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Fourth Realm #3
The Golden City
A world that exists in the shadow of our own . . . the thrilling conclusion to John Twelve Hawks's Fourth Realm trilogy, The Golden City is packed with the knife-edge tension, intriguing characters, and startling plot twists that made The Traveler and The Dark Rive r international hits. John Twelve Hawks's previous novels about the mystical Travelers and the Brethren, their ruthless enemies, generated an extraordinary following around the world. The Washington Post wrote that The Traveler “portrays a Big Brother with powers far beyond anything Orwell could imagine . . .” and Publishers Weekly hailed the series as “a saga that's part A Wrinkle in Time , part The Matrix and part Kurosawa epic.” Internet chat rooms and blogs have overflowed with speculation about the final destiny of the richly imagined characters fighting an epic battle beneath the surface of our modern world.In The Golden City , Twelve Hawks delivers the climax to his spellbinding epic. Struggling to protect the legacy of his Traveler father, Gabriel faces troubling new questions and relentless threats. His brother Michael, now firmly allied with the enemy, pursues his ambition to wrest power from Nathan Boone, the calculating leader of the Brethren. And Maya, the Harlequin warrior pledged to protect Gabriel at all costs, is forced to make a choice that will change her life forever.A riveting blend of high-tech thriller and fast-paced adventure, The Golden City will delight Twelve Hawks's many fans and attract a new audience to the entire trilogy.
358 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
72 people are currently reading
1771 people want to read
About the author
John Twelve Hawks
17 books594 followersJohn Twelve Hawks aka J12H/JXIIH.
His real identity is unknown. He communicates using the internet and an untraceable phone and has never met his editor.
Several guesses have been made regarding his identity: that he was Thomas Pynchon, Dan Brown, or Steve Hawking among others...
His real identity is unknown. He communicates using the internet and an untraceable phone and has never met his editor.
Several guesses have been made regarding his identity: that he was Thomas Pynchon, Dan Brown, or Steve Hawking among others...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 374 reviews
September 29, 2009
If this hadn't been a library book, I would have thrown it against a wall very hard. I was so disappointed by the "end" of this trilogy. The Traveler was great, a truly wonderful book. The Dark River was a logical carry-on of The Traveler, and from the beginning of The Traveler, the reader is told that it's a trilogy so you kind of expect a red-headed stepchild of a book as the 2nd in the trilogy, which is what The Dark River was. Some parts were heartbreaking, captivating....but bottom line, The Golden City was a huge let-down from what I thought was an extremely promising author. I won't give away any spoilers, but if you've read the Traveler and liked it, let the story end there. It's not worth the other two books to continue with the way this thing ends. It became so predictable and read more like a screenplay than a book, which leads me to believe that they're going to turn it into some Hollywood drivel. I"m a bit bitter after the end of this book tonight because I had such high hopes for it. Time for me to go back to the MASTERS of dystopia, not this guy. Unless he writes independent novels, I'm not going to read him anymore, because he is incapable of ending ANYTHING.
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August 6, 2011The first part - The Traveller - is truly a masterpiece. I had mixed feelings about the second part, but there is hardly a novel I've been more eager to recieve than this one - with the probable exception of Harry Potter 7, I guess. Anyway - there are enough good reviews about the content. I was...well.. maybe I've read it too fast, rushed on too much, but I had the feeling that everything was just too easy in the end, things fell to easily in place.
John Twelve Hawks wanted to make a point, and he makes an excellent, scary, frightening one, but from a storytelling point of view, this conclusion felt like a disappointment.
An almost all-out omnipotent organisation being defeatet so easily, one of the bogeymen discovering his conscience so handily just tasted too much like tv movie plot reasoning - the killer has to be found before the next advertisement kind of thing, or a movie where there just are too many convenient chances...
So - all in all: you really, really, really should read the first book. Then feel free to read the rest, but that's optional.
John Twelve Hawks wanted to make a point, and he makes an excellent, scary, frightening one, but from a storytelling point of view, this conclusion felt like a disappointment.
An almost all-out omnipotent organisation being defeatet so easily, one of the bogeymen discovering his conscience so handily just tasted too much like tv movie plot reasoning - the killer has to be found before the next advertisement kind of thing, or a movie where there just are too many convenient chances...
So - all in all: you really, really, really should read the first book. Then feel free to read the rest, but that's optional.
August 17, 2010
The conclusion to a BRILLIANT trilogy, The Golden City was my least favourite of the series.
The first two were breathtakingly brilliant and this one was just okay.
There are two and a half reason why this one did not match up to the first two:
1) The story was not told from Maya's perspective nearly as much. The first two were told almost 90% from Maya's perspective and this one takes Maya almost out of the narrative and it is told from the perspective of the two brothers. Why this was done makes logical sense, but it was still jarring to the reader who has become accustomed to Maya's voice. And I missed her...Michael and Gabriel were not nearly as interesting...or as developed.
2) all the travelling to the other realms. The first two books don't really focus on the actual travelling, and they are more political thrillers than anything else. Than Golden City is alot of travelling and its a fantasy element that almost doesn't fit in. I found myself wanting to skip certain travel sequences....but I didn't.
3) the ending was rather anti-climactic and he needs to write a fourth book.
The first two were breathtakingly brilliant and this one was just okay.
There are two and a half reason why this one did not match up to the first two:
1) The story was not told from Maya's perspective nearly as much. The first two were told almost 90% from Maya's perspective and this one takes Maya almost out of the narrative and it is told from the perspective of the two brothers. Why this was done makes logical sense, but it was still jarring to the reader who has become accustomed to Maya's voice. And I missed her...Michael and Gabriel were not nearly as interesting...or as developed.
2) all the travelling to the other realms. The first two books don't really focus on the actual travelling, and they are more political thrillers than anything else. Than Golden City is alot of travelling and its a fantasy element that almost doesn't fit in. I found myself wanting to skip certain travel sequences....but I didn't.
3) the ending was rather anti-climactic and he needs to write a fourth book.
July 27, 2016
Great third book in the trilogy, even though we didn't get a full closure.
February 20, 2010
What a disappointment this third book in the Fourth Realm series was. The Traveler, the first in the series was a great thriller. It had a quick paced plot, intriguing characters and a story line that drew me in. While the second book, The Dark River, wasn't as great as the first, I find that is often true for the second in a trilogy and had hopes that the third book would cement this series as a favorite. Alas, it was not to be.
The Golden City finds our characters scattered around the globe, stuck in other realms and generally disconnected. As the reader, I felt similarly disconnected. Having not had time to re-read the second book before starting this book, I struggled to recall the characters and how they landed in their present situations. Worse, I had a hard time connecting to them emotionally. Maya and Gabriel, in particular, captured my imagination in previous books, but felt flat and unengaged in this volume. Perhaps the fact that they rarely connected with each other or even interacted with each other kept my emotions at bay.
But my chief complaint with this book is that the mysterious John Twelve Hawks clearly brought an agenda to the book and there were large portions of this book when I could not escape the feeling that I was reading a political treatise instead of a novel. Maybe you like your fiction mixed with your religious beliefs, political views and cultural positions, but even if you do, a good novel is far more subtle about it than this one is.
In summary, if you are interested in a book that makes you think about today's environment of hyper-surveillance, our dependence on technology and what that implies, read The Traveler. Then let your own imagination carry Hawks' world through to conclusion. I believe you'll find that a far more satisfying experience.
The Golden City finds our characters scattered around the globe, stuck in other realms and generally disconnected. As the reader, I felt similarly disconnected. Having not had time to re-read the second book before starting this book, I struggled to recall the characters and how they landed in their present situations. Worse, I had a hard time connecting to them emotionally. Maya and Gabriel, in particular, captured my imagination in previous books, but felt flat and unengaged in this volume. Perhaps the fact that they rarely connected with each other or even interacted with each other kept my emotions at bay.
But my chief complaint with this book is that the mysterious John Twelve Hawks clearly brought an agenda to the book and there were large portions of this book when I could not escape the feeling that I was reading a political treatise instead of a novel. Maybe you like your fiction mixed with your religious beliefs, political views and cultural positions, but even if you do, a good novel is far more subtle about it than this one is.
In summary, if you are interested in a book that makes you think about today's environment of hyper-surveillance, our dependence on technology and what that implies, read The Traveler. Then let your own imagination carry Hawks' world through to conclusion. I believe you'll find that a far more satisfying experience.
April 20, 2019
Bu son ne Allah aşkına bir iki sayfa fazla yazıp aceleye getirmeseydin tam puandı. Neyse genel olarak güzel bir seri farklı bir konusu var sevdim devamı olsa okurdum yani:)
April 8, 2020
I had absolutely no recollection of the first two books, being YEARS since I read them. Found it didn't matter to understand the plot.
That said, I felt like I didn't quite figure out WHY Michael and Gabriel do what they do and to what purpose. WHY do Travellers travel? I didn't leave this series understanding that, but that could be because I didn't remember all the info.
However, that aside, it's a story about personal freedom alongside electronic freedom and the right to not be monitored and watched. It is an unsettling thought, because while some things would be made a lot more convenient with constant surveillance, it's also scary to think that there might be a point when the books I choose to read might cost me a job or decrease my sallary. It's drawn to an extreme, of course, but if I thought of that now, someone else already did a long time ago.
But I'm not sure I felt any of that really got sortet. Yes, good beat bad, but for how long? And the ending in it self didn't feel like an ending either, so I'm not sure how to feel about it. Maybe slightly disappointed.
That said, I felt like I didn't quite figure out WHY Michael and Gabriel do what they do and to what purpose. WHY do Travellers travel? I didn't leave this series understanding that, but that could be because I didn't remember all the info.
However, that aside, it's a story about personal freedom alongside electronic freedom and the right to not be monitored and watched. It is an unsettling thought, because while some things would be made a lot more convenient with constant surveillance, it's also scary to think that there might be a point when the books I choose to read might cost me a job or decrease my sallary. It's drawn to an extreme, of course, but if I thought of that now, someone else already did a long time ago.
But I'm not sure I felt any of that really got sortet. Yes, good beat bad, but for how long? And the ending in it self didn't feel like an ending either, so I'm not sure how to feel about it. Maybe slightly disappointed.
July 31, 2021
The editing of this book is painfully bad. It might actually be the worst I've ever seen.
The book itself is... okay. The first book of this trilogy was the first book I ever read by choice, so it holds a special place in my life, but I found this book to be a disappointing end to the series. I suppose it hit all the right plot beats, but it did it without passion or oomph.
The book itself is... okay. The first book of this trilogy was the first book I ever read by choice, so it holds a special place in my life, but I found this book to be a disappointing end to the series. I suppose it hit all the right plot beats, but it did it without passion or oomph.
June 27, 2011
I was a little torn on how to rate this book...I liked the first 2 volumes of this trilogy. The ideas in it are relevant to the world we live in and their discussion appealed to me. Like many I see individual liberties being eroded as "we" individuals give our freedom away so we can be "protected" and "taken care of"...("They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin). I am someone who believes strongly in every right listed in the Bill of Rights and have watched the erosion of our freedom with great concern. The passing of the "so called" Patriot act with hardly a murmur from conservative political voices, the talk of a National ID card from news commentators in a "ho-hum" attitude should scare us all to death ("Dangerous laws created by well intentioned people today can be used by dangerous people with evil intentions tomorrow." Alan Eppers)
The earlier books discussion of Bentham's Panopticon and how all of society is coming more and more to be based on that model is fascinating. In this book the application of the "virtual panopticon" gets "off the ground", sort of.
Unfortunately this last book is not up to the same standard as the first. John Twelve Hawks (whoever he may be) has managed to take an interesting idea and muddle it into a sort of conglomerate of Buddhist mysticism and cosmology, new age thought, near future science fiction and conspiracy theory...all built around some characters who have suddenly become one dimensional and speak with almost identical narrative voice(s). The dialogue is relatively flat and a bit preachy.
As I said, I liked Traveler and felt "okay" about The Dark River (though now I can see things "beginning to go downhill" noticeably in that volume) but found this last volume of the Fourth Realm trilogy, The Golden City, less than satisfying. There was once when I put the book down with no intention of going back to it. The narrative got dry and uninteresting, I didn't/couldn't care about the characters (even though I had in the earlier volumes). While there was a lot going on, it just wasn't very interesting. I finally decided I wanted to get to the ending, so some skimming later, I finished. The answer about Michael and Gabriel's father, Gabriel's "lecture" over the worldwide net, the finial confrontation between the brothers, all "okay". Not by any means great, satisfying, or what could have been. I found the book disappointing and not at all memorable.
1 star...no plans to reread the series.
I find this exceptionally disappointing as the first volume of this series had something that was in it's way almost magic. That magic was never recaptured in the two later books (in my opinion of course). Sadly disappointing and very much a case of, again in my opinion, "might have been".
The earlier books discussion of Bentham's Panopticon and how all of society is coming more and more to be based on that model is fascinating. In this book the application of the "virtual panopticon" gets "off the ground", sort of.
Unfortunately this last book is not up to the same standard as the first. John Twelve Hawks (whoever he may be) has managed to take an interesting idea and muddle it into a sort of conglomerate of Buddhist mysticism and cosmology, new age thought, near future science fiction and conspiracy theory...all built around some characters who have suddenly become one dimensional and speak with almost identical narrative voice(s). The dialogue is relatively flat and a bit preachy.
As I said, I liked Traveler and felt "okay" about The Dark River (though now I can see things "beginning to go downhill" noticeably in that volume) but found this last volume of the Fourth Realm trilogy, The Golden City, less than satisfying. There was once when I put the book down with no intention of going back to it. The narrative got dry and uninteresting, I didn't/couldn't care about the characters (even though I had in the earlier volumes). While there was a lot going on, it just wasn't very interesting. I finally decided I wanted to get to the ending, so some skimming later, I finished. The answer about Michael and Gabriel's father, Gabriel's "lecture" over the worldwide net, the finial confrontation between the brothers, all "okay". Not by any means great, satisfying, or what could have been. I found the book disappointing and not at all memorable.
1 star...no plans to reread the series.
I find this exceptionally disappointing as the first volume of this series had something that was in it's way almost magic. That magic was never recaptured in the two later books (in my opinion of course). Sadly disappointing and very much a case of, again in my opinion, "might have been".
November 7, 2009
This book is the ending of a trilogy that began with The Traveler (4 stars) and continued with The Dark River (3 stars). Obviously, I feel this series began much better than it finished.
I'm already having difficulty remembering the entire thing, it was so forgettable. I hadn't liked the characters since the beginning, even those who I sympathized with. This series is "tell-it-like-it-is" material, which means everything is explained to the reader and to make it worse, it's explained in overly simplistic terms that I finally found insulting.
I love the Vast Machine idea and I strongly agree to the point of wanting to build a bunker in the mountains and live off the land but then I would not have access to my computer. :(
The characters fell flat and I felt as though I were reading a book without soul and passion, which I had expected otherwise considering the topic and that this was the ending.
I'm already having difficulty remembering the entire thing, it was so forgettable. I hadn't liked the characters since the beginning, even those who I sympathized with. This series is "tell-it-like-it-is" material, which means everything is explained to the reader and to make it worse, it's explained in overly simplistic terms that I finally found insulting.
I love the Vast Machine idea and I strongly agree to the point of wanting to build a bunker in the mountains and live off the land but then I would not have access to my computer. :(
The characters fell flat and I felt as though I were reading a book without soul and passion, which I had expected otherwise considering the topic and that this was the ending.
November 17, 2024
Finale war ok, spannend und bis zuletzt mit Drive. Und diesmal auf Englisch gelesen, hätte ich bei den ersten beiden Bänden auch schon machen können, die Sprache ist ja nicht sehr herausfordernd.
March 15, 2019
This trilogy that started with a lot of promise, but ended up meandering for too long through a light plot. There was more potential than was realized, and too much time was spent with characters simply traveling to one place and then back again, only to then do the same for somewhere else. The different realms were very undeveloped which undermined the story somewhat. The ending, however, was reasonably satisfying. Not a bad series, just not particularly deep or outstanding, despite the premise.
April 16, 2021
Dreck. Boring story; poorly paced. Skimmed to the end and gave up. Nope.
October 11, 2018
Not the best of the trilogy, it felt a bit drawn oit at times. Still a great series
January 17, 2010
Well, I can say I've finished a trilogy that I started reading five years ago. Some of what happened was satisfying, but there was a lot of over-explanations, irrevelance and distasteful stuff going on here. It's really too bad, because the whole idea of government's overcontrolling its citizens and the invasion of privacy, preserving freedom, dystopic societies and everything else this book talks about is very interesting. The book didn't feel as dark to me as the first or the second, although it was less so too. I wasn't as interested in what happened to the characters and feel like the romance-ish thing between Maya and Gabriel was described in a very generic and unrealistic way. It felt like I was reading a book written for someone who just doesn't get it, can't think for themselves, needs to be talked down to. And I realize that the Evergreen Foundation had to make citizens afraid of a free and unchecked society, afraid enough to allow themselves to be controlled and tracked. But where in the heck did kidnapping and killing children come in? Yes, New Colony was decimated in Book One, but not for the purpose of killing children. Maybe that's why it felt so sinister then. After reading the first two novels, it didn't fit well. I mean, maybe Hawks did it for shock factor, and yes, I know, the kids didn't die. But it was overkill, for me. Really, there are so many options to control people through fear, and I just thought that was a cheap and easy shot. Yeah, dead kids --real original and thought-provoking. Also, I didn't appreciate the way every little detail had to be explained. If you're reading this book, you've probably read the first two, so why all the on and on?? And I didn't care for the whole "my daughter died, feel sorry for me and my terrible nature" turn that happened with Boone. If we have been hating him since book one, no sob story is going to change it. I liked the story enough, and I'm glad that I read it and closed out the series. It wasn't totally satisfying and I feel like it could have been so much better. I gave THE TRAVELER 5 stars, THE DARK RIVER 4 and now 2 (maybe 2.5) to this. Not a good sign. For all of the buildup created in the first two novels about Gabriel and Michael and their dad, the actual meeting and conversations just weren't that revelatory. If there was a time in the novel to delve deep, that would have been it. If he writes another book, I would probably read it. But I am taking him off my favorite authors lists, which makes me a little bit sad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 20, 2009
***This is a review of the series as a whole****
I really wanted to love these books. I like a good liberal rant against the erosion of civil liberties and the corporate takeover of the world as much as the next person, actually probably quite a lot more. But when the author writes nonsense comparing something to "a chrysalis emerging from it's cocoon," it's pretty indicative of the level of the writing an the quality of the research in the books. (For those not up on their butterfly science, that's like comparing something to a chicken egg hatching out from it's goose egg.)
Aside from those problems, the characters and the motivations just aren't believable. Even as a borderline conspiracy theorist myself, I don't think the real motivation of the "vast machine" is control, nor is it so transparently evil. It's all about the bottom line, about capitalism at the expense of compassion. And there is way too much money out there to be made by corporations and special interests for such a singular system of control to succeed. That doesn't make reality any less threatening to our civil liberties, it just makes the books easier to dismiss as reactionary drivel. Sad to say, I think the mainstream movie "Enemy of the State" made all his points much better than he did.
I really wanted to love these books. I like a good liberal rant against the erosion of civil liberties and the corporate takeover of the world as much as the next person, actually probably quite a lot more. But when the author writes nonsense comparing something to "a chrysalis emerging from it's cocoon," it's pretty indicative of the level of the writing an the quality of the research in the books. (For those not up on their butterfly science, that's like comparing something to a chicken egg hatching out from it's goose egg.)
Aside from those problems, the characters and the motivations just aren't believable. Even as a borderline conspiracy theorist myself, I don't think the real motivation of the "vast machine" is control, nor is it so transparently evil. It's all about the bottom line, about capitalism at the expense of compassion. And there is way too much money out there to be made by corporations and special interests for such a singular system of control to succeed. That doesn't make reality any less threatening to our civil liberties, it just makes the books easier to dismiss as reactionary drivel. Sad to say, I think the mainstream movie "Enemy of the State" made all his points much better than he did.
July 29, 2010
John Twelve Hawks' ultra-paranoid thriller trilogy finally loses some of its steam in part three. It's still enjoyable but Hawks replaces some of the breathless action scenes with events that are needed to put the story to an end. This includes lots and lots of speeches and long scenes in another conscious realm. The actual writing is probably better in this than the other two books but since it's less action focused, it doesn't have the same "page-turning" quality the others had.
Maybe I'm just super paranoid but some of the things Hawks writes about are already here or are on there way and that's truly frightening. Topics such as cities with extreme levels of monitoring, RFID chip implants, secretive shadow governments w/ no accountability of power are things in our world right this very second. In the guise of fighting terrorism, Americans have tossed away all kinds of civil rights just to be "safe" from an attack from an unknown enemy that may or may not happen. The enemy itself might just be a creation to promote fear which allows a certain level of control by the population lessoning their concern over personal liberties. Frightening stuff.
So, these books are based in some reality even though they are firmly in the sci-fi world of "what-if." Fun series though.
Maybe I'm just super paranoid but some of the things Hawks writes about are already here or are on there way and that's truly frightening. Topics such as cities with extreme levels of monitoring, RFID chip implants, secretive shadow governments w/ no accountability of power are things in our world right this very second. In the guise of fighting terrorism, Americans have tossed away all kinds of civil rights just to be "safe" from an attack from an unknown enemy that may or may not happen. The enemy itself might just be a creation to promote fear which allows a certain level of control by the population lessoning their concern over personal liberties. Frightening stuff.
So, these books are based in some reality even though they are firmly in the sci-fi world of "what-if." Fun series though.
July 30, 2010
Great Book for me. Exciting,albeit a little bit violent, but a very thought provoking book.
Favorite Quote from book
" Freedom is the ability to think, act, and express our views. IN a free society, our rights are respected as long as they don't harm others. A political system that allows freedom has validity no matter how you view mankind.
" If you believe that humanity is greedy, violent, and intolerant, then free thought challenges bad leaders and corrupt institutions. If you have a positive view on humanity, then you can see how freedom allows new ideas and techinical innovation. Religious and political dictatorships lumber down the road like an old truck spitting out foul exhast. The entire country can't turn in a new direction when the scenery begins to Change. The vast Machine carries us toward a world where free thought and the expression of those thoughts become difficult- and sometimes impossible. And the politics of fear gives our leaders the justification for more control.
Favorite Quote from book
" Freedom is the ability to think, act, and express our views. IN a free society, our rights are respected as long as they don't harm others. A political system that allows freedom has validity no matter how you view mankind.
" If you believe that humanity is greedy, violent, and intolerant, then free thought challenges bad leaders and corrupt institutions. If you have a positive view on humanity, then you can see how freedom allows new ideas and techinical innovation. Religious and political dictatorships lumber down the road like an old truck spitting out foul exhast. The entire country can't turn in a new direction when the scenery begins to Change. The vast Machine carries us toward a world where free thought and the expression of those thoughts become difficult- and sometimes impossible. And the politics of fear gives our leaders the justification for more control.
September 9, 2009
I was at Barnes and Noble this weekend, and spotted this on the shelf, much to my surprise (considering it wasn't supposed to be released until today -- don't know how I managed to get an advanced copy). Anyway, the book is very similar to the other two in pace and theme, but it didn't feel like the completion of a trilogy. It didn't tie up many loose ends and ended on something of a question. I suppose the nature of the struggle against the Vast Machine means that there can't ever really be an end, but it was still disappointing. I greatly enjoyed reading it, but "The Golden City" felt like an incomplete work.
July 26, 2010
I had enjoyed The Traveller so I was looking forward to this final novel in the trilogy. I had thought the less satisfying aspects of the middle novel were simply because it was just that - the middle novel in a trilogy. However, the climax was no better. I found the ending predictable and poorly thought out. In fact it was a huge anti-climax fuelled perhaps too much by the author's utopian dreams rather than a believable outcome to a struggle with a massive worldwide network of wealthy oligarchs. If I hadn't known this was the last in the series, I would be expecting a fourth (and more satisfying) book to follow...
Sad - it all started so well....
Sad - it all started so well....
April 9, 2015
(когато най-интригуващият въпрос за една книга е истинската самоличност на автора, сте наясно, че нещо не е в ред)
Добре дошли в Мрежата. Ние живеем в нея като нормални членове на цивилизацията. Табулата (или както се наричат сами- Братството) контролира Мрежата (вж. "1984") и тяхната амбиция е да имат пълен контрол над целия свят посредством нея. Арлекините и странниците живеят извън Мрежата, за да останат живи.
Целият текст:тук
Добре дошли в Мрежата. Ние живеем в нея като нормални членове на цивилизацията. Табулата (или както се наричат сами- Братството) контролира Мрежата (вж. "1984") и тяхната амбиция е да имат пълен контрол над целия свят посредством нея. Арлекините и странниците живеят извън Мрежата, за да останат живи.
Целият текст:тук
November 19, 2012
I can’t count the number of times I picked up The Golden City and started reading it only to put it down. The Golden City, the last book of the series, didn’t have the same punch as the others. After following the series and looking forward to this final book, I couldn’t wait for it to end. And though Scott Brick did a very good job in telling the story, even he, one of my favorite storytellers, could not stop me for wanting to read the end.
September 22, 2009
The concluding book to a trilogy that was weaker that the first two books. In fact it did not feel like a conclusion at all so perhaps there will be more. The plot and characters did not feel very developed in this book at all. It was like an episode in an ongoing TV show. Still entertaining but not very satisfying.
September 8, 2011
Oh Man! I can't believe this is the end of the Fourth Realm Trilogy. I want more! I had an idea about one or two of the events that occured. But most of them did surprise me. And I don't feel like all the answers were given. Which is why I need more. That & I think this book was well written. J12H raises some very interesting points on what he calls 'The Vast Machine' and our freedom.
September 17, 2009
Aside from being a bit pedantic and obvious with the messages - it was still a good, fast, un-put-downable book. I recommend the trilogy and the first of the series was the best for me - but after that you must read the final two. I really enjoyed it.
October 26, 2009
This final volume in the 'third realm' series winds down somewhat, does not have the level of closure you would have hoped (no spoilers).
So, who is John Twelve Hawks? My vote is Dean Koontz.
So, who is John Twelve Hawks? My vote is Dean Koontz.
Read
April 14, 2010The ending to this trilogy (the last chapter) was so disappointing. It didn't feel like a real conclusion and the author seemed rushed at the end. Maybe he left it open for a fourth book...
December 1, 2010
Good book but not as good as the first two. Seems to set us up for a new trilogy due to the lack of resolution for some characters.
January 8, 2023
Though this book was much anticipated it took me 8 months to read it. Now to be honest I read it in three sittings. The reason it took so long is that when the first book, The Traveler came out 5 years ago, it was one of the best fiction books I had read in more than ten years. Once I started the book, I realized the series would end, I have heard nothing about more books by John XII Hawks, so I did not want the story to end. Then when I sat down and started it again I raced through to the finish. I plan on reading the whole series again soon.
No one really knows who John Twelve Hawks is, his interviews use a voice modulator, he supposedly has never met with his publisher, and only communicates electronically or through a satellite phone. That mystery was intriguing when the first book came out, and rumors have abounded about who he might be. But I do not think that really matters, he writes under a pen name and wants to keep his privacy. What matters is that he is an excellent story teller and has crafted an excellent dystopian trilogy. If you have not read the first books, I highly recommend them.
A battle rages between two brothers Michael and Gabriel Corrigan, but also between two groups, the Brethern who want to control every person on the planet and will use almost any means to achieve that control, and a resistance movement lead my Gabriel Corrigan, a traveler who can leave this plane of existence and travel to other realms, and his Harlequin guardians. The Harlequins have protected the Travelers for generations. Historically the Harlequins stayed out the of Travelers plans and only protected them from the Breathern who want to hunt them down and kill them. Now Michael Corrigan has usurped control of the Breathern and wants to control the whole world and use his power as a Traveler to plan and achieve that control. Gabriel and an interconnected groups of different people do not want to allow that to happen.
The world is being turned upside down, governments are using fear to control people and systematically strip their freedom. There is a vast machine of security camera's, email sniffing programs, facial recognition … growing in our world, and there are dark forces behind the scenes pulling all those resources together into an electronic prison for each of us.
Michael and Gabriel have both experienced the other realms but both come back with a different vision for mankind. Who will win this battle for mankinds hearts and minds.
The story has a fast pace, and a number of surprising twists in the series storyline. It also leave the ending open to a continuation and a few interpretations. One of the best things about the series is that it will cause readers to ask questions! Questions about what really matters in life, how intentional they are about how they live, about freedom and purpose in life. It is a great book and I can only hope for more from the author.
Fourth Reams Trilogy:
The Traveler
The Dark River
The Golden City
(First Published in Imprint 2010-07-30.)
No one really knows who John Twelve Hawks is, his interviews use a voice modulator, he supposedly has never met with his publisher, and only communicates electronically or through a satellite phone. That mystery was intriguing when the first book came out, and rumors have abounded about who he might be. But I do not think that really matters, he writes under a pen name and wants to keep his privacy. What matters is that he is an excellent story teller and has crafted an excellent dystopian trilogy. If you have not read the first books, I highly recommend them.
A battle rages between two brothers Michael and Gabriel Corrigan, but also between two groups, the Brethern who want to control every person on the planet and will use almost any means to achieve that control, and a resistance movement lead my Gabriel Corrigan, a traveler who can leave this plane of existence and travel to other realms, and his Harlequin guardians. The Harlequins have protected the Travelers for generations. Historically the Harlequins stayed out the of Travelers plans and only protected them from the Breathern who want to hunt them down and kill them. Now Michael Corrigan has usurped control of the Breathern and wants to control the whole world and use his power as a Traveler to plan and achieve that control. Gabriel and an interconnected groups of different people do not want to allow that to happen.
The world is being turned upside down, governments are using fear to control people and systematically strip their freedom. There is a vast machine of security camera's, email sniffing programs, facial recognition … growing in our world, and there are dark forces behind the scenes pulling all those resources together into an electronic prison for each of us.
Michael and Gabriel have both experienced the other realms but both come back with a different vision for mankind. Who will win this battle for mankinds hearts and minds.
The story has a fast pace, and a number of surprising twists in the series storyline. It also leave the ending open to a continuation and a few interpretations. One of the best things about the series is that it will cause readers to ask questions! Questions about what really matters in life, how intentional they are about how they live, about freedom and purpose in life. It is a great book and I can only hope for more from the author.
Fourth Reams Trilogy:
The Traveler
The Dark River
The Golden City
(First Published in Imprint 2010-07-30.)
March 13, 2018
Twelve Hawks continues his rendition on the classic debate between Order and Chaos, free will and control over the masses, in this final installment of his Fourth Realm Trilogy. And, he manages to do so while keeping the topic fresh and interesting, not to mention, relevant. The idea of people purposefully living outside the Vast Machine is what drew me into this series, but I've enjoyed the progression of Twelve Hawk's plot. Sure, it became more fantastical, during the travels to the different realms and the access points for non-Travellers being incorporated in famous historical relics, but the gem of this third book came in one of the moments pre-climax, during a discussion of how to rally the resistance. "People don't believe they have power. Because they're scared, they want magic spells and secret passwords. It takes some bravery to accept the implications of free will and negative consequences. But we can't solve our problems with surveillance cameras and tracking programs." And later on, when Gabriel has an opportunity to enlighten a global audience, this monologue makes a profound statement that any reader could at least stop and consider the relevance in our lives today. "Modern media allows frightening images to be broadcast immediately with great emotional impact and power. In addition, there are very few leaders that challenge the public to be brave and take responsibility for their lives. The political credo of our times sounds like an all-powerful parent talking to a child: Sit down and don't ask questions. We'll take care of everything." For me, this trilogy has been a gentle introduction and strong encouragement to think more about my own privacy, and what I believe a government's and/or corporations' role should be in my life and the lives of others. I'm glad I spotted the series while perusing the library shelves.
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