Golden Son (Red Rising, #2)

by Pierce Brown

Micaela Alcaino (Illustrator) and AVENDELL (Illustrator)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom.

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.

• Publish Date: January 2024 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton
• Edition: FairyLoot Iron Edition
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 442
• Language: English
• Special: Exclusive Design Sprayed Edges

Reviews

2020: 5 stars
I reread it before reading Morning Star to make sure I remembered everything, and this time I read it physically instead of reading the audiobook. It helped a lot. I'm yet again amazed by a Pierce Brown book.

2019: 4 stars
Again, a really good book and somehow it doesn't seem to be suffering from the middle book syndrome, which is surprising. (At least, I thought this was originally written as a trilogy, but I haven't checked my sources so I can be mistaken.)
I read the first half of this book via its audiobook and maybe audiobooks are just not really my thing? I had a bit of trouble to keep all events straight and focus on what was happening. The second half I read physically and I loved it again so much. The plot twists, the complex characters... I am curious to see how this series progresses.

[inlibrisveritas]

4.5 Stars

Full Review to come!

[Mercy]

Mejor que Red rising pero tampoco es una maravilla.

No soporto a Darrow :\

[Berls]

Good but not as great as the first book IMO. Gull review to follow soon.

[ross91]

Re-read before Morning Star:
I truly madly deeply love this book.
It has it all: war, friendships, violence, losses, love, space battles, greek and latin references, cool names, even cooler characters... It is perfect.

SEVRO, if the society doesn't want you I have a spare bedroom in my house just for you! #mybaby

[violetpeanut]

Reread in anticipation of the release of book 3, [b:Morning Star|18966806|Morning Star (Red Rising Trilogy, #3)|Pierce Brown|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1426928658s/18966806.jpg|26984941]. Even better the second time around.

[adamfortuna]

The 2nd book in the Red Rising trilogy, this follow-up brings the story in an un-formulaic direction. Somehow this book was able to make the switch from personal battles to space battles without skipping a beat all while keeping motivations realistic.

[Rinn]

I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Also posted on my blog, Rinn Reads.

When I mark a book as ‘read’ on Goodreads and I’m planning on eventually posting a review, I often like to leave a reaction GIF as a placeholder. This was said GIF for Golden Son:



Thank you, Emma Stone, for so accurately portraying my feelings at the end of this book. That GIF will remain alongside my review, because as they say, a picture (or GIF, in this case) paints a thousand words.

Golden Son was pretty much everything I wanted and expected from Pierce Brown, after the absolute wonder that was [b:Red Rising|15839976|Red Rising (Red Rising, #1)|Pierce Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1461354651s/15839976.jpg|21580644]. However, it was so, so much more brutal than the first book, but that’s what it needed. As the stakes rose, as Darrow’s task grew more and more dangerous and he grew more determined, there needed to be an element to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. Brown pulls it off for sure, with this violent and shocking addition to the series that kept me reading and gasping at each twist and turn.

Occasionally, I felt a little bit lost by the (seemingly) endless names, so thank goodness for the character list at the beginning of the book! Whilst I would have enjoyed a bit more about Darrow’s time at the Academy – the book skips a year or so, to move things forward, and I would have liked that element of development, there is really not much else I can fault about Golden Son. The events suddenly felt so much more ‘real’; Darrow was no longer in the confines of his education and training, but out in the ‘real world’. This time, it felt personal.

With a lot more politics this time round, Golden Son had less of the action than Red Rising, but it certainly wasn’t lacking in it. There were so many reveals and surprises, so much going on. And that cliffhanger. Oh… help. I mean, I’m frustrated about having to wait the couple of months between reading Golden Son and the release of the next book, [b:Morning Star|18966806|Morning Star (Red Rising, #3)|Pierce Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1461354277s/18966806.jpg|26984941], so I feel very sorry for the people who read Golden Son as soon as it came out, and have had that horrendous wait in between (not long to go now!).

Whatever happens in Morning Star, I feel it is going to be even more brutal, even more heartbreaking, and even more astounding than the events of Golden Son. And that is definitely something I do not want to miss.

[vagasker]

I'll write a review when I've gathered my thoughts. Damn this book fucked with me.

[lisacee]

A lot of characters, many with alias' and nicknames, and lots of military talk. Interesting story, but felt overly-long.