dialogue) because Phaethon seems to have this magic knack of throwing off the pacing of every scene, like a band that doesn't know when to leave the stage or is trying to kill time before the next act and so just keeps vamping until a point arrives almost accidentally (Atkins and Phaethon may be the biggest offenders here). He mostly speaks in declarations, which to be fair is kind of how everyone talks. Wright's dialogue is a little more bearable this time out but its hard to shake the feeling that if he had to listen to an audiotape of his own characters speaking his words there'd be little cartoon hearts floating around his head.
Still, its got at least two memorable scenes (which is, um, maybe two more than the last book) . . . the aforementioned Silent Oecumene Origin Scene and a later confrontation with someone who may be an actual enemy (Wright does almost ruin this by putting in Daphne in pointless danger and then dragging it out). Its got some clever moments and a little more of a direction than the first book. I still find it hard to shake the feeling that Phaethon isn't really earning this and its more that obstacles are falling out of his way because everyone is now openly acknowledging his awesomeness . . . I'm also not on board with his ship being self-evidently amazing and that a stupid spaceship is worth all this fuss. There are times when it seems like Wright is positioning Phaethon and whoever joins him as the Last Real Men that have the stones to do what it takes to save civilization and bring it to the next level, which . . . okay?
Despite all that I wasn't bored this time out or felt like Wright was battering me with how clever and smart all this is (don't get me wrong, he's still doing it but its not as prominent here or at least was drowned out by what I didn't mind). I'm not about to join all the reviewers who apparently felt it was the only SF novel worth reading that year but there are patches in this book where if you squint just right you can start to see how they were dazzled. I'm apparently less easy to impress and while I can admire the book in parts it still feels like a bunch of influences in search of a story, too convinced of its own amazingness to really draw you in. Think of it as a Beatles cover band that believes they're better than the real thing and is convinced that everyone is there to hear how they improved the songs. Yeah, people might be enjoying the show but its more due to the foundations and not because everyone's minds are blown when you added zithers and kazoos on top of the melodies.
When we last left our hero, the mythically named Phaethon, he had learned that some of his memories had been erased and that he had agreed to the erasing and that if he let his memories get unerased then everyone would hate him and he'd be exiled from society, broke and lonely. But although "I'd rather be rich and popular" is the answer people would give in real life, it doesn't make for good drama and so quicker than he can say "My name is a metaphor" it's revealed that he created a giant star-spanning craft, everyone freaked out because they were afraid he would venture into the stars and allow doom to find them and since conformist safety is the thing Wright wants us to be mad about Phaethon is convinced to abandon his principles and agreed to letting himself by neuralyzed or whatever (as well as a bunch of other people).
Now, if you want to interpret that as "he was too awesome for this society to allow his level of sheer awesomeness" that's . . . seemingly almost exactly how Wright wants you to perceive it, positioning Phaethon as the only bold man in a world of pudding soft people and thus he must be stopped. So his ship is taken, he's exiled, he discovers his wife would rather put herself into a coma than deal with him (ouch) . . . in fact he's exiled so hard that anyone who even talks to him or engages in even the most minor of commerce with him is also exiled.
And that's where we left him, walking down a space elevator the hard way with just two things that can help him . . . a very versatile set of armor and an overbearing level of confidence that borders on the obnoxious. Just kidding, its one hundred percent obnoxious.
With the basic setup finally out of the way (after Wright takes four hundred sometimes painful pages getting us to zero) this novel should feel a bit zippier and in the beginning it does. First of all its much shorter, barely scraping three hundred pages (and looking so strangely thin between the first and third volumes that it almost feels transitional) and second Phaethon has an actual goal here instead of doing the "fish or cut bait" thing from the last novel when deciding if he wanted his memories back. Here he's a little more focused . . . he's trying to get his ship back, figure out who is after him and maybe reverse his exile and convince his wife to love him again.
To do that he's cut off from almost every tool except what he has on him personally. With people shunning him left and right and cutting himself off from the Mentality because he's afraid there's a secret evil virus lurking there that might take him down he has to survive by his wits and when that fails sheer force of personality.
Wright changes the venue a bit here, which was probably for the best because the sheer barrage of characters that didn't make of an impression and the rather slippery at times backgrounds didn't make it very clear what everyone was supposed to be doing in this book . . . honestly you probably could have omitted all but four or five characters and not noticed much difference in the story. After his exile Phaethon lands on an island of exiles where he meets fellow misfit toys and tries to fit in by telling everyone constantly how much smarter he is than the rest of them.
Maybe I jest but that's not too far off from what really happens. Phaethon meets a bunch of people, learns that the rules of the land aren't totally in his favor and then proceeds to steamroll over everyone anyway because all he cares about is his big, beautiful ship. Its amusing in parts, I guess, to see the often high and mighty Phaethon taken down a peg or two but he's the kind of person that just wears you down because he never stops never stopping. Its fun in a way and maybe Wright is going for that Golden Age vibe of sheer exuberance but Phaethon almost completely lacks the charisma required to pull this off . . . more often than not he's pompous as all heck and most conversations are just him and someone else shouting cutesy giant paragraphs at each other that are alternating forms of complaints or "gotcha" statements.
As mentioned it does move a bit quicker than the previous novel but often it doesn't feel like Wright is really developing the scenario as opposed to just skimming a stone over it and hoping the inventiveness of what he's doing will carry the day. And it helps but I'm not sure its enough, not with Phaethon in the driver's seat. But since he's both the driver and the engine almost everything depends on him, for better or for worse. For most people a lot of it is going to come down to how much you buy into the idea of Phaethon as the put-upon innovator kept down by society because they can't handle his awesomeness and that his magic ship is the best contraption of all time and worth all the trouble that we've spent now two books on.
I'll be honest, I'm not totally there. The book does improve a bit when we shift things to his sort-of-wife Daphne (short version: his real wife is in a self-imposed dream world coma so they make a doll-person that looks like her and has all her memories to get around the fact that his actual wife is not around) who has the lioness' share of the charm that her sort-of-husband lacks. Madly in love with him because she has all the real Daphne's memories she comes across as helping because she genuinely cares about what happens to him (even as he caddishly keeps insisting she's not his wife) which is a welcome bit of humanity in a book where every paragraph is trying to out-important the paragraph before it.
This even ropes in Wright's version of OMAC, Atkins, who seems to handle all the defense and sometimes seems like Bugs Bunny pulling endless weapons out of his pants. Phaethon, Daphne and him wind up making up the core of the book and its only when all three of them are together that we start to feel like we're getting somewhere (though the most effective moment is Phaethon remember what happened to the Silent Oecumene, which is decently bizarre, at least it stood out for me).
Unfortunately Wright can't seem to get out of his own way and seems determined to kill his own momentum by having people debate just about any point for what feels like fifteen pages longer than it needs to be. We first get this when Phaethon and Daphne go back and forth over the use of some device for what feels like an endless period of time . . . Wright clearly thinks we're going to get more out of their semi-flirty banter than we actually do. Let's just say they're not about to hire him for the writing staff of a "Moonlighting" revival. Daphne's got some spunk, I suppose, but as the book goes on there's this vaguely unsettling undercurrent as this goes on that her primary motivation for everything is that she's in love with Phaethon and she wants him to love her back.
But it doesn’t matter who he's talking with (though Daphne has the annoying habit of speaking in parentheticals, which I find irritating in dialogue) because Phaethon seems to have this magic knack of throwing off the pacing of every scene, like a band that doesn't know when to leave the stage or is trying to kill time before the next act and so just keeps vamping until a point arrives almost accidentally (Atkins and Phaethon may be the biggest offenders here). He mostly speaks in declarations, which to be fair is kind of how everyone talks. Wright's dialogue is a little more bearable this time out but its hard to shake the feeling that if he had to listen to an audiotape of his own characters speaking his words there'd be little cartoon hearts floating around his head.
Still, its got at least two memorable scenes (which is, um, maybe two more than the last book) . . . the aforementioned Silent Oecumene Origin Scene and a later confrontation with someone who may be an actual enemy (Wright does almost ruin this by putting in Daphne in pointless danger and then dragging it out). Its got some clever moments and a little more of a direction than the first book. I still find it hard to shake the feeling that Phaethon isn't really earning this and its more that obstacles are falling out of his way because everyone is now openly acknowledging his awesomeness . . . I'm also not on board with his ship being self-evidently amazing and that a stupid spaceship is worth all this fuss. There are times when it seems like Wright is positioning Phaethon and whoever joins him as the Last Real Men that have the stones to do what it takes to save civilization and bring it to the next level, which . . . okay?
Despite all that I wasn't bored this time out or felt like Wright was battering me with how clever and smart all this is (don't get me wrong, he's still doing it but its not as prominent here or at least was drowned out by what I didn't mind). I'm not about to join all the reviewers who apparently felt it was the only SF novel worth reading that year but there are patches in this book where if you squint just right you can start to see how they were dazzled. I'm apparently less easy to impress and while I can admire the book in parts it still feels like a bunch of influences in search of a story, too convinced of its own amazingness to really draw you in. Think of it as a Beatles cover band that believes they're better than the real thing and is convinced that everyone is there to hear how they improved the songs. Yeah, people might be enjoying the show but its more due to the foundations and not because everyone's minds are blown when you added zithers and kazoos on top of the melodies.
November 27, 2009
Everytime i pick up this book, I think why aren't i reading this faster? i don't know cause i should be, this is the most intricate world i've ever encountered in a book and the way i keep putting it down for days at a time is really taking away from the experience. I'm having a hard time keeping some of the Sophotechs, Invariants and other characters of the Oecumene and what their stance is straight. i've never had this problem with a book in my life if that gives anyone a bit of an idea of how intricate this series is. I don't think it would be a problem if i was actually reading some of it everyday.
This trilogy really is a masterpiece, the lengths this man went to to create this universe is staggering. That's not to say that the storyline is perfect, because it isn't, but i feel that this may become a SciFi classic someday.
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Ok, i'm finished this second book in the Golden Age trilogy. This was pretty much a direct continuation of the events that began in book 1, The Golden Age, and Wright's world continues to be as intricate and mind-binding as it began.
I was loving it at least as much as the Golden Age, if not more, until about a bit over halfway through when there was at least 60 friggin' pages of him and the copy of his wife Daphne talking about (without giving to much away) him using an object she has brought him, that everything hinges on the outcome of, while it is right there in his hand pretty much. All i could think was- what the hell?! use the thing already. It drove me nuts. Towards the end, the dialogue, which always felt a bit pompous, became even more so. I can't deny, however that this is a wholly original, masterfully thought out series and i will probably end up reading the last book
This trilogy really is a masterpiece, the lengths this man went to to create this universe is staggering. That's not to say that the storyline is perfect, because it isn't, but i feel that this may become a SciFi classic someday.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok, i'm finished this second book in the Golden Age trilogy. This was pretty much a direct continuation of the events that began in book 1, The Golden Age, and Wright's world continues to be as intricate and mind-binding as it began.
I was loving it at least as much as the Golden Age, if not more, until about a bit over halfway through when there was at least 60 friggin' pages of him and the copy of his wife Daphne talking about (without giving to much away) him using an object she has brought him, that everything hinges on the outcome of, while it is right there in his hand pretty much. All i could think was- what the hell?! use the thing already. It drove me nuts. Towards the end, the dialogue, which always felt a bit pompous, became even more so. I can't deny, however that this is a wholly original, masterfully thought out series and i will probably end up reading the last book
March 30, 2008
First off, if you haven't read Wright's The Golden Age, just buy it. You could read Phoenix Exultant without having read it, but you would just be cutting yourself short on one of the most creative, visionary, and exciting science fiction trilogies.
Phoenix starts out right exactly where Golden Age stops. And pretty much just keeps plowing ahead. That may have sounded a little monotonous, but let me assure you Wright's epic is anything but. The most amazing aspect of Wright's writing, in my mind, is how he can cultivate a conflict and conspiracy, an enemy and allies that continue to evolve throughout this book and into the next one.
This book, to me, was one adventure right after the next with hardly any downtime in between. It's pretty much nonstop from start to finish. Mixing the movement of the plot with the action, you also have the zany but strangely familiar world Wright has created.What is so beautiful about this book, about the entire trilogy, is that the true conflict of the story lies in the impact of the technology of this future on mankind. That is the essential nature of science fiction.
So do I recommend it? Absolutely, especially if you like science fiction - but I highly recommend reading Golden Age first, and I'd even recommend trying to have Golden Transcendence on hand as well. That way you don't have to wait at all to continue the story.
Phoenix starts out right exactly where Golden Age stops. And pretty much just keeps plowing ahead. That may have sounded a little monotonous, but let me assure you Wright's epic is anything but. The most amazing aspect of Wright's writing, in my mind, is how he can cultivate a conflict and conspiracy, an enemy and allies that continue to evolve throughout this book and into the next one.
This book, to me, was one adventure right after the next with hardly any downtime in between. It's pretty much nonstop from start to finish. Mixing the movement of the plot with the action, you also have the zany but strangely familiar world Wright has created.What is so beautiful about this book, about the entire trilogy, is that the true conflict of the story lies in the impact of the technology of this future on mankind. That is the essential nature of science fiction.
So do I recommend it? Absolutely, especially if you like science fiction - but I highly recommend reading Golden Age first, and I'd even recommend trying to have Golden Transcendence on hand as well. That way you don't have to wait at all to continue the story.
January 12, 2017
Science fiction is usual
August 18, 2019
Secondo volume del ciclo "L'Età dell'Oro".
Purtroppo il primo volume lo lessi anni fa, e riagganciare mentalmente tutti gli eventi non è stato facile, considerando soprattuto la complessità della storia.
Si tratta di un'ottima space opera, con moltissimi elementi "ipercyberpunk" (se mi passate il termine).
L'intreccio è assolutamente cervellotico: intelligenze artificiali, falsi ricordi, nanomacchinari capaci di plasmare pseudomateriali, scuole di pensiero che si confrontano in una realtà futura così estrema che risulta abbastanza difficile trovare dei contatti con la "nostra" realtà.
Nel complesso comunque un ottimo romanzo, dal ritmo serrato e un grande respiro.
Purtroppo il primo volume lo lessi anni fa, e riagganciare mentalmente tutti gli eventi non è stato facile, considerando soprattuto la complessità della storia.
Si tratta di un'ottima space opera, con moltissimi elementi "ipercyberpunk" (se mi passate il termine).
L'intreccio è assolutamente cervellotico: intelligenze artificiali, falsi ricordi, nanomacchinari capaci di plasmare pseudomateriali, scuole di pensiero che si confrontano in una realtà futura così estrema che risulta abbastanza difficile trovare dei contatti con la "nostra" realtà.
Nel complesso comunque un ottimo romanzo, dal ritmo serrato e un grande respiro.
June 20, 2021
Before writing a review, I will read the next and last book of the trilogy, The Golden Transcendence. My review of this book is similar to my review of the last book, The Golden Age, but I will add that the few brief and light bits of romance in the book enrich the story; they speak to the seats of love in our brain and make us feel a little bit more, which is a good thing. Lust free, the characters are noble and wise, the exchanges and the brief debates cause me to think and would make for decent discussion topics in a reading group, theoretically.
September 18, 2022
If only this author had ever felt the touch of a woman
October 31, 2014
‘The verve of SF’s golden age writers is reborn in The Phoenix Exultant, a grand and stirring fulfilment of the promise shown in The Golden Age that confirms John c Wright as a bright new star of science fiction.
Phaethon of Radamanthus House has been exiled, his ship confiscated. He embarks upon a quest across the transformed solar system among humans, intelligent machines, and bizarre life forms. For the first time in his centuries-long life, he must look reality in the face, without a layer of computer-applied glamour.
Now Phaethon discovers the tarnished underbelly of the shining utopia he took for granted, as he is forced to deal with the only people who can do business, or even talk, with him, his fellow exiles.
Somehow, with or without their help, he must recover his memory, regain his place in society, and move that society away from stagnation. That, he hopes to do, by reclaiming his magnificent ship, the Phoenix Exultant, and flying her to the stars.’
Blurb from the October 2003 Tor paperback edition
In this, the second volume of ‘The Golden Age’ Wright continues his tour-de-force widescreen baroque epic of a future civilisation where being human is as vague a concept as one could possibly imagine. Immortality is available to all, since back-up copies of one’s mind and memories can be stored in case of fatal accident, although even the concept of a personality defined by one’s memories becomes a grey area in Wright’s world since memories can be edited (in some cases without one even knowing) which makes the definition of reality itself somewhat hazy.
Many beings have opted for Humodification, in which their bodies (and/or minds) have been changed or augmented beyond recognition. Others exist in gestalt form, sharing their minds with a myriad of others as a single consciousness.
Our hero Phaethon’s ship has been confiscated and he has been exiled from the Oecumene (as the civilisation is known) and is being ignored by all on pain of them suffering the same fate. He has been advised by one of the AIs of the civilisation to head for Ceylon, an island inhabited by exiles, which is ruled quite literally with an iron hand by a cyborg called Ironjoy.
The plot twists and turns, baffling and dazzling the reader with its red herrings, its gloriously realised technologies and the complex logical possibilities inherent in a world where one cannot trust one’s own memories.
The characters of Daphne and Atkins (who is a single immortal embodiment of the armed forces) return in order to aid Phaethon in his quest to a) prove that an insidious intelligence from beyond our Solar System has invaded the Oecumene, b) reclaim his fabulous ship ‘The Phoenix Exultant’ and c) save the Universe.
Apart from anything else, the text is laced with a sly humour, and one cannot help but wish to exist in this strange, multi-layered culture at once light years away from our own experiences and yet, in essence, very similar.
Phaethon of Radamanthus House has been exiled, his ship confiscated. He embarks upon a quest across the transformed solar system among humans, intelligent machines, and bizarre life forms. For the first time in his centuries-long life, he must look reality in the face, without a layer of computer-applied glamour.
Now Phaethon discovers the tarnished underbelly of the shining utopia he took for granted, as he is forced to deal with the only people who can do business, or even talk, with him, his fellow exiles.
Somehow, with or without their help, he must recover his memory, regain his place in society, and move that society away from stagnation. That, he hopes to do, by reclaiming his magnificent ship, the Phoenix Exultant, and flying her to the stars.’
Blurb from the October 2003 Tor paperback edition
In this, the second volume of ‘The Golden Age’ Wright continues his tour-de-force widescreen baroque epic of a future civilisation where being human is as vague a concept as one could possibly imagine. Immortality is available to all, since back-up copies of one’s mind and memories can be stored in case of fatal accident, although even the concept of a personality defined by one’s memories becomes a grey area in Wright’s world since memories can be edited (in some cases without one even knowing) which makes the definition of reality itself somewhat hazy.
Many beings have opted for Humodification, in which their bodies (and/or minds) have been changed or augmented beyond recognition. Others exist in gestalt form, sharing their minds with a myriad of others as a single consciousness.
Our hero Phaethon’s ship has been confiscated and he has been exiled from the Oecumene (as the civilisation is known) and is being ignored by all on pain of them suffering the same fate. He has been advised by one of the AIs of the civilisation to head for Ceylon, an island inhabited by exiles, which is ruled quite literally with an iron hand by a cyborg called Ironjoy.
The plot twists and turns, baffling and dazzling the reader with its red herrings, its gloriously realised technologies and the complex logical possibilities inherent in a world where one cannot trust one’s own memories.
The characters of Daphne and Atkins (who is a single immortal embodiment of the armed forces) return in order to aid Phaethon in his quest to a) prove that an insidious intelligence from beyond our Solar System has invaded the Oecumene, b) reclaim his fabulous ship ‘The Phoenix Exultant’ and c) save the Universe.
Apart from anything else, the text is laced with a sly humour, and one cannot help but wish to exist in this strange, multi-layered culture at once light years away from our own experiences and yet, in essence, very similar.
August 10, 2016
started reading this after finishing The Post-Birthday World and after giving up on Zen and the Art of Poker (tiresome and bad); a short interlude where i blazed through The God Delusion also.
Not thrilled with this story; a bit annoying with all the misspelled names and stuff, but also i just don't care that much about Phaethon or his "doll wife" or anything else; i think i'd rather cheer for the Silent Oecumene people and Nothing Sophotech, so i've abandoned them and don't expect to read "the payoff novel" in this trilogy nor do i ever expect to care.
Not thrilled with this story; a bit annoying with all the misspelled names and stuff, but also i just don't care that much about Phaethon or his "doll wife" or anything else; i think i'd rather cheer for the Silent Oecumene people and Nothing Sophotech, so i've abandoned them and don't expect to read "the payoff novel" in this trilogy nor do i ever expect to care.
June 16, 2009
Part two of The Golden Age has come and gone for me. I was not as impressed with this book, though it keeps throwing out interesting ideas about the future almost constantly.
This is act two, when the events that will rise to grand importance in act three are established. I found this to be a worthy middle to this story.
However, if John C. Wright doesn't manage to absolutely nail the ending, I'm going to be massively disappointed.
Also, towards the end of The Phoenix Exultant, the story became a bit too snarky for its own good, with the reintroduction of Daphne (Phaethon's wife, sort of). Some rather silly bits of her explaining the nature of Phaethon's own character, and why he must succeed...I don't know. Didn't sit right with me.
This book ends with Phaethon boarding his ship and preparing to take on his invisible enemies, so I assume the next book will have some awesome space battles. Fingers crossed!
This is act two, when the events that will rise to grand importance in act three are established. I found this to be a worthy middle to this story.
However, if John C. Wright doesn't manage to absolutely nail the ending, I'm going to be massively disappointed.
Also, towards the end of The Phoenix Exultant, the story became a bit too snarky for its own good, with the reintroduction of Daphne (Phaethon's wife, sort of). Some rather silly bits of her explaining the nature of Phaethon's own character, and why he must succeed...I don't know. Didn't sit right with me.
This book ends with Phaethon boarding his ship and preparing to take on his invisible enemies, so I assume the next book will have some awesome space battles. Fingers crossed!
January 24, 2015
In many ways this is sci-fi as it should be, heady, teaming with exciting ideas, mind-blowing technology, and a far-future vision of humanity that feels both compelling and somewhat inescapable. Hard sci-fi fans and fans of Singularity sci-fi will find the series great food for the mind as I remarked when reviewing the first book in the series. And anyone interested in writing about a tech-saturated future for humanity would be ill-advised to skip this series.
For all of that, I found this second installment, much like the first, captured my mind a lot better than it captured my heart. And went down sort of like doing homework for an upcoming term-paper; despite feeling rather obligatory, I just didn’t find it all that much fun.
All the same, you’ll find more ideas here, if you’re a sci-fi writer, that you’ll have to come to terms with than you might well find in a dozen other sci-fi books. One more reason to think seriously about jumping in.
For all of that, I found this second installment, much like the first, captured my mind a lot better than it captured my heart. And went down sort of like doing homework for an upcoming term-paper; despite feeling rather obligatory, I just didn’t find it all that much fun.
All the same, you’ll find more ideas here, if you’re a sci-fi writer, that you’ll have to come to terms with than you might well find in a dozen other sci-fi books. One more reason to think seriously about jumping in.
February 6, 2017
Phaeton está en el exilio, condenado al ostracismo por toda la civilización que conoce, pero sigue firme en sus planes de recuperar su nave, la Phoenix Exultant. Y va a encontrar aliados inesperados en su búsqueda de la verdad detrás de la aparente conspiración a la que se enfrenta.
Buena continuación de The Golden Age, lleva la historia a su culminación en The Golden Transcendence
Buena continuación de The Golden Age, lleva la historia a su culminación en The Golden Transcendence
December 12, 2014
The Phoenix Exultant, the second book of a trilogy, fails to build on the intricate world of the The Golden Age. There is some interesting science fiction but it is lost in a story mired by shallow characters, an egregious romance and tedious techno-babble.
May 27, 2018
It's great, amazing second part of an incredible trilogy. Start with the first book, and you'll be hooked. This sequel has a faster pace and some story elements are stronger than in the first one.
In short, do I recommend it? Absolutely.
In short, do I recommend it? Absolutely.
October 10, 2016
"Occam's razor forbids us from adopting theories that require us to postulate unreal entities, such as, for example, the existence of conscience, noble dreams"
November 27, 2021
Magnifica continuación!!! Que placer leer este libro esta vez se me hizo demasiado corto, necesito más.
En esta segunda entrega se profundiza en la otra cara de la ecuneme, al fin vemos que hay "pobres" y planetas terxermundistas por asi decirlo, me recordó mucho a la diferencia actual entre mi país y las naciones del primer mundo...talvez siempre haya disparidad incluso en utopias .
Me encantó el persona de Dafne que tuvo un papel decisivo ahora y tambien Atkins que cada vez tiene mas protagonismo, seguro en el siguiente libro logrará su mayor desarrollo.
Todo cobra sentido en este libro que da muchas respuestas a los sucesos que parecian aislados en el primer libro, el desarrollo ha sido agil y directo, nada de relleno ni extender el numero de paginas innecesariamente, muy buena edicion.
Altamente recomendable para cualquier amante de la ciencia ficcion, aun estoy en duda si este libro llega a la altura de mi favorita hyperion, en definitiva creo que es mejor que Endymion pero tendré que esperar al final a ver si supera la primera trilogia...
En esta segunda entrega se profundiza en la otra cara de la ecuneme, al fin vemos que hay "pobres" y planetas terxermundistas por asi decirlo, me recordó mucho a la diferencia actual entre mi país y las naciones del primer mundo...talvez siempre haya disparidad incluso en utopias .
Me encantó el persona de Dafne que tuvo un papel decisivo ahora y tambien Atkins que cada vez tiene mas protagonismo, seguro en el siguiente libro logrará su mayor desarrollo.
Todo cobra sentido en este libro que da muchas respuestas a los sucesos que parecian aislados en el primer libro, el desarrollo ha sido agil y directo, nada de relleno ni extender el numero de paginas innecesariamente, muy buena edicion.
Altamente recomendable para cualquier amante de la ciencia ficcion, aun estoy en duda si este libro llega a la altura de mi favorita hyperion, en definitiva creo que es mejor que Endymion pero tendré que esperar al final a ver si supera la primera trilogia...
March 25, 2023
I really enjoyed this installment, even if I did not enjoy it quite as much as the first volume. Middle volumes of trilogies often constitute some measure of stalling, and there was some of that here. But the world and personalities that Wright created grew on me. I continued to enjoy the author's humor and erudition.
I was pleasantly shocked by the times when the author deliberately let slip some arch-conservative views. Sci-fi authors and readers have tilted pretty far to the left since the late sixties. My mouth fell open when I read something like "Most poor people are poor because they don't work hard"! I found this delightfully transgressive. When I read such things, it is like reading a more sophisticated and less preachy version of Heinlein.
I decided to take a break after finishing this volume. I got a few pages into another book and immediately missed Wright's lightheartedness. So now, 24 hours later, I am 100 pages into the third volume of Wright's trilogy....
I was pleasantly shocked by the times when the author deliberately let slip some arch-conservative views. Sci-fi authors and readers have tilted pretty far to the left since the late sixties. My mouth fell open when I read something like "Most poor people are poor because they don't work hard"! I found this delightfully transgressive. When I read such things, it is like reading a more sophisticated and less preachy version of Heinlein.
I decided to take a break after finishing this volume. I got a few pages into another book and immediately missed Wright's lightheartedness. So now, 24 hours later, I am 100 pages into the third volume of Wright's trilogy....
August 1, 2022
Aunque el poder imaginativo de Wright sigue tirando la caña aquí y allá, el mayor valor de esta serie, o sea, la riqueza de detalles y la fascinación y coherencia de un escenario conformado por viejas y nuevas ideas excelentemente entreveradas, comienza a perder terreno ante una trama que en esta segunda parte sube el discurso y estanca la acción en un solo lugar durante gran parte de la novela. Se narran las aventuras del protagonista en su descenso a los arrabales de la Ecumene Dorada, una isla de parias llamada Talaimannar.
Wright presenta una utopía alejada de los ideales clásicos del género, informatizada, cambiada por la tecnología, alejada de las clásicas formulaciones de la ciencia ficción y cargada de un trasfondo político y social que, dependiendo del tipo de lector que se sea, le coloca a uno la mosca tras la oreja ante lo que pueda venir en la tercera parte.
Wright presenta una utopía alejada de los ideales clásicos del género, informatizada, cambiada por la tecnología, alejada de las clásicas formulaciones de la ciencia ficción y cargada de un trasfondo político y social que, dependiendo del tipo de lector que se sea, le coloca a uno la mosca tras la oreja ante lo que pueda venir en la tercera parte.
May 30, 2019
While I enjoyed this second volume, I did not find it as well written as the first one. I think what threw me off was mostly the way Daphné was being portrayed. In the first volume, I remember her being much more mature and well-thought. In this second volume, she comes across as less sophisticated.
As for the storyline, it felt like many things happened, but did not at the same time, as most of the book takes places in the same location.
I think that the overemphasis in discussing all the little details about the armor and nanotechnology did not leave a lot of space for deepening the story line.
Looking forward to read the next one though.
As for the storyline, it felt like many things happened, but did not at the same time, as most of the book takes places in the same location.
I think that the overemphasis in discussing all the little details about the armor and nanotechnology did not leave a lot of space for deepening the story line.
Looking forward to read the next one though.
March 9, 2022
This sequel to "The Golden Age" is better than the first entry in the series. The character of Daphne in particular is a welcome breath of fresh air. Phaethon attempts first to simply survive his exile from civilization, and then to build plans to regain what he has lost. But even his own memories are not trustworthy, to say nothing of the other lost souls he must ally himself with.
My main dislike of the book is the rather detailed ghoulishness of the antagonist.
Language: PG
Violence: PG-13
Sexuality: PG
My main dislike of the book is the rather detailed ghoulishness of the antagonist.
Language: PG
Violence: PG-13
Sexuality: PG
March 25, 2022
Una continuación probablemente necesaria. El primer libro deja todo abierto y evidencia que la constitución de la trilogía pasa por un único libro. Así y todo, la segunda parte resulta bastante peor.
Ya no asombra de la misma manera. Suena casi todo a repetición, y aunque se sigue con mayor facilidad (la inmersión del primer libro hizo su trabajo), acaba fatigando. Además, el tufillo político que desprende a mí me aleja un poco más.
Por suerte, el mundo de “La edad de oro" tiene carrete para este segundo libro. Merece la pena, pero se encuentra a años luz del primero.
enlace
Ya no asombra de la misma manera. Suena casi todo a repetición, y aunque se sigue con mayor facilidad (la inmersión del primer libro hizo su trabajo), acaba fatigando. Además, el tufillo político que desprende a mí me aleja un poco más.
Por suerte, el mundo de “La edad de oro" tiene carrete para este segundo libro. Merece la pena, pero se encuentra a años luz del primero.
enlace
May 6, 2022
This sequel to "The Golden Age" is better than the first entry in the series. The character of Daphne in particular is a welcome breath of fresh air. Phaethon attempts first to simply survive his exile from civilization, and then to build plans to regain what he has lost. But even his own memories are not trustworthy, to say nothing of the other lost souls he must ally himself with.
My main dislike of the book is the rather detailed ghoulishness of the antagonist.
Language: PG
Violence: PG-13
Sexuality: PG
My main dislike of the book is the rather detailed ghoulishness of the antagonist.
Language: PG
Violence: PG-13
Sexuality: PG
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