Title: Golden Son (Red Rising Saga #2)
Author: Pierce Brown
Genre: Science fiction, dystopian 
Publisher: Del Rey, Random House
Publication Date: 2015
Format: Paperback
Length: 466 pages

Read if you like: political scheming, warfare and revolution, dystopian novels like The Hunger Games or Divergent series, space setting, black and grey morality

Rating: 

When I picked up Red Rising for the first time a couple of months ago, it completely blew me away. It was exceptionally good sci-fi, probably better than I’ve read in a long time, and I was hooked on the premise immediately. You never know how a sequel will fare when the first book comes in that explosively, but Golden Son was easily just as good as the first novel, if not better.

Golden Son felt even more ambitious to me because the lush, oppressive world that Brown had built in book one was so well established that he could focus almost exclusively on plot and character development. Darrow continued to be a rage-filled machine of revolution, but in this edition, he gains a lot more complexity beyond his initial origin story. Things continue to complicate around him as he realizes that people are all people, no matter their colour, and that revolution comes at a price.

I loved this installment and was gasping at the ending. I have no idea where things will go from here but I’m 100% invested in finding out. 

The Book: Golden Son by Pierce Brown Synopsis

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.

Review

This book was as breathtaking as the first. Every time I felt like I knew where things were headed, Brown turned the entire plot on its face and I was left reeling.

I’ll start with the characters because they help bring a lot of depth to this semi-familiar yet hyper-futuristic world. 

I liked that now that Darrow and his friends and foes were away from the school, you were able to get a better feel for who they were and what they were capable of. Of course, you can see echoes of it in book one, but they’re in such a harrowing circumstance then, pitted against each other without equal access to resources or technology, so you’re not sure what will become of them when they enter the actual society. That aspect is very much cleared up in this installment where they straight out go to war against each other, both figuratively and then literally, and you’re able to see where everyone’s loyalties lie. Even the most devout of friends can be foes if their values and the foundations of their society are questioned, even when you think that kind of betrayal is impossible or unlikely, and I loved watching Brown evolve some of my favourites, even if it was in ways that frustrated or shocked me. 

Darrow becomes a much more interesting character in this book as well. In the first one, he’s driven almost explicitly by his rage at what’s happened to Eo and how his people have been treated. In this book though, he’s forced to confront the fact that despite his initial view of the world, the different classes of people that make up the society are actually all just that: people. They’ve been manipulated and bred for different purposes, sometimes conditioned to accept their lot in exceptionally cruel ways, but underneath it all, even the most monstrous of them are humans at their core, and that revelation is what ends up making all the difference for him. His ability to treat people with respect, and to ask for their help instead of requiring it, sets him apart. Ultimately, it may also end up being his downfall.

Brown is a master of crafting dense and intricate plots with exceptionally complex political machinations. The world in which Darrow and his friends operate is so well flushed out it feels realistic, even with the very sci-fi aspects that set it apart from reality. I appreciated that in this installment, the philosophical aspects took a bit more of a backseat as well. I enjoyed the ties to ancient Roman warfare and philosophy in the first book, but it sometimes felt less immersive because it felt somewhat foreign in comparison to the futuristic aspects. I felt like it was much more naturally integrated into this installment. 

I’m typically a sucker for a happy ending, but that feels in no way guaranteed in these books. I find this series so captivating that I’m stress reading to try to find out what’s going to happen, then find myself devastated when things take a major twist. Brown is an excellent storyteller and I constantly find myself wanting more when it comes to these books.

This sequel was just as good as the first book in my opinion, and I can’t wait to pick up the third. Another easy 5 stars for me.