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

Didnt feel like the end of the trilogy

I have been waiting for this book since the second I finished The Dark River. I even called to complain to Audible when it wasn't available the day that the book was published.

All that being said, I wasn't too impressed by The Golden City, Some of the plot points were resolved to easily and it felt jumpy. I even had to verify TWICE that I was listening to the unabridged version.

I wasn't really thrilled with how the book ended. For the FINAL book, I expected things to resolve, but there are a things left hanging out there. I know they can't all be fairy tale endings, but I was left unsatisfied at the end.

I would still recommend the entire series to friends and family.

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.

Too much lecture too little entertainment

Too much lecture on big brother too little entertainment. Particular tieing was the long monologue broadcast from Gabriel. I sure skipped that. It kept me going for a while but at the end I skipped a couple hours.

Overall a great book, but ending felt rushed

JTH managed to keep us hanging in there until the end. He didn't disappoint this reader, either, as The Golden City held a couple of surprises and the same roller coaster ride as before with some new twists and turns. However, I felt the ending was a bit rushed and not as thought out as his first two. I wanted a more polished ending, not too much, but not that little. I have to say it left me a bit "huh". But, wow! What a scary bad guy and what a realistic crisis that pulls Californians into submission. Whoa! Whoever you are, John Twelve Hawks, I like your style! Awakening society with fictional writing that parallels what is really going on right now. Is this really your last book? Say it isn't so!

Golden City turns out to be Technibond

Seldom have I ever gone through a trilogy that got worse with each new installment, but this one manages it. After greatly enjoying The Traveler and moderately enjoying The Dark River, I was UTTERLY disappointed by The Golden City. Talk about an author 'mailing it in'. The book has no energy, does not resolve earlier scenarios, sets up new scenarios that it does not resolve, and ends with one of the weakest wrap-ups I have ever listened to. Overall it was BORING and I forced myself to finish it because I'd already invested the time on the series. Even if you have gone through the first two books, don't feel obligated to waste your time on this one, it is a total let-down.

Weakest in the series

I really liked book one. But as this series has progressed, it has lost direction. This third part seems somewhat empty. Things come together but its all very predictable and lacking of the cleverness of the first book. Scott reads it well as we expect of him but even he can't put life into this corpse.

Disappointing

I waited so anxiously for this book, and it was such a disappointment when I finally got it. I loved the first two books, but this one just seemed flat. I fell asleep on it, woke up at the end and had no desire to go back and find out how I got there.

Not my favorite of the series.

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

I like the characters but some felt awkward in this book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hollis was my favorite character. I liked his change to become a Harlequin.

Which character – as performed by Scott Brick – was your favorite?

Hollis, probably. All were good

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

Worth listening to as it is the last in the trilogy but didn't measure up to the other two.

Pathetic end

Was OK until the ending. It has the worst ending I have ever heard (read).

Long- winded at times

Having enjoyed the first two books, I wanted to complete the trilogy. However, I found this book read more like a repetitious lecture(by certain characters) than a story at times. It would have been better if the story had been allowed to flow and speak for itself. On saying that, If you have read the previous two books then it is worth reading this final part...but maybe an abridged version? (shortening some of the boring monologues)

OCH!

The recording itself was good, but the ending was a major letdown for me. Honestly, I'd have been better off just reading the first book, "The Traveller" and leaving after that, whichis a real shame.