Golden Son

by Pierce Brown

430 pages

English language

Published Aug. 6, 2015

ISBN:: 978-0-345-53982-3
Goodreads:: 18966819

(106 reviews)

As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.

A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.

He must live for more.

4 editions

kim karma reviewed Golden Son by Pierce Brown (The Red Rising Saga, #2)

Review of 'Golden Son' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Audiobook
I had this book in my queue for a while but didn't rush to listen to it because while I did like Red Rising, I didn't feel the rush to go back to that world.

What a mistake. This book is better than the first, faster pacing, much more intrigue etc. I usually only listen to a book one maybe two hours at a time, this time I raced through it because I just had to see what comes next. The upside to waiting so long to read this is that I finished it days before the release of the third book, which is at the top of my queue now.

Yashima reviewed Golden Son by Pierce Brown (The Red Rising Saga, #2)

Review of 'Golden Son' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

TL;DR Intrigue-stuffed Rome in Space follow-up to Hunger Games in the Middle Ages. If you enjoyed [b: Red Rising|15839976|Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, #1)|Pierce Brown|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1369153188s/15839976.jpg|21580644] and speak Latin, this book is for you.

Some time has passed since the first book. Darrow has been to the 'Academy' and learned to fight space battles. Augustus is his mentor or sponsor or whatever-you-want-to-call-it while the Sons of Ares seem to have vanished. Darrow is a rising star about to win the final fight of the Academy tests with his coterie of friends and ascend to be an Imperator of the fleet. Of course nothing ever turns out the way it is planned. And the old saying still holds: the higher you rise, the deeper you fall, especially when your grav-boots give out.

This book is full of treachery, intrigue and missed connections. I believe there are several characters that change their allegiance so often it becomes hard to keep track whose side they are on. Add to that Darrow's countless attempts to make things right with his friends by resolving to talk to them, and then not following through ... it makes for a rather stressful read.

There are a few exciting reveals, but most of this book consists of extremely long action sequences that cost me two good nights of sleep because I don't put down a book in the middle of a fight scene. Those sequences are too bloodydamn long. Too many fight scenes with too much description of "he moved there and hit him here" drown out the characters and sometimes even the plot.

And then there's the nearly satisfying climax which had just the right note of bitterness, until it turns Red Wedding and half the cast dies ... again..

Minus 2 stars because (a) this book could and should have been shorter, (b) too much confusion in the plot, and (c) I still don't like Darrow. This is a purely subjective rating based on how much I personally liked this book. The actual book is better than my rating.