u/Aggravating_Cow421

I have read over 350 different Fantasy books and 50 different series, and these are the books I have given five stars too.

1. A Storm of Swords
2. Knife of Dreams
3. Heir of Fire
4. Queen of Shadows
5. A Game of Thrones
6. A Feast for Crows
7. Words of Radiance
8. Kingdom of Ash
9. The Hobbit
10. Order of the Phoenix
11. Fires of Heaven
12. Jade Legacy
13. Rhythm of War
14. Empire of the Dawn
15. Morning Star
16. Last Argument of Kings
17. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries
18. Two Twisted Crowns
19. The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
20. The Snow Child
21. Prisoner of Azkaban
22. Well of Ascension
23. A Sky Beyond the Storm
24. The Two Towers
25. Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales
26. One Dark Window
27. The Way of Kings

So I finished Morning Star tonight and it was well worth it. Pretty perfect ending to the trilogy. It actually had way more closure than I was expecting. My thoughts going in to the book were that two of the three of Augustus, Octavia and the Jackal would die, but all three perished. I loved everything about this book. The ending was pretty creative, I was even fooled for a second.

This book was way slower paced than Golden Son, but I thought that worked to its benefit because it allowed for some big character growth, and the plot was allowed to breath a little bit between the big action pieces.

The imprisonment and escape beginning was just so brutal, and poignant, and made me hate Jackal even more. He was definitely the best written antagonist in the first three books. A true mad man. He reminds me of the Joker, except his back story is maybe more haunting. Not enough to make you emphasize with his methods or beliefs though.

My favorite arc of the book was probably the Obsidian Norse part. I love Norse mythology and that whole section ruled. The Goods dressing up as the Norse Gods in “Asgard” and Darrow and company storming the place was just so fun.

Ragnar’s death hit me hard. It was perfectly done. Mustang and Darrow felt like they got real growth in their relationship during that arc. Sefi is bloody scary, but perfect too.

The Roque arc hit me hard too. Not because I wanted him to come back, but because I knew there was no way he could or would. Just a lost soul in a cruel world, who was brainwashed to believe in wrong ideals, yet craved friendship that was always snatched from him before it could begin.

That whole battle was so great though, and the meeting both before and during the battle was written so poetically.

And then the whole Cassius plot of it all, and the fake out betrayal. It all worked for me. The throne room scene had strong Return of the Jedi vibes. It culminating with Virginia pulling her brother’s feet just like Darrow pulled Eo’s was full circle.

The End when Darrow’s child was revealed by Mustang was perfect. I loved everything about that. I thought it was really good closure, and I don’t quite get why there is more books. It really feels to me like this should have been the end, but I will definitely be reading the rest sometime soon. NO SPOILERS please 😄

Characters:

Darrow: Beautiful story. As hard as a rock yet as soft as a feather at the same time. I am glad he finally let himself love and showed that he could be more than just a knife, and he did it all without knowing about his child.

Mustang: Loved her arc here. From her first appearance back, to talking to Darrow’s family, to her bravery in the ice, to sticking up for Darrow and the rebellion against Roque and the golds in the meeting in the outer rim. To trusting the plan to get into Octavia’s room via Cassius. To stepping up and becoming the new leader despite not exactly wanting it. To protecting her family at all costs. Her love beat through the pages even in silence to me.

Sevro- I felt like he had the most character growth in this book. Especially after fighting with Darrow in the beginning. Him realizing his extremes were not what was necessarily needed was perfect. Don’t get me wrong, his anger is still there, and we saw it again Aja in the throne room. But he did feel more thoughtful and compassionate than he did previously by the end of this book.

Victra- Fire and blood. Wouldn’t change her for the world. She’s the same as Antonia but with better intentions and friends. Her marriage to Sevro was unexpected for me, but I loved it. Two crazies in a world full of crazies.

Sefi- Badass. Thought for sure she was a goner in the last battle. I am glad she wasn’t. I fully expect her to not survive the last four books though. I hope there’s more world building with her. The Norse stuff ruled. I kind of wish Pierce Brown writes a Norse mythology based fantasy book next.

The Jackal- I already talked about but he is a true psychopath. Great antagonist. Very scary person once you peel away the layers and facade and see what’s actually inside him.

Roque- 😭

Ragnar- Thematically the meaning of the rebellion. Really strong character. I honestly did not expect this impact out of him when he was first introduced.

Octavia- I weirdly felt kind of bad for at the end. I am not sure why. She certainly doesn’t deserve it. I feel like she had it in her to be a better leader than she was but was kind of brainwashed growing up.

Cassius- I don’t think he is nearly as honorable as it is being made out that he is. He is certainly isn’t Ned Stark. We saw him in Red Rising and he did some very unhonorable things in that book. Do I think he missed his friends? Yes. Do I think he was being selfless in helping Darrow at the end? No. Do I think it’s smart to just let him go away? No. I’m conflicted on him, but I don’t expect loyalty from the man. In the end he is closer to Roque’s belief in the Golds than he is to Darrow’s belief in equality.

Again please no spoilers for the next books :)

Overall ratings:

1. Morning Star:*****

2. Golden Son:****1/2

3. Red Rising:***1/2

Wow. That was not what I was expecting. I had high expectations and it met them, even though it did it in a way that I was not quite expecting. This book was very grimdark, which isn’t a problem, I like grimdark, I just didn’t really get full grimdark vibes from the first book, so I wasn’t expecting it. This book ruled, it reminded me a lot of A Storm of Swords by GRRM because so many big scenes happen in this book. I did not plan on finishing this book in two days, but I could not put it down. Let’s get into it a little bit more, normally I start with characters, but I want to start with plot right now.

I thought it was good that we had a time jump right to the end of Darrow’s schooling, in my Red Rising review I said it was kind of weird that Darrow had to do more schooling when it felt like that should have been the climax of his time at the Academy. So I did enjoy that we basically skipped it all, but it did feel a tiny bit weird and out of place. I wish the first book ended a little bit differently where it wasn’t implied that he had to do more school work.

I thought Augustus trying to sell him like a slave was good story telling and really set up the Gala scene well. It also really painted some of the politics of The Sons of Ares, as we see right away that there is an extremist wing of the group.

The Gala scene and the subsequent rescue mission were spectacular. I did not expect to see the Sovereign so early on in the book. It was a pleasant surprise as we got to see Darrow surrounded by Snakes on both sides. It was a great mix of action as we got to see what all the main players are up to. I loved how the legend of Darrow has been built up as even the Sovereign’s grandson knows the stories. That was good storytelling, I hope nothing happens to that kid, but I have no predictions yet. He has to be important with all the characters he’s related to.

Damnit did we have to lose Quinn though. I get why it had to happen. Roque needed to lose everyone for that ending, but that one hurt me. That whole section was phenomenally done though.

Pliny is just the worst, and I don’t quite get how Augustus was stupid enough to trust him. The mission to recruit Lorn was really good too. I did not expect that to happen, but I was happy when it did. That whole trap was really smart. I thought the meaning of Tactus’s death was really well done, even if it didn’t work for me on an emotional level. I think it was really well written, and thematically was on point.

Then we got the big battle, and I liked it, especially the second half of it, starting when Darrow got trapped in the river. I did think the beginning of that battle was a lot of just describing action without character work, which is not my favorite style of writing. The second half of that battle ruled though.

I was so wrong about Ares. When we found out Ares was not Dancer in the beginning of the novel, I was convinced it was going to be Darrow’s uncle. I knew it had to be someone we already met, and he felt like the most likely suspect to me. So during that scene when Darrow thought he saw or heard his uncle I was so pumped, only to be so wrong 😂. I was happy with the choice of who it was. It fit so well. I am so mad that he is gone already!

The scenes where Darrow goes back to the mine and Eo’s grave, and then his mother’s house and when he reveals himself to Mustang were my favorite in the book. They were so powerful and emotional. When he was basically asking Eo’s permission to love again, that hit me, only for Mustang to run away without answering him. I don’t believe she is abandoning him though, but perhaps I am a hopeless romantic at heart. No spoilers please.

And then of course we get the crazy cliffhanger that was just awful, yet brilliant at the same time. I am so mad at Pierce. Poor Roque, he just wanted friendship, and Jackal is scum. Porn Lorn, Ares and Victra. It really felt like a gut punch. Does Jackal know Darrow is a red?

Anyway let’s talk some characters:

Darrow: Awesome in this book. He made plenty of mistakes, but he also became this almost mythological hero who could take on armies by himself. I did say that I thought he was going to harden over the series, and I feel like that started in this book, but there were moments when that gentle soul peeked out. When he was with his mom, whenever he thought about Mustang, when he was with Ragnar. Unfortunately he didn’t take repairing his relationship with Roque seriously enough, that hurt me. I hope they can come back from this, but I make no predictions.

Mustang- Yeah, she is a great little schemer and a very layered character. I feel like her feelings for Darrow are genuine still, but it’s complicated with her feelings for her family and her birth. She reminds me a bit of Elend from Mistborn, who read a lot of books and hated the way things were, and talked about rebellion, but didn’t actually want to do it until he was forced into it. I feel like she knows what friendship is more than Darrow.

Sevro- He makes me laugh. Definitely thre funniest character, but also the biggest little rebel ever. His backstory feels like it is pushing him to be one of the main players in the rebellion. The real question is does he get too extreme with it like Harmony? I’m hoping not, and The Sons of Ares need a new figurehead now, who better than his father’s son?

Ragnar- I don’t have much to say about his personality, but his story moved me on a thematic level.

Lorn- Damnit did he have to die so soon. What an awesome character. Legendary swordsman, who just wants peace but is also full of wisdom. Plus the backstory on Augustus that he delivered made me hate him even more, which I didn’t think was possible. Great character.

The Jackal- So I started off the book thinking maybe he is actually a misunderstood good person. And then Pierce hammered it home over and over again how much we shouldn’t trust him. Every character and their mother felt like they said it at least once in this book. So by the end I just knew he was bad. I feel like it was overly foreshadowed, and maybe that could have been done a little more subtlety. I think he is a very interesting character because he obviously believes he is right.

The Sovereign- Crazed with power antagonist. Nice and simple. It works.

Augustus- That speech at the end added to his character. I hate him, but it did add depth. Now he is not just a slaver who wants a power, he is a “greater good” mad man who thinks he is a savior.

Overall Rating:

Golden Son:****1/2

Red Rising:***1/2

The book exceeded my expectations. It was nothing spectacularly great, but I had only heard bad or middling things about book one, so I had a bit of dread going into it. Thankfully, I found the book to be pretty darn enjoyable, it didn’t peak super high, but even the slower portion in the middle kept me entertained.

Was it a bit derivative of the Hunger Games? A little bit, but not in a bad way. It reminded me more of Lord of the Flies than anything.

I really enjoyed all of the characters. I went into this pretty blind, so the only character name I even knew was Darrow, and I thought he would be way more stern and hard than he was. He is kind of a gentle spirit at heart though, I’m sure that will change, but it was interesting to see him start that way.

Mustang was probably the most interesting character, and also probably my favorite as of right now. I’m intrigued to see where her story goes. I never had doubts about what she would do at the end of the book, she seemed more genuine than some of the other characters.

Sevro is obviously a fun character. I really liked how different his worldview was. At first I thought he might be a Red. Cool twist with him in this book.

Titus was super interesting as well, and I enjoyed that entire mini arc with them in the game. I can see why people may not have enjoyed that section as much. It was definitely a bit longer than it needed to be, but I still liked what it represented for Darrow.

I really thought Cassius would forgive Darrow at the end. I was wrong. It felt weird to me though, his decision didn’t really seem to fit his character. I’m not sure if that was intentional or not.

Antonia can kick rocks.

The Proctors were intriguing villains.

Poor Eo. That was a heavy gut punch early. I hope she’s not just an after thought the rest of the series. It feels like her death should weigh heavily throughout, but I’m not sure that it will.

“The Jackal” is kind of bleh. He didn’t really get any character development. That was a bit disappointing.

Augustus is a big time scum. I kind of hated how Darrow just went along with him at the end. It felt slimy.

I do think the book could have probably been about 15k words less. It was already fairly short, but parts of the middle of the book did feel a little elongated. I still really enjoyed those plot lines though. The stuff with Titus and then Cassius both worked on a macro level for me, I just think they could have been a little condensed.

I thought the world building and the color coding were pretty excellent world building, it was simple, but still felt deep.

Overall rating: ***1/2

Very fun first entry, that definitely made me want to continue, but also left room for improvement!