"Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating conclusion to the Red Rising Trilogy: Morning Star. Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within. Finally, the time has come. But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To …
"Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating conclusion to the Red Rising Trilogy: Morning Star. Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within. Finally, the time has come. But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied--and too glorious to surrender. Advance praise for Morning Star "Multilayered and seething with characters who exist in a shadow world between history and myth, much as in Frank Herbert's Dune. an ambitious and satisfying conclusion to a monumental saga."--Kirkus Reviews Praise for Pierce Brown and the Red Rising Trilogy Red Rising "[A] spectacular adventure. one heart-pounding ride. Pierce Brown's dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender's Game. [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric."--Entertainment Weekly "[A] top-notch debut novel. Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field."--USA Today "Pierce Brown has done an astounding job at delivering a powerful piece of literature that will definitely make a mark in the minds of readers."--The Huffington Post Golden Son "Brown writes layered, flawed characters. but plot is his most breathtaking strength. Every action seems to flow into the next."--NPR "In a word, Golden Son is stunning. Among science fiction fans, it should be a shoo-in for book of the year."--Tor.com "The jaw-dropper of an ending will leave readers hungry for the conclusion to Brown's wholly original, completely thrilling saga."--Booklist (starred review)"--
"The conclusion of the Red Rising trilogy. Born a lowly Red in the mines of Mars, Darrow lost his beloved wife to the treacherous Gold overlords. Vowing to fight for the future that his wife believed in, Darrow joins a secret revolutionary group and is remade into a Gold so that he can infiltrate the ruling class and bring them down from the inside. Now, after years of hiding amongst the Golds, Darrow is finally ready to declare open revolution and throw off the chains of oppression. Nothing in Darrow's world has been easily won, and this final fight will be the most harrowing of all"--
What a finale, I'm glad I reread this before starting the new trilogy^
I remembered a lot, surprisingly, which is maybe why I was not as impacted by my reading, but nonetheless I enjoy Darrow's character a lot, especially in this book after all that happened. I also liked all the other characters and their interactions, more than any battle/space scenes, can't wait to see what the author will do in the next books!
This series was one of the best I’ve read in quite a while. So much action and excitement! The pace of the story was so quick that I could have kept reading from start to finish if I had the time. Definitely recommended it to friends and family. This series made my top list for sure.
I found this interesting enough but a less well written and cohesive than the first two novels in the series. Perhaps the story and theme are simply "running out of steam."
But life is the present and the future, not the past.
My rating of the book is based on the quality of Morning Star but also how it completes the Red Rising trilogy. Each installment in this series is excellent and actions from previous books are noted and have repercussions in the finale. I find that a trilogy may have a stumble in quality along the line, but each book for Red Rising was excellent and this five star rating is based on the sum of its parts.
I faulted the first book for having too narrow of a scope. Yet it did an excellent job of laying the foundation for friendships and beliefs. The decisions made then have consequences now and they feel that much more significant because they were set in motion at the first book. The friendships and betrayals from the Institute were more significant than I …
But life is the present and the future, not the past.
My rating of the book is based on the quality of Morning Star but also how it completes the Red Rising trilogy. Each installment in this series is excellent and actions from previous books are noted and have repercussions in the finale. I find that a trilogy may have a stumble in quality along the line, but each book for Red Rising was excellent and this five star rating is based on the sum of its parts.
I faulted the first book for having too narrow of a scope. Yet it did an excellent job of laying the foundation for friendships and beliefs. The decisions made then have consequences now and they feel that much more significant because they were set in motion at the first book. The friendships and betrayals from the Institute were more significant than I expected and the students weren't able to brush off what happened as just being a part of a simple game.
I feel like a prisoner who spent his whole life digging through the wall, only to break through and find he's dug into another cell. Except there will always be another cell. And another. And another.
There was a pleasant amount of twists and turns but I also thought to myself "how is that person still alive?!", and at times it felt slightly comical. Morning Star had some wonderful emotional moments but if characters had a true death there may have been more of an impact. Even though I was trying to predict the next deception I wasn't really. To use a quote from The Prestige: "You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled." and each time I was and pleased for the feint.
Morning Star continues to juggle action and plot around topics of social rights, prejudices and racism. This put me on my own journey as I struggled with the main concept of the stories: can people change.
We all have nature and nurture to shape us. She can watch other people's opinions when she has opinions of her own, and no sooner. We're not digital creatures. We're flesh and blood. Better she learns that before the world finds her.
You wanted to believe that a character would redeem themselves and look beyond Color, but at the same time you were also rooting for them to remain evil monsters and abandon friendships and trust. Pierce Brown had to walk a fine line to satisfy both moods and he did an excellent job.
Government is never the solution, but it is almost always the problem.
The inter planetary setting was a great location but with planets and moons terraformed and populated there wasn't much diversity between locations. I realize that science and technology advanced to a point where our current solar system is unrecognizable but it would have been great if orbital mechanics were accounted for in strategies. However, when you fly a "MoonBreaker" or a ship 7KM in length then the minutia of gravity isn't something you need to account for.
Forget a man's name and he'll forgive you. Remember it, and he'll defend you forever.
I can understand how some readers may find the caste system and racism a bit heavy handed at times but it's wrapped around a really fun and engaging story. I am glad to have stumbled across this series and I will read the second trilogy once it's completed.
In the afterword Pierce Brown wrote about his writing process for Morning Star and found this quote about Darrow to be insightful as the focus of the story did seem to shift in this book.
I began to understand that Darrow wasn't the focus anymore. It was the people around him. It was his family, his friends, his loves, the voices...
I had more quote highlights than usual in this book and when looking back at them now they are as applicable in today's world as they are in Darrow's but the most striking and significant would be this one:
We must save ourselves from ourselves before the inheritance of humanity is ash.
The outstanding conclusion of a very fun series, Morning Star doesn't pull any punches. It's full of twists and turns, enemies that become friends and vice versa. Again, i'm staying away from the spoilers, but I will say that it was a refreshing trilogy, that balanced fun and action with complex world building and most importantly, political awareness. These are books that not only question power structures but that reflect on the difficulty on changing them, on the immense difficulty of rebuilding after war. The pain and loss that revolution brings, but also the hope and love that fuel it. This would be an amazing movie series, rivaling easily the hunger games. If you are into sci fi and are looking something fun, fast paced, but also smart and political. Get into it!
J’avais déjà beaucoup aimé le premier tome de cette trilogie, la mise en place des personnages et de l’univers proposé par Pierce Brown m’avait conquise. Et pourtant, cette introduction me paraît à présent bien en dessous des volumes suivants, Golden Son et Morning Star.
I had to begin this immediately upon finishing the prior book. I don't know how fans could have stood the year between novels. I'm impressed this was pushed out in a year regardless. We have so little time to do so much and it is done and done well.
Brown has created some real good characters here. They're not as deep as one could go but they are deep enough to build really well-modeled people after. Ones you like, you hate, you despise, and you adore. Many things in between those shades as well. I could easily see this becoming its own movie series but I think a lot of great moments and internal dialog would end up on the cutting room floor.
I get hung every once in a while on space. After reading anything from [b:Old Man's War|51964|Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)|John Scalzi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402867788s/51964.jpg|50700] to [b:Leviathan Wakes|8855321|Leviathan …
I had to begin this immediately upon finishing the prior book. I don't know how fans could have stood the year between novels. I'm impressed this was pushed out in a year regardless. We have so little time to do so much and it is done and done well.
Brown has created some real good characters here. They're not as deep as one could go but they are deep enough to build really well-modeled people after. Ones you like, you hate, you despise, and you adore. Many things in between those shades as well. I could easily see this becoming its own movie series but I think a lot of great moments and internal dialog would end up on the cutting room floor.
I get hung every once in a while on space. After reading anything from [b:Old Man's War|51964|Old Man's War (Old Man's War, #1)|John Scalzi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1402867788s/51964.jpg|50700] to [b:Leviathan Wakes|8855321|Leviathan Wakes (Expanse, #1)|James S.A. Corey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1411013134s/8855321.jpg|13730452] (and many others.) You learn to fear space. It's empty, dangerous, and the technology to exist takes a lot of work. All of Maslov's pyramid for existing in space is really really lightly touched--here is a world that makes food, everything runs on Helium-3, space ships have artificial gravity, and it just works. There's a lot of space magic. That's fine. I can suspend disbelief and let this roll, but it tickles the back of my mind wondering the hows. The might of technology (from space to weapons) is here, but we know nothing of how they work (how the hell does a razor power itself..AHH--see I'm doing it again.)
Back to the story. This finale is a rollercoaster of a ride. As a reader you want things to succeed. As an author of an adventure Brown has to throw us curve ball after curve ball to get us there. The last few chapters were so shocking I almost passed out at work. Reading in between customers at one moment, my heart broke for a while... later at home when I was able to continue, my mind kept wanting to find the ruse.. Maybe it was there, maybe it wasn't.. Spoil you later.
The ending is satisfying, this phase in our visit to Brown's world is closing. Always room for more but I'm glad everything found its niche and even with the sorrowful loss of many great people this book earns its wings.
Holy shit, this is the best book/series I've read in a long time. Finished the series in under 3 weeks. I probably shoulnd't have started reading in the middle of an exam week, but oh well. I LOVED this book - it's amazing.
Spoiler! At 88% I was furious. By the end, I felt like an asshole. Great book. I'm sad to be at the end. I've heard talk of more along the story line but we'll have to wait and see. Until then...
After book 2 things were looking pretty grim for Darrow but as we have seen in the series so far it keeps getting more and more brutal.
The style of this series really sets it apart from other young adult, post apocalyptic stories and I certainly recommend it to anyone who thought hunger games had too much love triangle and not enough brutality and politics.
