A world that exists in the shadow of our own . . . the thrilling conclusion to John Twelve Hawks's Fourth Realm trilogy, The Golden Ci...
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Aug 06, 2011
The 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 More...
John Twelve Hawks wanted to make a point, and More...
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Aug 03, 2011
And there it came the last chapter in the Corrigan Brothers saga. I must say I agree with many reviews stating how good the first book THE TRAVELLER is. Perhaps it was a bit down to novelty but it was real good. Then DARK RIVER went down a little bit, or a lot, depending how you want to see it and now the last part THE GOLDEN CITY regained much of that first book magic, however it fails in many places, especially when coming to give some sort of closure to the story. The pace is very good, bette
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Jan 28, 2011
Clay
rated it: 
John Twelve Hawks’ unhappy vision is much more immediate, as he describes a contemporary world that, without much stretching, could be our own. All the surveillance cameras, for example, are linked so that the Vast Machine, as he calls it, can track the movements of every individual – and of course, credit cards, cell phones and computers already permit a great deal of oversight by those with the means to tap into the existing systems.
“The Golden City” (Doubleday, $25.95, 358 pages) co More...
“The Golden City” (Doubleday, $25.95, 358 pages) co More...
Aug 16, 2010
Teghan
rated it: 
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 br More...
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 br More...
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Jul 30, 2010
Melanie
rated it: 
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 instituti More...
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 instituti More...
Jul 29, 2010
Joshua
rated it:
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.
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Feb 20, 2010
Shannon
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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 arou More...
The Golden City finds our characters scattered arou More...
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Jan 04, 2010
Jp
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Oct 20, 2009
Emily
rated it: 
***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 the More...
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 the More...
Oct 15, 2010
CekMoNSter
rated it:
Reading through the last book of this series, I felt a certain feeling of satisfaction.It`s still bothers me
that even after the end of reading, I can`t stop thinking to myself how hard it will be for a group of people to
fight for truth against the people of powers. The story itself was closely related to our concept of ideal life as proposed by The Bethren.
I`m going to review this book open-minded as a mere fiction, and a source of entertainments.
IT`s hard not to laugh More...
that even after the end of reading, I can`t stop thinking to myself how hard it will be for a group of people to
fight for truth against the people of powers. The story itself was closely related to our concept of ideal life as proposed by The Bethren.
I`m going to review this book open-minded as a mere fiction, and a source of entertainments.
IT`s hard not to laugh More...
Jul 26, 2009
Lola
rated it: 
The Fourth Realm Series (The Traveler, The Dark City, & The Golden City) is the most powerful set of reads to hit the market since Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents. Poignant, real & highly critical, these books tell the story of Travelers, Harlequins & the Tabula (AKA the Brethren). Themes run parallel to loss of privacy & Big Brother watching out for us pleebs. "For the better of society" we use GPS, CCTV, RFID chips, surveillance to track those society
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Aug 05, 2011
Patrick
rated it:
Wow, what a satisfying end to an incredible trilogy.
When I started reading The Traveller, I called John Twelve Hawks' masterpiece Orwell meets The Matrix.
Think of it. A world where your entire virtual life is monitored by a secret corporation bent on controlling personal freedom.
A secret society of mercenaries who protect travellers - people who travel between dimensions.
Add a conflict between two brothers - one good the other evil - and the last of the travellers.
The Golden City sets the stage More...
When I started reading The Traveller, I called John Twelve Hawks' masterpiece Orwell meets The Matrix.
Think of it. A world where your entire virtual life is monitored by a secret corporation bent on controlling personal freedom.
A secret society of mercenaries who protect travellers - people who travel between dimensions.
Add a conflict between two brothers - one good the other evil - and the last of the travellers.
The Golden City sets the stage More...
Oct 11, 2009
I found this while I was on vacation - yes, I do visit bookstores on vacation - anyhow, Mike likes this tale too, so we shared the book. Sitting in the sun and having time is a great prescription for slowing down - I recommend it!
The story picks up from the last book, The Dark River. The author, John Twelvehawks, does not disappoint in the body of the story but I do find fault with the ending. I know it's just a feminist thing, but you have a strong woman character and to have her - wel More...
The story picks up from the last book, The Dark River. The author, John Twelvehawks, does not disappoint in the body of the story but I do find fault with the ending. I know it's just a feminist thing, but you have a strong woman character and to have her - wel More...
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Oct 24, 2011
Jen
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The three books in this series were really hard to put down. I read The Traveler in one day. One day! I can't think of the last time I did that! I think the best book of the series is The Dark River, which is unfortunate since it's the middle book.
I enjoyed this novel but was looking for more of a show-down between the brothers, which ends up being very anticlimactic. The ending is also left too wide open, since the author's note at the beginning says he is done with the series, thank More...
I enjoyed this novel but was looking for more of a show-down between the brothers, which ends up being very anticlimactic. The ending is also left too wide open, since the author's note at the beginning says he is done with the series, thank More...
Sep 28, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
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 botto
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May 09, 2011
4evagreen
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I have just finished reading the 3 books in the Fourth Realm Trilogy back to back so did not have the problem of trying to remember what had gone before while waiting for the next book's publication.
I found the fist book The Traveller engrossing and the second The Dark River a little disappointing (although in my experience this is not unusual for the middle book of a Trilogy), and therefore started the final book with somewhat mixed feelings. Just which way will it go, good or bad? More...
I found the fist book The Traveller engrossing and the second The Dark River a little disappointing (although in my experience this is not unusual for the middle book of a Trilogy), and therefore started the final book with somewhat mixed feelings. Just which way will it go, good or bad? More...
Dec 04, 2009
Ash
rated it:
Extremely disappointed with the last book of the trilogy. This trilogy reminds me of the Matrix trilogy. First one was awesome, second one was okay at best, and the third one was: eh...
John Twelve Hawks tries in vain to be a "real" author by putting in pages of descriptions: the streets, the nights, the room, etc. After a while, it becomes too tedious to read the boring descriptions. You need the story to move forward, and unfortunately, it doesn't.
The whole " More...
John Twelve Hawks tries in vain to be a "real" author by putting in pages of descriptions: the streets, the nights, the room, etc. After a while, it becomes too tedious to read the boring descriptions. You need the story to move forward, and unfortunately, it doesn't.
The whole " More...
Oct 17, 2011
Gewbook
rated it:
I was satisfied with the resolution of this trilogy. A lot of reviews mentioned finding the ending anti-climactic, but I don't see how it could have ended any other way. I thought that adding an actually obvious bad guy that they could conquer made this ending work even better. The good guys can't conquer The Vast Machine because then there is proof that either The Vast Machine is a fiction made up by the author or that it is possible to bring it down and then it's not as scary and big as the au
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Mar 12, 2011
George
rated it:
A fun combination of post modern and Tibetan Buddhist thought. There are Travelers - people that can slip into those other worlds and Harlequins - those that protect the Travelers. These are hereditary types and they pass from generation to generation.
They are up against those that subscribe to control philosophy symbolized by the Panopticon ("The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in 1785." - wikiped More...
They are up against those that subscribe to control philosophy symbolized by the Panopticon ("The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in 1785." - wikiped More...
Oct 17, 2009
Tim
rated it:
Wrapping up the Fourth Realm trilogy, we find two brothers in complete opposition to one another. Michael Corrigan leads The Brethren, a group that wants to introduce and develop a complete surveillance society that will complete its Orwellian vision of complete control of the population. Combating him is a resistance led by his brother Gabriel, who leads a rag-tag group of dissenters. What makes the story interesting is that the brothers gained their power because they are "travelers,"
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Sep 25, 2010
Shad
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I was disappointed in the finale to the Fourth Realm trilogy. This book was missing much of the suspense that made The Traveler and The Dark River so enjoyable. Instead, John Twelve Hawks fumbles around with trying to make a political message that is not made very clear in the book. The best story line in the book actually revolves around Hollis as he tries to find someone who can talk to Victory From Sin since she was killed.
Overall, this book seemed like it could have used mor More...
Overall, this book seemed like it could have used mor More...
Oct 20, 2009
Aliza
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I liked this series of books. It really made me think about how realistic those things are. We live in a world where the web sites we visit are tracked, we make purchases and stores use that information to advertize to us, our phone calls are monitored for key words, anywhere we go with a cell phone or car that has a GPS can be tracked. I don't believe that there is some private company out there compiling all of this information to use to make a "prison" as there is in the book...b
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Sep 02, 2010
Don
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Zzzzzzzz . . . . oh, what? Sorry, fell asleep reading this one. Boy, for a book that's the third part of a trilogy, nothing happens! The bad guy doesn't even figure out that he's the main bad guy until half-way through the book and then has to be told by someone else what to do and how to carry out the nefarious (and I use that term loosely) plan. Wow, lots of walking about doing absolutely nothing and whole chapters dedicated to the two main antagonists making speeches summing up what we just r
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Oct 06, 2009
Nicola
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This last (?) installment of the Fourth Realm series just seems to run out of steam. The tension that propelled the first book, The Traveler, is for the most part gone. By the time we get to The Golden City, taking place one year after the events of The Traveler, everyone is either too tired or too engulfed in themselves to maintain any sort of interesting relationship or story line for that matter. The minor stories that play out are either interludes that have little affect on the story line o
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Apr 29, 2011
Larry
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Since I was disappointed with the second book in the trilogy, I almost skipped The Golden City – but I had to see how the author ended it. Actually, it was better than I expected. (At first , however, it was difficult to pick up on the reoccurring characters and prior plot lines.)
Like the first book in the trilogy, The Traveler, much of it took place in the here and now. While “parallel dimensions” were entered, but they seemed more believable.
The book combines physics More...
Like the first book in the trilogy, The Traveler, much of it took place in the here and now. While “parallel dimensions” were entered, but they seemed more believable.
The book combines physics More...
Aug 06, 2010
Cv
rated it:
This was the best book of the series, but in order to get to it I had to read an abysmal middle book.
Michael and Gabriel Corrigan are locked in the eternal struggle of freedom vs. captivity and it's easy to see the religious parallels of the brothers Lucifer and Christ, angel fallen vs. angel risen.
Also there was a pause while Gabriel delivered the author's message in the form of a speech to the worldwide web. And while the speech was reminiscent of Ayn Rand only in c More...
Michael and Gabriel Corrigan are locked in the eternal struggle of freedom vs. captivity and it's easy to see the religious parallels of the brothers Lucifer and Christ, angel fallen vs. angel risen.
Also there was a pause while Gabriel delivered the author's message in the form of a speech to the worldwide web. And while the speech was reminiscent of Ayn Rand only in c More...
Jun 30, 2011
Steve
rated it:
The Golden City had its moments but I would agree that is was the weaker of the three books, purely on the basis that it took a long time to get going and I was not really engrossed until the end. Some of the traveller scenes were certainly `out there' and I am not sure whether the other dimensions described would have any other appeal to the travellers beyond intrigue. In the end the best part of the book was Gabriel Corrigan looking to foil his brother Michael's evil plan. For me Maya has been
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Jul 27, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
A lot happens in 358 pages. I felt myself mostly caught up in the plot. It's definitely a better story than the second in the trilogy. However, it does have some jarring inconsistencies. In the second book these revolved around plot. Here, in the conclusion, characters suddenly change. The reader gets side-swiped by a behavior, action, or choice that is completely out of character. Thankfully, this only happened two or three times, but it still bothered me that he essentially changed the
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Jun 13, 2010
Jessica
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I enjoyed all three of the Fourth Realm books overall, but this was the least of my favorites. You would think that as the story ends, the plot would deepen and the energy of the story accelerate... Well, that didn't happen here. The story line was pretty flat and boring, actually (especially when Michael went to the 5th realm), but the two prior books had me invested in the story which made the read worth it. My biggest criticism, however is that the book ends with no real conclusion or com
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Oct 15, 2009
Barbara
rated it:
Although The Golden City is listed as a fiction book, in truth, it has multiple genres: fantasy with religious tones, science fiction, adventure, and thriller elements. The story involves a complex plot and setting with intriguing plot twists.
Gabriel Corrigan, a Traveler, has opted out of the government system that keeps tabs on him by working with the Resistance. His vulnerability lies in Maya, the Harlequin, who has sworn to protect him. His twin, Michael Corrigan, has joined the More...
Gabriel Corrigan, a Traveler, has opted out of the government system that keeps tabs on him by working with the Resistance. His vulnerability lies in Maya, the Harlequin, who has sworn to protect him. His twin, Michael Corrigan, has joined the More...
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