The Golden City

The Fourth Realm, Book 3

By: John Twelve Hawks

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

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 River 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.

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.

Listen to the first two books in the Fourth Realm trilogy: The Traveler and The Dark River.

©2009 John Twelve Hawks (P)2009 Random House Audio

Makes you think

This is the third book in the series. I enjoyed reading the first two but found it easier to listen to the third due to limited time available for reading. Enjoyed this.

End of a Great Trilogy

What made the experience of listening to The Golden City the most enjoyable?

The different character voices of Scott Brick.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Golden City?

The ending.

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

Loved listening to him and the different voices he was able to create.

The Golden City

I read the review by Brad and they echo my sentiments. I too am looking for the 4th book. This ws a great story and a lot of fun The characters have been so well developed and the story can continue!!

Left me wanting more...

The Fourth Realm trilogy by John Twelve Hawks is not conventional science fiction by any means. In fact, it is debatable whether it belongs in the science fiction category at all - but I will leave that to other readers to sort out. I picked up the first book (The Traveler) in print form in a used bookstore. It sat on my "to read" shelf for months, until I ran out of anything else to read. As soon as I started reading, I was hooked, and listened to the subsequent two audiobooks. with their excellent narration by Scott Brick. I only wish there were more, as I became very caught up in the story line, the theme and the characters. John Twelve Hawks is a mystery (google the name), which may enhance the reading experience for some. Two remarkable attributes made this book stand out for me: (1) Scott Brick, who is obviously a popular narrator of audiobooks, did an outstanding job with this series, especially with the female characters. I am often irritated by some male narrators who portray all women in silly falsetto voices, completely distracting the listener and making it impossible to consider these characters seriously. Mr. Brick delineates each character well, and the strong female characters in this book are not diminished; and (2) the characters are allowed to grow and develop as the saga unfolds. Whoever John Twelve Hawks is, I hope to read more books by this author.

Fitting ending to an excellent trilogy

After finishing the second book I was disappointed there was not more time spent in the alternative worlds. The third book did not disappoint. This book features plenty of other world travelling. The main characters all get satisfying ends to their journeys.

Too Political

The first Traveler was one of my favorites. But as the series progressed, more politics and less action.

Worth your credit...

The whole series is a worthwhile read. The ending isn’t as bad as some reviews are saying. I think it’s actually quite apropos. Thoughtful and enjoyable series!

Disappointing..

I like everyone else waited for this book, but unfortunately this book ends as though there is a fourth book. It's as though the author did not know how to finish the trilogy...and so he didn't!
By all means read this book, because you'll be anxious to know how it all ends..the trouble is, it doesn't! Ah Mr. Twelve Hawks, I cannot believe how unbelievably frustrated you made me feel. The message you were trying to convey was lost...for me because you decided to make the ending so incongruent!

If you started the series, ah well...

I was impressed with the imagination of the author in respects to his approach to spirtuality in all of his novels. His story telling had a very natural rhythm in the first two novels. Twelve Hawks' story telling reached a high in The Dark River. Plot points seemlessly flowed and felt very real and organic. Unfortuantely, The Golden City, while expanding on some great ideas on the spiritual planes fell short in the story telling dept. It had the feel of an author that was rushed, heavily edited, or lost intrest in his own storyline. The resolutions to the conflicts are barely believeable and utterly unsatisfying. The Golden City is not a bad read, just an extremely dissapointing ending to the story arc created in the first two novels.

Excellent Example of Urban Fiction!

The author does a great job of blending fantasy and reality in this series. I've read all three of them and found them to be a solid example of modern science-fiction-- the trilogy shows the consequences of where technology can take our society. I also enjoyed the "traveling."

The narrator was okay, but his accent for the African-American characters were terrible. Comically terrible, as if he's never met one in real life.

I do think the series could use a bit of an edit, in terms of repetition, but I still enjoyed the book.