Review: Golden Son

Review: Golden Son

By Pierce Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amazon Blurb
As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.

A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.

He must live for more.

The Good
To say that I was blown away by Golden Son would be an understatement. I thoroughly enjoyed Red Rising and its intricate plotting, so meeting that high bar was bound to be difficult.

The old characters are back, bursting into new complications that are every bit as thrilling. But guess what? They're even more awesome than you expect! Now Pierce Brown takes his intricate characters and throws them into the political meat-grinder of Luna/Mars politics. For such a dazzling debut, Golden Son delivers a sequel of epic proportions.

Oh, and you thought, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, was an intense sequel?
**No Spoilers!**
Finish, Golden Son, and we'll talk.

The Bad
Make sure you have book three: Morning Star handy when you finish this one. You've been warned.

Audio Version
Tim Gerard Reynolds was the best choice for narrator they could have made. His performance of each character is flawless. Loved every minute of his presentation.

The Spin
Golden Son delivers everything I loved from the first book while improving and expanding them in amazing ways. I'm a huge fan of the Hunger Games book 2: Catching Fire, and I can add the Red Rising book 2: Golden Son to that short list of perfect sequels.