Review: Morning Star

Book three of the Red Rising trilogy
By Pierce Brown
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)

I didn't know how Pierce Brown could finagle his way out of the cliffhanger of GOLDEN SON or tie off all the dangling plot threads.  The heft of MORNING STAR alone shows what a daunting task it was to finish off this story.  But Brown managed.

I have a few, tiny complaints.  I felt that I didn't get to know the new characters in MORNING STAR, such as Sefi, as much as I needed too.  This book was a bit lighter on the character and relationship development overall than the other too, since so much action was needed to complete the war.  Nitpicking, however, is all I can do.

I read MORNING STAR with a giant grin on my face.  (Exceptions made for the death scenes.  I knew characters would die, but I hated saying goodbye to some of my favorites.)  Darrow and Sevro reunite!  Darrow and Mustang reunite!  Harrowing battles!  Clever ruses!  Unlikely allies!  MORNING STAR is more of what I loved in RED RISING and GOLDEN SON.

Absolutely, positively, do not start with this book.  Go back to the beginning, pass Go, and collect $200.  (You won't actually get any money, but you might feel like you did.)  This is a satisfying science fiction saga about one man managing to make a difference with the help of good friends against terrible enemies.  I'm so happy Brown didn't punt the landing.

Review: Golden Son

Book two of the Red Rising trilogy
By Pierce Brown
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
Review copy
Read my review of Red Rising

GOLDEN SON starts several years after RED RISING.  Darrow is about to graduate the Academy, command his own fleet, and aid the Sons of Ares right under the nose of the ArchGovernor of Mars.  Unfortunately, his plan goes awry and he must scramble to stay one step ahead of his enemies if he wants to stay alive.

GOLDEN SON is an action-packed book that will thrill fans of RED RISING who have been eagerly awaiting Darrow's next adventure. Those who haven't read RED RISING will likely be very, very confused.  There are a variety of intricate alliances and the book makes no effort to catch readers up on what has happened before.  GOLDEN SON expects you to have a good memory.

Now, it wasn't a perfect book.  There's a lag in the middle, and Darrow continually makes surprisingly stupid decisions.  He's amazing at tactics, great at strategy, and yet he often misses the obvious or puts off doing things he knows he must do.  I forgive some of those mistakes because he is only twenty, but at the same time, this is what he's trained to do and is suppose to be a genius at.  To be fair, I mostly noticed these issues after finishing the novel.  I was too busy flipping pages to find out what happened next while reading.

I love how much happens in GOLDEN SON.  It isn't just war.  It's evaluating what you're fighting for, and how you're going to do it so that you can look at yourself in the mirror.  It's about finding the humanity in people who aren't like you, and reaching out to the best in people instead of encouraging their worst.  For a dark, grim series, there's a truly optimistic core.

I do warn you that there is quite the cliffhanger.  If you aren't a fan of cliffhangers, you might wait until the final book of the trilogy comes out next year.  Things look grim for Darrow and his allies, but I have hope that red will rise in the end.

Review: Red Rising

Book one in a trilogy
By Pierce Brown
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I haven't felt this way about a book in awhile.  Finishing RED RISING left me revved up, ready for more.  I love that I got to read it early, but I loathe it because I have to wait that much longer for more.  I was fully sucked into Darrow's world and didn't want to leave it.

Darrow is a Red on the planet Mars.  He and his people live beneath the surface, mining for the elements necessary to terraform Mars.  Then, after narratively obvious tragedy strikes, Darrow discovers that the Martian surface is already colonized and the upper classes are using the Reds as slaves.  Thus begins his thirst for revenge.

The worldbuilding of RED RISING isn't perfect, but I love how detailed it is.  The book wasn't rushed at all.  It lingers over the details of Darrow's transformation, his infiltration of the Golds, his time at the brutal Institute.  And I love the characters.  The Golds as a whole are awful, but on an individual level they vary quite a bit.  That's something Darrow has to face as he pursues his vengeance.  (Although I did often yell at him to stop going on about how so-and-so was so great because couldn't he see that he was dooming yet another person to poignant death?)

RED RISING is quite grim and violent, but I didn't find it depressing.  In fact, I often found it quite exhilarating.  Darrow's journey is a rough one, but that's what makes it so interesting.  Also, RED RISING is being published as an adult novel, but it reads very similar to YA to me.  Darrow is sixteen and the book is told in first person present tense. 

Now that RED RISING has gotten all the setup out of the way, I can't wait to see where this series is going.  I'll be back for book two with bells on.