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A review by madcassier
Red Rising: Sons of Ares #3 by Rik Hoskin, Eli Powell, Pierce Brown
5.0
*screeches in delight...before it turns into sobs*
It's just not gonna end well for anybody involved and I am just preparing myself for the moment this series tears my heart out of my chest, lights it on fire, and then stomps on the ashes.
This is, without question, the best issue yet. I think that each issue has steadily improved upon its predecessor, but this is the first time I read an issue and didn't feel like I was cut off mid-sentence. Yes, I understand that is kind of how issues work -- they depend, many a time, upon the cliffhanger-effect -- and while the story is still incomplete, I didn't feel left in the lurch. I felt like this ended at a natural pausing point.
BRYN. WE HAVE FINALLY MET BRYN. I love this woman, and I can see not only how Fitchner falls in love with her, but how she, too, falls in love with Fitchner. But even more so, I like how the circumstances around their meeting informs us even more about the society of Red Rising, by showing us how truly ingrained the societal pyramid is within the minds of the people.
The fact that during an emergency situation, Fitchner would behave like, oh I don't know, a decent f-ing human being and leap in to save people who just so happen to be lower colours (predominantly Reds), on instinct is mind-boggling to the Reds who, in turn, have to then rescue him. The inherent inequality is completely lost on them (so it seems) and it's just...it's borderline astonishing to read because, as someone who is obviously not in this world, Fitchner's actions seem like something anyone would do. But, in the world of Red Rising, his behaviour is a massive exception and not the rule.
And yet Fitchner's behaviour during this emergency incident feels perfectly in line with his character, because we see a person not only disillusioned with the society in which he lives -- especially the petty social politics of the Golds -- but someone who is also still (clearly) dealing with trauma he sustained during his tenure at The Institute. And it makes perfect sense: The Institute is a highly stressful, traumatizing environment. Not only must you kill someone to even truly make it into The Institute, but once there, you endure "mock" War Games that feel anything but "mock." People hurt, people kill, people die. Now, yes, as a Gold, Fitchner is expected to bury any sort of emotions related to such events in the name of power and glory...but that's an awful lot of trauma that's being forcibly repressed. Clearly, it's not working out well.
Fitchner goes to Triton to escape the world full of people he hates and ghosts of people he no longer has, only to find that his ghosts has followed him. When he meets the people of the mine he will be managing, regardless of their colour, he describes seeing the faces of people he lost in The Institute. And it is a powerful as hell set of panels. Again, we're seeing the long-standing traumatic effects of The Institute, but we're also setting up Fitchner's later actions when the mine suffers an emergency because he's already superimposing the faces of Golds upon other Colours beneath him in his mind, i.e.: he's not really seeing Colour.
Its's so beautifully done, and also helped me, I think for the first time, truly appreciate the art going on in these graphic novels. Yes, it's always been good, but this is the first time I really looked at it and thought, "That's beautiful." I think it's because I'm more interested in faces, and this issue is made up of a lot of medium shots-to-closeups on people's faces.
BRING ME ISSUE 4 (please!).
It's just not gonna end well for anybody involved and I am just preparing myself for the moment this series tears my heart out of my chest, lights it on fire, and then stomps on the ashes.
This is, without question, the best issue yet. I think that each issue has steadily improved upon its predecessor, but this is the first time I read an issue and didn't feel like I was cut off mid-sentence. Yes, I understand that is kind of how issues work -- they depend, many a time, upon the cliffhanger-effect -- and while the story is still incomplete, I didn't feel left in the lurch. I felt like this ended at a natural pausing point.
BRYN. WE HAVE FINALLY MET BRYN. I love this woman, and I can see not only how Fitchner falls in love with her, but how she, too, falls in love with Fitchner. But even more so, I like how the circumstances around their meeting informs us even more about the society of Red Rising, by showing us how truly ingrained the societal pyramid is within the minds of the people.
And yet Fitchner's behaviour during this emergency incident feels perfectly in line with his character, because we see a person not only disillusioned with the society in which he lives -- especially the petty social politics of the Golds -- but someone who is also still (clearly) dealing with trauma he sustained during his tenure at The Institute. And it makes perfect sense: The Institute is a highly stressful, traumatizing environment. Not only must you kill someone to even truly make it into The Institute, but once there, you endure "mock" War Games that feel anything but "mock." People hurt, people kill, people die. Now, yes, as a Gold, Fitchner is expected to bury any sort of emotions related to such events in the name of power and glory...but that's an awful lot of trauma that's being forcibly repressed. Clearly, it's not working out well.
Fitchner goes to Triton to escape the world full of people he hates and ghosts of people he no longer has, only to find that his ghosts has followed him. When he meets the people of the mine he will be managing, regardless of their colour, he describes seeing the faces of people he lost in The Institute. And it is a powerful as hell set of panels. Again, we're seeing the long-standing traumatic effects of The Institute, but we're also setting up Fitchner's later actions when the mine suffers an emergency because he's already superimposing the faces of Golds upon other Colours beneath him in his mind, i.e.: he's not really seeing Colour.
Its's so beautifully done, and also helped me, I think for the first time, truly appreciate the art going on in these graphic novels. Yes, it's always been good, but this is the first time I really looked at it and thought, "That's beautiful." I think it's because I'm more interested in faces, and this issue is made up of a lot of medium shots-to-closeups on people's faces.
BRING ME ISSUE 4 (please!).