From Publishers WeeklyThe final volume in Hawks's fantasy thriller series, the Fourth Realm trilogy, brings to an end the struggle between the forces of evil, the Brethren-run empire known as the Tabula, and those of goodthe Travelers, Harlequins and other fighters of the Resistance. The first book, The Traveler, promised, and delivered, much; the second, The Dark River, was bleak and a bit of a disappointment. With the third, Hawks has returned, somewhat, to the excitement of the first, though those expecting a final, titanic battle to decide the fate of the world will come away frustrated. In the end, the action scenes are too few and too brief, and the explorations into the other Realms don't come to much of anything. Some fans might wish the author had spent less time on the easy-to-understand philosophical underpinnings (e.g., freedom is the essence of our livesnot surveillance and control) and more time on swinging swords. Newcomers should read the series in order. (Sept.) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Raves for the New York Times bestselling The Traveler and The Dark RiverThis novels a stunner You wont want to put the book down. PeoplePage-turningly swift John Twelve Hawks has drawn upon both pop-cultural and literary touchstones and modified them to create a cyber-1984. New York TimesA thrilling sequel Engaging and relevant. Time Out New YorkPortrays a Big Brother with powers far beyond anything Orwell could imagine Political prophecy is rarely such fun. Washington PostConstant action A must-read Will have you scratching your head wondering what is real We may well be seeing John Twelve Hawks on the bestseller lists for years. Detroit Free PressThe Dark River is a thought-provoking treatise on mind with matter and the increasing loss of our privacy. KansasCity.comThe book lives up to its hype The plot twists and turns Scarcely ten pages go by without action What sets the novel apart is its underlying philosophy Thought-provoking thrillers are a rarity indeed, but Twelve Hawks has delivered. Tampa TribuneFrom the Hardcover edition.About the AuthorJOHN TWELVE HAWKS is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Traveler and The Dark River.From the Hardcover edition. what genre is most popular in books The Golden City: Book Three of the Fourth Realm Trilogy
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Felt more like a sermon rather than a storyBy CC readerThe first two books in this series, The Traveler and The Dark River, were fresh, captivating and could even be considered trend setting in terms of the way they encouraged the reader to view the author's message vis a vis the world we live in today. For me, the conclusion to the series, The Golden City, was not a fitting ending to the over arching story. There was less emphasis on the characters that we have become committed to over time, Maya and Gabriel in particular, and there was more focus on the author's "message". To be honest the first chapter set the tone for me. It was meaningless and unimportant to the continuation of the plot established in the prior books as well as the completion of the story overall. I was also disappointed in the lengthy section dedicated to Gabriel finding his father and the weak insights that seemed to detract rather than add anything of import to the book. Although this book was interesting and as well written as its two predecessors, I was left feeling unfufilled as I believe the author failed to fully live up to the great promise of this story.3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. A terrible tragedyBy Doc ClawSadly, HTH is unable to sustain the momentum of a the first two books in this third volume to complete the series. I was actually furious and disappointed when I turned the last page, not only at the wasted potential, but at the time I wasted reading this piece of formulaic and sophomoric junk. I'd seriously question reading anything by him again-he may well be a one trick pony who has given it his best shot.Listing all the flaws in this book will take too long, but he commits some inexcusable errors. He appears to forget the ending of the second book, which had considerable ambiguity. He picks up as if it never happened, leading to a resolution that drains all the tension of the previous story line. He lets the romance between the two main characters, and the complex feelings there devolve into a classic duty-and-honor -before-personal-life scenario, again bleeding all of the emotional color from the work. He follows the story lines of a bunch of minor characters that add little in the way of plot development; its fluff before substance. Essential aspects of the character's motivations are dispatched in a routine and perfunctory fashion (SPOILER ALERT: the main characters emotional ambiguity upon finally meeting his father is resolved in a single, sparse paragraph. This would be the response of a person "abandoned", whose life is colored by that one event?). The ending ranges from deus ex machina to completely incomprehensible. About the only nice thing I can say is HTW retains his ability to get inside his character's heads-but he does this within the small world view of individual observations and neglects the big picture.I've seen some bad series ending before (see: Simmons, Dan; Farmer, Philip Jose), but this is about the worst. My advice-don't bother reading this book if you liked the first two. If you haven't started the serious, think seriously about doing so.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. a truly amazing bookBy Joanna NowakI was a bit stressed before reaching for the final part of the Fourth Realm trilogy as I had read many unfavourable opinions beforehand. To my mind, the whole set is a truly amazing story and The Golden City is amazing too. I agree that for anyone who expects that all plots will be solved on the last pages of the book the third book can be disappointing as there is no classic ending indeed and one may hunger for more after turning the last page. In my view, the way the book ends is consistent with the rest of the book and gives us an opportunity to imagine what would happen if it ended otherwise. I definitely recommend this book as well as the first two. Time spent with JTH's story was enjoyable, and this is exactly what I expect from a book.