'Golden Son' is the next instalment in Pierce Brown's 'Red Rising' saga, and as with the first book, I bloodydamn liked this one too.
Fresh from his victory in the war games at the Institute, Darrow is now in the employ of Nero au Augustus, the ArchGovernor of Mars. But when Darrow is defeated by a rival House at the Academy, the ArchGovernor decides to castoff his recent acquisition. But Darrow is afraid that this will throw a big spanner into his infiltration-and-sabotage-from-within mission, so at a special function, he instigates a civil war, throwing the society of Golds into disarray and chaos.
As much as I thought 'Red Rising' was pretty good, and it is, 'Golden Son' is even better! Definitely no sophomore syndrome here! It takes the first book and builds on it by raising the stakes in what is a great sequel. As I progressed through the story, I also got a sense of familiarity to what was going on. And two other series popped into my head - the Sci-Fi classic 'Dune', and 'Game Of Thrones' - if it was a space opera. Those comparisons seemed to ring very true for me. There's the bitter rivalries between House Augustus, Bellona (Atreides and Harkonnen / Starks and Lannisters?) and Lune, and the brutality of war, politics and betrayal. The familiarity of these didn't take the story away from me at all. If anything, it added to the depth of world building, which was fantastic and definitely one of the plus points of this series so far.
The character development is another plus. In the two short years that have passed since their days in the Institute, the main group have grown somewhat, adding complexities to their personalities; some becoming darker, some archaic, some twisted, some softer, and by the end showing their true colours, but all the while making them very much grounded, very human, and so very believable that it's gut-wrenching at times seeing what they get put through!
'Golden Son' is an enthralling roller-coaster of a book, with plenty of twists and turns that will surprise and make you say "WTF!" out loud! Especially that ending! So gorydamn brutal and heart-wrenching! What a way to finish! It was like all plain sailing, but as the breadcrumbs were laid down and when all was revealed, the rug was completely pulled from under you! I'm so glad I didn't have wait for the next book - 'Morning Star' - I don't think I could have waited as I NEEDED to know what happens next after that cliffhanger. So it's straight onto the next book!
A great read in what has been so far a great series. Recommended.
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