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A review by secre
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I thought Red Rising was an excellent book. And it is. But Golden Son absolutely blows it out of the water. It completely expands the world building and offers a far broader and more expansive plot, whilst never losing sight of the character development and personal narratives. Red Rising was very much a dark YA dystopia, which kind of veered into adult territory due to the violence and gore but was fairly squarely in the 'Hunger Games' line of writing. It was good, but fairly simplistic and didn't offer the full scope of world building. Golden Son veers off and is absolutely an adult military science fiction.
From the fairly insular world of the Academy, Golden Son propels us into the wider world and forces Darrow into far more adult and strategic decisions. It goes from the 'competition to the death' genre into absolute and total war, lives on the line, blood spilled and friends and comrades lost. Darrow is forced to balance the two sides of his life; his old life as a Red and his decision to overthrow the Gold's from within and his new life as a Gold with all the friends, allies and enemies he's found along the way.
The character development continues to be exemplary and I found myself becoming genuinely attached to individuals. Which is a pity in a way as whilst Brown isn't quite as trigger happy as say George R.R. Martin, there's still absolutely no guarantee that any of your favourites will make it through the pages alive. And the ending... I've rarely been impressed by a cliffhanger ending, but I was undoubtedly impressed by this one.
All in all, an absolutely stunning continuation of an excellent series. I look forward to the next book.
From the fairly insular world of the Academy, Golden Son propels us into the wider world and forces Darrow into far more adult and strategic decisions. It goes from the 'competition to the death' genre into absolute and total war, lives on the line, blood spilled and friends and comrades lost. Darrow is forced to balance the two sides of his life; his old life as a Red and his decision to overthrow the Gold's from within and his new life as a Gold with all the friends, allies and enemies he's found along the way.
The character development continues to be exemplary and I found myself becoming genuinely attached to individuals. Which is a pity in a way as whilst Brown isn't quite as trigger happy as say George R.R. Martin, there's still absolutely no guarantee that any of your favourites will make it through the pages alive. And the ending... I've rarely been impressed by a cliffhanger ending, but I was undoubtedly impressed by this one.
All in all, an absolutely stunning continuation of an excellent series. I look forward to the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence