Morning Star by Pierce Brown

Morning Star (Red Rising, #3)

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 • LIGHT BRINGER

Reviewed by e_rodz_leb on

5 of 5 stars

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Quite the Novel Idea https://quitethenovelidea.com https://quitethenovelidea.com/liza-reviews-morning-star-by-pierce-brown/"So let him do his worst.
I know how to suffer.
I know the darkness.
This is not how it ends."

Wow! Morning Star is the long awaited last book of the Red Rising trilogy and I couldn't be more happy with it. This book deserves ALL the stars, the moons and planets in the universe! Bravo! Standing Ovation! (you get the idea right?) Please read my reviews for Red Rising and Golden Son to get up to speed.

I don't even know were to start with this review. The plot of these books is SO intricate and complicated that it's difficult to really explain everything that happened. However, I will tell you as much as I can without spoiling it for you.

Morning Star starts about a year after the excruciating ending of Golden Son. It finds Darrow being held captive by the Jackal, but circumstances change pretty soon. We learned what the Sons of Ares have been up to while he was absent. It takes Darrow some time to get back to normal and it takes him and Servo a few tries to share the responsibility of what the Sons started.

"Man is no island. We need those who love us. We need those who hate us. We need others to tether us to life, to give us a reason to live, to feel."

Pierce Brown is a genius. I have no idea how he could come up with a story this complex and keep track of it all. It makes perfect sense to the reader, but we only know what he wants us to know and when he wants us to know it. It's so enthralling, thought provoking, and full of twists and turns. The writing is not the easy banter of a contemporary romance, but rather the talk of the magnificent sci-fi, roman inspired universe that he created. This story has one of the best worlds ever build. From the setting, to the technology, to the weapons, it such an amazing read.

Darrow has been trough so much. When the series started he was 16, about eight years passed until the end of this book and so much has happened to him and because of him. He's trying to change a world that is used to being oppressed, of injustice, of inequality and it's no easy task. He finds help, he's betrayed, he finds redemption, forgiveness, condemnation, he's an inspiration to many and a threat to just as many. I adore his story and being in his mind, which is not always easy.

All the characters, Mustang, Servo, the Jackal, Ragnar, Darrow's family, Holiday, Victra... I can feel a page with character's name and how amazing they all are. Brown is a master in characterization, in giving each one of them a distinct personality and traits. Besides Darrow, Servo is my absolute favorite :)

"To build we must break."

Overall, Morning Star is the perfect ending to an Epic series. Red Rising is one of THE BEST series I have ever read. It's a story of doing what's right even if it there are insurmountable mountains to cross to get there. It's a story of sacrifice, of bringing change to the world, of friendship and family. And underlying it all is a love so big, so deep, so right, that it changed the worlds. I cannot wait for his new trilogy, Iron Gold, to be published sometime next year. I honestly will read anything that Pierce Brown writes. Anything.This review was originally posted on Quite the Novel Idea

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 17 June, 2016: Finished reading
  • 17 June, 2016: Reviewed