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    Transcendental
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    Transcendental
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    Transcendental
    Audiobook8 hours

    Transcendental

    Written by James Gunn

    Narrated by T. Ryder Smith

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Riley, a veteran of interstellar war, is one of many beings from many different worlds aboard a ship on a pilgrimage that spans the galaxy. However, he is not journeying to achieve transcendence, a vague mystical concept that has drawn everyone else on the ship to this journey into the unknown at the far edge of the galaxy. His mission is to find and kill the prophet who is reputed to help others transcend. While their ship speeds through space, the voyage is marred by violence and betrayal, making it clear that some of the ship' s passengers are not the spiritual seekers they claim to be.
    Like the pilgrims in Chaucer' s Canterbury Tales , a number of those on the starship share their unique stories. But as tensions rise, Riley realizes that the ship is less like the Canterbury Tales and more like a harrowing, deadly ship of fools. When he becomes friendly with a mysterious passenger named Asha, he thinks she' s someone he can trust. However, like so many others on the ship, Asha is more than she appears. Uncovering her secrets could be the key to Riley' s personal quest, or make him question everything he thought he knew about Transcendentalism and his mission to stop it.
    James Gunn's Transcendental is a space adventure filled with excitement and intrigue that explores the nature of what unifies all beings.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books Audio
    Release dateNov 1, 2013
    ISBN9781470380212
    Author

    James Gunn

    James Gunn (1923–2020) was an award-winning science fiction author of more than twenty books, including The Listeners and Transformation. He was also the author of dozens of short stories such as "The Immortals" and editor of ten anthologies. 

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    Reviews for Transcendental

    3.5/5

    38 ratings6 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Well written, but the technological background seems very old school for a 2010 book which made it difficult to stay immersed.
    • 5/5
      I've never read anything by SFWA Grand Master James Gunn, so I was very excited when I received a review copy of his newest novel, TRANSCENDENTAL from Tor.TRANSCENDENTAL follows a variety of humans and aliens aboard a starship on a very unique pilgrimage - finding the machine that will help them achieve the mystical concept known as transcendence. The protagonist is Riley, a veteran of the recent Galactic War, who has been placed on the ship to find and kill the Prophet of the transcendence movement. As the journey progresses, though, it soon becomes clear that almost no one on the ship is what they seem.I really enjoyed this book; it was a great science fiction yarn. It focuses a lot on universe-building and cool ideas, but is still fast-paced and entertaining (unlike quite a few classic sci-fi novels I could name). All of the pilgrims are fascinating characters individually, and together they give the impression of a very diverse and interesting universe. I thought the Canterbury Tales-style stories were a bit of a cheat at first, but the unreliable narration makes the stories multidimensional. The protagonist, Riley is a somewhat bland, but I think that actually strengthens the book - he's a good representative of the human race, not a special snowflake of a human.I'm often sceptical of the combination of science fiction and spirituality, even though I think they go naturally together (you always need something that keeps the sense of wonder going), so I was worried about all the hype being built up around the Transcendental Machine. I think it was resolved very well, though, and I didn't have to suspend my disbelief as much as I thought I would.I hope that there's a sequel to TRANSCENDENTAL, because I would really love to spend more time in this universe!
    • 4/5
      Pros: variety of aliens, excellent pacing, interesting mysteryCons: impersonal protagonist, telling rather than showing makes it hard to feel immersed in the storyRiley joins a mixed group of alien and human pilgrims chasing after hints that an alien machine has been discovered that helps entities transcend. But not everyone wants such a device found, for the galaxy is enjoying a hard won peace, a peace they believe this machine will upset.I was told that this was a sort of Canterbury Tales told in space. While Chaucer is referenced a time or two and some of the characters do tell stories, it’s not really a good comparison. Chaucer’s tales are for enlightenment and entertainment. Gunn’s tales are for exposition with regards to learning about character backgrounds and alien cultures. Riley is an unreliable narrator. Though you’re getting the story from his point of view, you’re unclear of his motivations. You’re constantly warned not to trust anyone - including him, and told that everyone is lying about everything. This makes it difficult to get to know any of the characters, or feel like you’re really connecting with them or with the story.Similarly, when the characters do start telling about their pasts - lies though their tales might be - it’s through narration that feels more like info dumps than a character explaining why they’ve decided to make a pilgrimage. Their stories are more about how their different races evolved or how they joined the Galactic Council than about their personal presence on the voyage. I found some of the stories more interesting than others, though they were all unique.The book’s pacing is excellent. Each time I started to question things and need more information to maintain my interest, that information was provided. I was surprised at how early the Prophet was revealed - I expected it to be revealed as part of the climax - but it was a revelation that ramped up the tension for the end of the book.There are a number of mysteries that come up at different times in the book from assassination attempts to what the transcendental machine actually is. Enough answers were provided that the ending felt satisfying.It may not be the Canterbury Tales in space, but it does have some interesting elements to it and it was a quick, entertaining read.
    • 4/5
      After the Galactic War, pack a bunch of aliens into a dilapidated starship, all on a pilgrimage for a rumored Transcendental Machine. Add a human hero blackmailed with a lethal brain implant to go on that pilgrimage to destroy the machine and its Prophet. Throw in some shipboard assassinations, and you have the setting for Gunn’s latest novel.While a nod is made to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, you don’t have to know those stories to like this book. The pilgrims’ tales here all reveal not only the back stories of individuals, human and alien, but the history of the many alien species and the origins of the Galactic War and why each pilgrim seeks transcendence.Readers unfamiliar with Gunn will get a fast-paced tale that begins and ends with combat as well as lot of aliens worked out in detail.Fans of Gunn will encounter a story with more action and intrigue than any of his other novels except, maybe, his collaboration with Jack Williamson, Star Bridge. They’ll also see another working out of his idea that contentment and stasis are deadly to a species.It’s an enigmatic tale that critic Donald M. Hassler has suggested mixes Robert A. Heinlein and H. P. Lovecraft.Gunn has never written a series of novels, but he has suggested he might actually do a sequel to this story. I hope he does and answers some of the many questions that came to my mind after finishing this novel.
    • 4/5
      Transcendental by James Gunn is a fascinating book about a pilgrimage that promises “Transcendence” (fulfillment of one's potential) for pilgrims who visit the Transcendence Machine. This pilgrimage requires a long arduous interstellar space flight on a very decrepit spaceship with a less than reassuring human captain and crew and a motley group of alien pilgrims of all shapes, colors, and physiologies from all over the Galaxy. To enhance the reader’s enchantment with the many alien pilgrims, several of the aliens tell their stories, which include descriptions of their home star systems/planets, environmental requirements, evolution of their species, their societies, and their individual lives. The novel focuses on Riley, an involuntary pilgrim whose mission is to determine whether a “prophet” is aboard and (if so) kill the prophet. Nevertheless, Riley attempts to keep the alien pilgrims and the ship’s captain and crew from violence, while trying to determine whether the prophet is aboard. Everyone on board the ship endures a distrustful, conspiratorial, and violent atmosphere, as well as the constant danger and discomfort of space flight. Riley forms tenuous alliances with several passengers and the Captain. However, he realizes that he cannot trust anyone on this voyage, and he begins to question his mission. I found this novel to be a very entertaining and satisfying read that enhances the reader’s experience of space travel and human/alien interaction. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys science fiction. How could I not highly recommend a book written by James Gunn, one of the oldest living SFWA Grand Masters?
    • 4/5
      Transcendental by James Edwin Gunn is rightfully self described as a Canterbury Tales space opera. As a group of travelers are trapped together on a ship bound for an unknown destination on a pilgrimage, they take turns telling their life stories.Beyond the Chaucer connection, Transcendental most reminds me of Greenglass House by Kate Milford. Both are confined settings, with unusual characters all brought to the same place for related reasons. Both books involve these characters becoming trapped together, either by a snow storm, or by an out of control space ship. Both involve the characters taking turns telling stories relating to the current situation (history of the house or the reason for the pilgrimage).While I enjoyed the present day story — that being the space opera in the ship, I found the numerous background stories tedious at times. Gunn's aliens are as varied as Hal Clement's were but they lacked, for me at least, the authenticity of voice as Clement's. Not all of them, mind you, but enough of them to get me into heavy skimming mode more than I would have liked.