The Golden Age (John C. Wright novel)

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The Golden Age (2002, ISBN 0-312-84870-6) is the science fiction novel by John C. Wright. His first novel, it takes place in his single future universe.

The story revolves around the protagonist Phaethon, whose full name is Phaethon Prime Rhadamanth Humodified (augment) Uncomposed, Indepconciousness, Base Neuroformed, Silver-Gray Manorial Schola, Era 7043 (the "Reawakening"). The novel concerns Phaethon's discovery that parts of his past have been edited out of his mind-- apparently by himself.

The Golden Age's story and plot is continued in the books, The Phoenix Exultant and The Golden Transcendence.

The novel includes many classical literary references. Phaethon's name and character are direct references to the Greek myth of Phaethon who stole his father's (the sun god Helios) chariot and rode it too close to the Earth. There are also references to works of the SF canon: the title and characters conform to the mould established by Robert Heinlein in the 1940s and 50s that constituted the "Golden Age" of SF. The book's subtitle also describes itself as a "Romance of the far future," not far removed from "Scientific Romance" works of H.G. Wells.