Reviews with content warning for Gore - Golden Son

Having survived the brutal war games of the Academy, Darrow is launched into Gold society. Here he must survive and negotiate planetary politics, blood feuds and shifting agendas to further his own revolutionary designs.

I wondered how the scope of the story would change following Red Rising and Brown did not disappoint. Gold politics are integral to Golden Son and it’s impossible for these sections to be dry, on account of all the bloodshed. If you’re not into fictional politics, you might struggle with this book but, to be honest, there’s probably enough action to carry you through even if that’s not your exact cup of tea. This book is packed with combat ranging from one-on-one duels to interstellar warfare. And, if that’s not enough, Ares is unmasked in this book; a reveal I found to be narratively satisfying.

The cast of characters is, quite literally, colourful: Ragnar, an Obsidian, Orion, a Blue, and Theodora, a Pink, were my favourite additions. As before, friendship, trust, and loyalty stay on as key themes. As an aside, I do wish Mustang had been more developed in this second outing. Her character absolutely has potential, but I thought she was criminally under-used in this novel.

Epic Fantasy is a recognised sub-genre – with Golden Son, I’d be able to make a pretty strong case for this series being Epic Sci-Fi. This book is very much about building the legend of the Reaper and, after THAT ending, I’m deeply intrigued to see how the legend unfurls.

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laguerrelewis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

All your favorite (surviving) characters from the last book + a few new faces move to battle in space with this installment. The political intricacies, violence, and undercurrent of revolution are all still present in mostly the same ways, but now instead of the Institute, Darrow and his allies have entered the actual society. While there was a lot that I liked that carried over, there was also a lot that I didn’t like. The writing style of these books makes it hard for me to truly get into them. Pretentiousness with little substance, undercutting the few moments where it’s actually fitting. I especially don’t like how women are discussed—this book is incredibly horny, which is distracting, off-putting, and hurts the female characters. If you can get past all that the action is great, the build is pretty engaging, and this book at least meets the level of its predecessor.

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marcella98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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powkaye's review against another edition

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The book was just too violent

they bashed babies heads in

Also I was told that the writing and overall story would improve from book one but over 100 pages in and wasn’t getting better it was getting worse.

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astrea13's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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katiefronk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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heyjaycee's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A couple of years after the events of Red Rising, Darrow is embedded deep in his campaign to infiltrate Gold society and rise to the top so he can destroy it from within. Out of the Academy, there's bigger and badder foes to deal with, and consequences are more dire. Darrow must navigate politics and war to come out of the turmoil in a position of ultimate power if he's to turn the Golds against themselves, fracture society, and liberate the lowColours.

I mean, wow. Golden Son went hard. If I thought Red Rising was brutal, then damn, my eyes have been opened. Golden Son is the story of Darrow figuring out how to trust anyone when he's living a deadly lie, and how important trust in his Gold fellows is when he's putting his life on the line in the gambit of civil war.

Is this too vague? I honestly don't know how to talk about this book, and not just because everything is such a spoiler. So. Much. Happens! Twists and turns all over the place. Absolutely gripping, and very dark.

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