Morning Star by Pierce Brown

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating next chapter in the Red Rising Saga: Morning Star. ITW THRILLER AWARD FINALIST • “[Brown’s] achievement is in creating an uncomfortably familiar world of flaw, fear, and promise.”—Entertainment Weekly Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society’s mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within. Finally, the time has come. But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied—and too glorious to surrender. Praise for Morning Star “There is no one writing today who does shameless, Michael Bay–style action set pieces the way Brown does. The battle scenes are kinetic, bloody, breathless, crazy. Everything is on fire all the time.”—NPR “Morning Star is this trilogy’s Return of the Jedi. . . . The impactful battles that make up most of Morning Star are damn near operatic. . . . It absolutely satisfies.”—Tordotcom “Excellent . . . Brown’s vivid, first-person prose puts the reader right at the forefront of impassioned speeches, broken families, and engaging battle scenes . . . as this interstellar civil war comes to a most satisfying conclusion.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A page-turning epic filled with twists and turns . . . The conclusion to Brown’s saga is simply stellar.”—Booklist (starred review) Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga: RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE

This was an amazing thrill-ride conclusion to this beautifully brutal series. Twists and turns galore chock full of battles and beheadings!

There won't be a review for this. Just know, I love this world and these characters and I'm a mess right now.

Honestly? I'm disappointed. I predicted so many of the ‘twists' that it felt disappointing and a slog by the end of it. I thought this trilogy would be a spectacular read that would jump to my favourites list yet it falls so far behind it; astonishingly the first book was better than the subsequent ones, hopefully, the next two are better. So many things were pointless or could have been done better.

Yeah, this was great.

It's been a long while since I left Darrow. Red Rising and Golden Son were both a blast to read but they were trials. They both put you through failure, love, betrayal, fear. They are stressful books. Which is why it took me five years to finally pick up Morning Star. Also because the speed that I have been reading has gone down considerably over the past few years, and with Morning Star's hefty page count, I knew it was going to take more than two renewals at the library. And then I realized that not only do audio books exist but they are perfect for my current circumstances. As it turns out, audio book is a wonderful way to enjoy the final installment to the Red Rising series. Tim Gerard Reynolds is like a cross between Anthony Hopkins and Liam Neeson and I loved it.

Darrow has been betrayed. To be fair, he was a spy. An operative, a man disguised as something he was not. And then he got found out. Morning Star takes Darrow of Lykos from his absolute lowest - shriveled and alone in a dark, cold box - to the path to rebuilding himself as a leader, and rebuilding his uprising. Morning Star doesn't quite have as many constant twists and turns as Golden Son, if I remember correctly, but it does have a somewhat episodic nature to it. The story moves between starkly different worlds - the brutal ice of the Obsidians, to the moons of the outer rim. Between villains and allies, victories and sacrifices. Its less frenetic than Golden Son, giving you time to catch your breath between the action.

In contrast to the brutality and unforgiving plot twists of Red Rising and Golden Son, Morning Star is almost....fanservicey? I know, I just said a bad word, but what I mean is that Pierce Brown here gives you what you deserve for hanging with him and Darrow through all of this. There are pop culture references, there's lots of drinking and reminiscing, there's even a wedding. This is a Darrow who has been through some shit, and he is both a young man still and an old one. He's tired of using people, and he's tired of losing people. He's a warrior, the Reaper, the best and the worst and bloodiest all at once, but he's also a sentimental teddy bear and that's what I love about him. There is a moment where you think that Darrow's tender heart has finally, finally taken things too far, but like I said, this book gives you what you deserve.

Morning Star is thrilling and fun. Hilarious and devastating (but not quite so much as previous books). It is deeply personal, and while there are huge battles, Brown rectifies some of the issues of Golden Son by keeping the most important moments intimate. Throughout the series, Darrow has built powerful relationships - in both friends and enemies - and each comes to satisfying (some tragic, some triumphant) conclusions. And Brown has a skill for applying his cinematic mind to the novel format - I had a feeling he was going to pull a fast one on me at the end, but he still managed to surprise. I'm so glad this whole series was worth every page.