An Old Soul's Questions Entertained

George MacDonald was a venerated literary giant and Christian preacher of the Victorian Age. He mentored and influenced later scholars such as Lewis Carroll, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tokien, and others. Here is a MacDonald journal entry that would fit extrapolatively well as the lead-in quote to the opening chapter of 'The Golden Age'.

"April 2

Some things wilt thou not one day turn to dreams?
Some dreams wilt thou not one day turn to fact?
The thing that painful, more than should be, seems,
Shall not thy sliding years with them retract-
Shall fair realities not counteract?
The thing that was well dreamed of bliss and joy-
Wilt thou not breathe thy life into the toy?

- George MacDonald
A Book of Strife, in the Form of the Diary of an Old Soul (1880)"

This short prose-poem and its four inquiries are prophetically entertained in John C. Wright's 'The Golden Age' trilogy. This reader is deliciously tempted to conclude Wright derives his story line from these seven verses.

Our manor borne/created Phaethon, telepresenting himself across the holodecks of the conquered Solar System, searching for answers. He needs to know why he had voluntarily redacted two-hundred-fify years of his immortal memory. The protagonist is a mere three-thousand-year old engineer. He is the heir to a noble house known for its wonting the Victorian Age mores and social refinements.

This first book of the trilogy is not only a novel par excellence, it also serves to reawaken thematic questions on perfecting civilizations. Questions such as: If utopia is desired or to be attained, who should decide and by what means? How does one know when utopia is attained, and for whom? Could utopia encourage, tolerate, or accomodate individual pursuits?

After reading 'The Golden Age', one will want to hitch a ride on 'The Phoenix Exultant'. More kaleidoscopic realities lie doggo in book two of this utopian quest saga.