Morning Star / Pierce Brown / 518 pgs.

The Red Rising trilogy ends with a huge bang. Darrow must complete what he set out to do seven years before, to "Break the Chains" of oppression that his people have lived under for seven hundred years. However, some of his friends have become his enemies while some of his enemies have become his friends. While he wages war against the Golds, a question remains, what will become of the worlds he conquers and can he lead the rebuilding after the ashes have settled?

Of the three books, Morning Star definitely my least favorite. That said, the whole trilogy was so unique that it deserves to be given as many stars as I can possibly deign to give it. What makes Morning Star difficult is that it gets a bit boring in the middle. Not from a lack of action. Far from it! But, honestly, from TOO MUCH action. I got bored from all of the fights, all of the razors and slingBlades and Olympic Knights and blood. So much bleeding! It really started to bore me and that was kind of scary when you think about it.

The heart of the series is the camaraderie between Darrow and his true friends like Sevro, Mustang, Ragnar, Victra, et cetera. When the Mr. Brown remembers that, the book is good. When it got far more gory than was necessary, it faltered. Pierce Brown did continue to do a bang up job with the dialogue, especially my favorite, Sevro. He's the master of getting different voices down and it's a shame that I've yet to get to listen to any of the audio book versions. I'll have to rectify it once I can stomach the brutality again.

Golden Son / Pierce Brown / 446 pgs

I just finished the second book in the Red Rising trilogy. If you have yet to read the first book, be warned that there may be spoilers in this post.




I mean it - total spoilerage





I warned you!




Ok, so I was warned beforehand that unlike its predecessor, Golden Son was much lighter on the action and far too political. My friend said that people lie to the main character, Darrow, right and left, which made the book far too annoying and much less enjoyable than Red Rising.


After having read the book, I disagree. To make it as succinct as possible, Golden Son is Game of Thrones in space. Like Game of Thrones, noble families are categorized in houses. People change allegiances, hopping from one powerful family to another. There are political intrigues, assassinations, wealthy daughters being given away in marriage to create new alliances, and there are even battles. In space!!! After having won the military academy tournament in the last book, Darrow takes the fight all the way up to the supreme ruler of the solar system, while having to maintain an alliance with the man who had his wife killed. I loved it and can't wait for Morningstar.

Red Rising / Pierce Brown / 382 pgs

Two years ago, when I was in the middle of a huge YA period in my life, I read Red Rising and enjoyed it immensely. Science Fiction! Dystopia! Mars! Hundreds of years into the future! Social stratification! Action! Seriously, what's not to love? I reread it this month so I could finally read the second book in the trilogy, Golden Son, and be ready for the final book, Morningstar, coming out today! It will be a few days before I can get my hands on that last book, but I cannot wait!


Red Rising is about Darrow, a young man living in the lowest caste of society. He, along with all the other Reds, have been told that they are the pioneers of Mars, mining for the element needed to terraform the planet for the rest of humanity. Earth won't be able to sustain life for much longer. His sacrifice will help future generations. Then Darrow finds out the awful truth about the totalitarian society in which he has been raised. This discovery leads to the infiltration of the elite military academy of the Golds. Golds are humans, just like Darrow, but with their superhuman strength and stamina, they might as well be a completely different lifeform.