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A review by _artemis
Golden Son by Pierce Brown
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
I really liked Red Rising, I fucking loved Golden Son. The world we're dealing with becomes MASSIVE in comparison to book 1 (kind of reminds me of how I felt with the progression of the Throne of Glass books in that regard) and Brown's skill as writer straight up made this feel like one of the most visceral space epic MOVIES. The character development, the truly bad ass to read battle sequences, THE LIFE RUINING TWISTS!
I knew the Roque betrayal was coming because of the Judas kiss , but my jaw was still on the floor as it played out. And I was still devestated. While I would never recommend this series based on the romance alone (that would be insane), I was beyond invested with those developments.
At the end of the day, Brown is just a remarkable writer. And part of the pleasure of reading this series is to just read some of the most profound reads on the failings of society or the hope re: what it could be. I find myself rereading paragraphs a few times over just to soak in his words. I love fantasy and sci-fi of all stripes - poetry and pop goodness. But you forget what it is to read something so expertly crafted (that's somehow as consumable as the lightest and yummiest YA) and captivating until you come across a gem like this. It took me many false starts and then an active week to get through Red Rising... I read Golden Son in a day and a half (because I forced myself to do that human sleep thing).
One thing about me is that I love the sci-fi and fantasy genre, but I never say I love "action." Big battle sequences, fighting, whatever. The truth is, when it's done well... it is my favorite. But so many people can't do it well. Even some of my favorite writers, my favorite series, I'll cop to the fact that I skim the big battles. They can feel tedious. With Brown's writing here, I'm hanging onto every word. I'm stressed out of my mind, crying, screaming, kicking my feet, but I'm absorbing every last god damn word.
It's really hard to keep the steam in a plot that sort of hinges around moral superiority and like... the evil solution to societies ills vs the good guy underdogs is not an unfamiliar premise to us. But I'd argue that some of our favorite series that have taken it on - YA and even... GRRM - can't always stick the landing. But already, I'm really impressed with Brown's ability to play it from both sides and really organically carve a path of a hero who has no choice to kind of be an anti-hero and living in that duality is starting to really impact how he thinks the world could even be saved. It's. fascinating.
The razor scene in the gala will live in my head rent free for forever. The Ares reveal i did see coming but still... omg.
Obviously, I'm writing this review already 10 chapters into Morning Star.
I knew the
At the end of the day, Brown is just a remarkable writer. And part of the pleasure of reading this series is to just read some of the most profound reads on the failings of society or the hope re: what it could be. I find myself rereading paragraphs a few times over just to soak in his words. I love fantasy and sci-fi of all stripes - poetry and pop goodness. But you forget what it is to read something so expertly crafted (that's somehow as consumable as the lightest and yummiest YA) and captivating until you come across a gem like this. It took me many false starts and then an active week to get through Red Rising... I read Golden Son in a day and a half (because I forced myself to do that human sleep thing).
One thing about me is that I love the sci-fi and fantasy genre, but I never say I love "action." Big battle sequences, fighting, whatever. The truth is, when it's done well... it is my favorite. But so many people can't do it well. Even some of my favorite writers, my favorite series, I'll cop to the fact that I skim the big battles. They can feel tedious. With Brown's writing here, I'm hanging onto every word. I'm stressed out of my mind, crying, screaming, kicking my feet, but I'm absorbing every last god damn word.
It's really hard to keep the steam in a plot that sort of hinges around moral superiority and like... the evil solution to societies ills vs the good guy underdogs is not an unfamiliar premise to us. But I'd argue that some of our favorite series that have taken it on - YA and even... GRRM - can't always stick the landing. But already, I'm really impressed with Brown's ability to play it from both sides and really organically carve a path of a hero who has no choice to kind of be an anti-hero and living in that duality is starting to really impact how he thinks the world could even be saved. It's. fascinating.
The razor scene in the gala will live in my head rent free for forever. The Ares reveal i did see coming but still... omg.
Obviously, I'm writing this review already 10 chapters into Morning Star.