Kripke was right about you guys. This is a partly two-way street. Kripke did make a subpar season, but I say it's partly because, like, 1/2 way through the season, it's like the fandom just turned into a bunch of troglodytes that don't know what the show is.

IDK why I'm seeing a ton of hate for S5. Like, it's okay. It's not inoffensive, but the reasons some of y'all hate it make me think you haven't actually watched or understood the show.

I'll start with the things I agree with the haters on

The writing is subpar compared to previous seasons.

This season does feel like a prequel to the final season.

This is the weakest season. My personal ranking would be

Season 3 (10/10) A+

Season 1 (10/10) A+

Season 2 (8/10) B+

Season 4 (7/10) B-

Season 5 (6/10) C

Okay, that's that. Now, onto the defense of S5. I'm going to defend all of the reasons I've heard on why people are hating this season

Vought Rising is clearly an Amazon idea and not a Kripke idea. Kripke knew what he was doing with the finale, considering S6-S15 of Supernatural.

I didn't even know most of the fandom hated this season until Kripke made a statement defending this season, and honestly, I agree with him. The fans are expecting invincible from this, and The Boys was never about big action fight scenes; it was always about commentary on the superhero genre and the current political landscape, and the average fight scene would just be a throwaway fight scene in a Marvel or DC movie

Regarding the ending, do you realize you're supposed to leave some loose threads for the sequels; that's how they work. If all were wrapped up, it wouldn't work as well. If we didn't know Vought Rising was coming, this would be a bad ending because there are too many loose threads

The "filler" episodes are meant to add character development and parody of other media, and everyone praised the show for it, yet why is it critiqued here? The Boys was never about

To those saying that it's false marketing. It's not false marketing; it's symbolism, and the haters need to take some media literacy classes. Like, if this were in S1, yeah, it would be false marketing, but here, the one with Homelander looking over Earth is very clearly showing his power and control over the world. It's not meant to be in space, and I feel it would be out of place tonally for the show.

The writing is subpar compared to previous seasons, but it's not GOT S8-level bad like some of y'all are saying. GOT S8 actually ruined some character arcs. Jon Snow and Jaime Lannister are two examples. Whenever you end something, you have to finish up 90% of your plotlines. And move on. ST S5 did this, and no one complained; that's how you get sequels. If all were wrapped up, it wouldn't feel like a story and just a tacked-on extra bit. Like, Hughie and Starlight could set up the future or just end there.

To those complaining about the WTF scenes. Are you going to critique all the other WTF scenes in this show or what? Like, why are these bad?

Regarding the ending, y'all need to read more books because this is a Brandon Sanderson-style sanderlanche; it works very well. It's a ton of build-up for an equal amount of payoff. It's not bad writing; it's a style of writing you don't like

And finally, the dialogue with Kimiko—is it not hard to read into? Like, she was always very horny, but now you hate it because it's a constant pick-a-line, and plus it weirdly feels ableist. IDK why it just does.

How I found out about Red Rising

So my 12-year-old niece turned me on to this series (yes, 12-year-old niece). She loves the Hunger Games and wanted something similar for Christmas. She wanted the first trilogy of Red Rising. I’d never heard of it, and the cover looked like a YA novel, and I don’t love YA. I got her the first 3 for her Christmas, and she loves them. Then I heard some talk about grimdark and big YouTubers praising it, and 2-time New York bestsellers; I had to know. And I got sucked into it pretty fast and was also really mortified because what the fuck did I buy my niece? For those wondering why she's getting IG-LB, she's too young to read that level of books

Pros RR-MS:

The dialogue: OMG, THE DIALOGUE IS SO GOOD!!!!! Mostly from Darrow, his speech in Morning Star is one that stands out. How does he have space battles, and yet a conversation between 2 people is often the best part.
The action scenes: They are there and done superbly well. Iron Rain and Pierce Brown never tried to either glorify or demonize war in any way at all.
Pacing: It is a nonstop action scene, and it's like it was built and made for a young male audience.
The tone: It's not grimdark, but it's dark, and PB makes it clear right away with eos hanging, and he'll kill off anyone he wants, and he'll force you to enjoy it. This gave off a lot of andor vibes on D+ and also like a Zack Snyder film. I could see Zack Snyder wanting to adapt this series.
Portrayal of fascism: i hope this doesn't sound weird, but after a reading session I opened TikTok, and one of the first videos I saw was a mini crash course on fascism, and a lot of the points in the video—I noticed a lot of the goals of the society fit them and Pierce doesn't outright say it (or maybe he did and I didn't catch on). I think it's said a few times, but you'd assume it would be as a comparison to the real world.

Cons RR-MS:

World-building: It's not amazing, and it's clear pierce brown isn't trying to build a big, giant space world, like Middle-earth or Roshar, but it can be a little lacking.
The first book: It's good, but it's SOOOOOO wildly different than the rest. It's damn near a YA dystopian novel, and I feel that would turn some people off. And the transition is so sudden, like going from a Hunger Games x Ender's Game ripoff to political sci-fi space opera could turn some off who wanted more of that YA feel. Darrow in the 1st book feels like a male fantasy Gary Stu-esque character, but he does evolve as a character as the series goes on, for the 1st trilogy.
Pacing: Yes, I'm bringing it up twice. The pacing can be a little too fast-paced at times, like the prison break at the beginning of MS, and the luna meetings could have been a little slower-paced. I feel like some of these books could have used a little more punch.
Prose: It's clear this was made for a more YA audience with an emphasis on the A, but the content doesn't reflect that. The sentences can be pretty basic at times and sometimes really corny. And I heard somewhere that PB wants to write an epic fantasy. This type of prose won't cut it.
- ^(^((And if someone says Stormlight Archive, that's the exception to the rule; there's no way Brandon Sanderson would have gotten that published without Mistborn.)))
The Characters: I do feel Darrow is a bit shallow in this first trilogy, and while the side characters are more fleshed out and more developed, I feel there could have been more. This mostly pertains to the first book; the 2nd and the 3rd fix that quickly, though it still exists in there.

Pros IG-LB:

Portrayal of warfare: This is a big pro, really, for the whole series, but especially in this sequel series, like it has both the horrors of war and, other times, the Michael Bay awesome battle scenes, and it never feels jarring. IDK how pierce brown did it, but other authors need his magic
Worldbuilding: I feel that in the previous books, it was pretty stale, like the war and rebellion were the main focus and just an afterthought, but here, it actually has some effort put into it.
Grimdark: The tonal shift to grimdark was the right choice; it was already getting there with some scenes in the previous books, but he goes headfirst into it, and I love it. Like he already killed off his characters in a way, like how I assume most grimdark authors do it.
Characters: These are a big improvement from the previous books, as they felt fine in the past books. But you could only tell a little about them here; it's a big step up, Darrow, especially. And the conflict in these characters and their motivations is very clearly better
Pacing: The slow pacing was a good choice, especially with the change from commercial to speculative fiction, like you get to see the horrors of war and start questioning the actions of Darrow and really see the evolution of the characters

Cons IG-LB:

Story Structure: The way this was structured, especially in Iron Gold, was really wonky, like sometimes they just have nothing to do with each other, but other times they do, and sometimes it will just stop abruptly and jump to another.
Uneven Plotlines: I think this is a given in multipov stories, but here it feels like every book; I feel like a new plotline I was more disinterested in. I don't expect to love all of them, but at least have 1 that is the focus and 1 that is the plot line.

Themes

Warfare: Especially in the 2nd series, war is shown in so many different ways. Like you got Lysander, who's on the front lines in the Dark Age; Darrow, a commander; and Lyria, an innocent civilian and all of them offer really grim perspectives. Darrows are written a lot like battle scenes in the 1st trilogy, but with the tone of the 2nd series, he's a full-blown war criminal.
Vengeance: Especially in the 2nd series, at a certain point you're questioning if darrow is taking it too far and if he should have listened to Dancer. And in the 1st he has to make sure he doesn't turn into the golds hes trying to destroy
Freedom: the way it's portrayed is not like a Hollywood movie, but darrow has to try to convince some of those to join him in his vengeance spree. Either by them being so subservient or for those only joining for selfish reasons, sometimes the betrayals are brutal to witness.

Reviews of the books.

Red Rising (6/10) B

You can really see the Hunger Games influences here, especially in the writing; like, the characters feel like they were ripped from a YA dystopia novel. Like EO is very much that one character we all love and don't want to die (ALA Chuck from MR or Rue from the Hunger Games). Darrow is very much a Katniss or Thomas from MZ character. The society seems pretty derivative of the factions from Divergent or the districts from The Hunger Games, almost to the point of being cliché. And yeah, when people say this is the weakest, that's like getting last place in the Olympics. That opening act was such a tone setter for the rest of the series; he's not going to hold your hand, and he's going to kill off characters you grow to like. Outside of the plastic surgery scene where Darrow was turned into gold, it was horrifically gruesome, and his beating Julian to death stuck with me. The second half, everyone expected me not to enjoy, and it was the smallest dip in quality; it was still fantastic. The inevitable Cassius betrayal—I knew it was gonna sting, and it did. All the plot twists in that and part 4 really solidified this as one of the great ones. And I felt Mustang's intro was fine. Darrow can be a little shallow and 1-dimensional in this, but only in this book and especially compared to the rest of the series. Also, the dissonance from the writing and the acts in the book just don't match up, and none of the characters outside of Sevro and Cass really grabbed me.

Golden Son (10/10) S+

Okay, so starting out, I thought this was gonna be an Ender's Game knockoff, but no, it swerves hard into a political space opera that had me hooked. I really think Pierce just went full throttle into what he really wanted to do in this book. Like, he either convinced the publisher not to do a Hunger Games/Ender's Game knockoff, or looking back, it's sort of clear Red Rising isn't what Pierce wanted to write. The dialogue, OMG, THE DIALOGUE IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!! Like, seriously, how does Pierce Brown have actual space battles and war, and yet a speech or a conversation between 2 characters is the best thing ever? I really started to feel the characters come into their own in this book and set themselves apart, whereas in the first, they kind of felt similar to one another. This was also such an action-heavy book; like, every chapter felt like a major moment just happened. I really, really dig Mustang, Darrow, and Sevro, so Ryuji from Persona 5 is Coded, and vice versa. That ending. "Oh no, Mustang, don't turn evil." A few pages later, "WAIT WHAT!!!!" was my genuine reaction to that backstab from the Jackal. 10/10 book.

Morningstar (9/10) A

A super small downgrade, but still an amazing ending to what was supposed to be one trilogy. The opening section of the book was a shocker, with Darrow inside a cage in the Jackals' home, but I feel it kinda moves away from what could be a great study and introspection of how it affects Darrow. Pierce Brown's writing is getting horrific, and it slowly gets darker and darker, and this is the Red Rising I was promised. I'm glad there were finally some moments of a break between the nonstop action. It finally felt like a breath of fresh air and something I feel the series could really benefit from. Pour one out for Ragnar. After learning how Pierce Brown chooses who to kill, a character, it's like he's a millennial GRRM. I really loved that Cassius got some screen time in this, whereas he felt almost absent in the previous one. His torture scene is borderline grimdark. The speech in Chapter 36 I saved to my phone. It's so good. My real big critique was the ending. While it's amazing, I don't think it's gonna transition well into Iron Gold. And the 1st-person AHA moments in here and the previous 2 books. Like, we're in his head. We should have known this. This was amazing. Now, the last few chapters were amazing. It was like a movie scene where anything could happen, and then suddenly a redemption, like Pierce Brown watched a film and just replicated it. It was fantastic. The death of the Jackal. You know what, I'm used to this kinda stuff now, and Darrow's gonna be a dad with Mustang. YAY, but also... OH NO. Overall, a small downgrade, but still amazing.

Iron Gold (9/10) A+

Okay, wow, what a tonal shift to grimdark, and honestly, I love it. THIS IS THE RED RISING I WAS PROMISED! I love how little Pierce holds your hand here; it's dark, and the death count goes up, and Pierce is forcing you to like it, and I do, too. One thing I will say about this is that a lot of the plotlines just stop, ala Brando Sando style, which was kind of weird at first, like it goes from act 1 of 1 plotline to act 1 of another, and I'd rather have a 3-act story and then another, though all of the plotlines are really strong. Darrows, I think, is the weakest but still super strong, and Lyrias is the strongest. Pierce brown is super talented when it comes to writing Battle scenes and warfare because in the previous 3 he showed how awesome the battles are while also showing what war looks like, and it's shown off brilliantly here. I think Lyria's opening chapters show it the best. The characters here also got a huge step up from the previous books. In the first set, they felt like YA characters in an adult book, but here they are fully fleshed out. Darrow got the most improvement in the original; he felt like a poor man's Paul Atreides minus the noble birth. This book also feels like a lot of setup for Dark Age and Lightbringer. I also really enjoyed the slower pace that Pierce chose; if this were in the pacing of the last books, this wouldn't work.

Dark age (10/10) S

WOW THAT WAS BLEAK. Like, holy crap, if anyone isn't used to grimdark, this might turn them off to the series. Like, I'm used to grimdark lit, but when Mauler's Brawler Legacy Hauler came up, I had to put the book down for a few minutes just to process what had happened. But aside from that, I found this book to be very action-heavy, and every chapter felt like a major event had happened. And to open the book up with probably the best battle scene in the series is a way to set the tone for this book, and the way it jumps from Lysander to Darrow is the best possible choice for that battle. Speaking of Lysander, I think his plotline was easily the best. In the eyes of a Frontline soldier, it's exactly what I wanted from these books; it's like a horror story. At certain points, the monster is war, and seeing his rise to power is almost like Joffrey having his own plotline. I really enjoyed Virginia's plotline and a really cool perspective on warfare, which is a big theme for this trilogy, and seeing a politician's perspective is a nice change of pace. Ephraim's plotline was nice for what it was, and seeing Sefi's death was chilling. Also, what a way to open a plotline! Lyrias was nice, and her friendship with Volga and her prison break and the time in Harmony's camp felt strangely unreal and more like a thriller but a good change of pace, and Darrow was great and really hits its stride here like his vengeance is getting too far. I do like the way the plot lines were structured here as well. 2 in 1 part and 2 more in another. Also, rest in peace, Ulysses. This was dark even for me; like, I love grimdark and dark lit and media, and this shook me. I had to read some of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to get a laugh out of it.

Lightbringer (8/10) A+

I am not okay. That’s what I said after I finished Lightbringer. I didn’t love this one as much as the fandom seems to. I felt the 1st part of the book was a nice entryway into a less dark tone, but it kind of felt like a part 2 to Dark Age, cleaning up the leftovers. The foreshadowing to Cassius’s redemption was cool, and seeing Lysander just be a complete and total dick was like every chapter; Pierce Brown finds another reason to make me hate Lysander. Like Glirastes, that wasn’t needed, and he let it happen. Like, it’s cool he’s having a bit of an identity crisis, but even then, I’m impressed how much PB makes me hate him. I felt like Lyria’s plotline was surprisingly weak for this book up until Folsung Fa, and her relationship with Volga is where it hits its stride. I like Volga. Okay, this is where the 8/10 comes from. I thought the battle of Phobos was too long-drawn-out. About halfway through, it just got boring to read, and I wanted to move on to something else. I tried to reread it, but even then, it wasn’t that fun to read. However, the campaign against Folsung Fa was PEAK!!! and that duel was like the gala but grimdark, and I’m all here for it. Now that ending... I don’t think I’ve ever had so much hate for a character since maybe Griffith from Berserk, or Micah Bell from RDR2, or Padan Fain from WOT after The Shadow Rising. Like, I had a feeling Cassius was gonna be redeemed, but having him killed... I feel like this death is gonna stick with me for a while. Another thing is that I feel like this book’s pacing was a little off. The 1st half was slow-paced, but the 2nd half was a blitz, and the action scenes were a little less awesome, aside from Fa vs. Darrow. And I hear this was supposed to be the last book, but the publisher made Pierce Brown split it, and you can tell it’s a part 1 because the book clearly sets up the finale.

Red God (??/10) 🤷‍♀️

IDK, it could suck, or it could be peak. 🤷

Ranking of the books

Dark Age S
Golden son S
Lightbringer A+
Iron Gold A+
Morning star A
Red Rising B

10 Favorite characters

Cassius (RIP, my golden child)
Sevro
Mustang
Ephiram
Darrow
Roque
Volga
Ragnar
Lysander
Lyria

HM: Eo, Victra, Dancer, Apollonius, Volsung Fa, The Jackal

10 Favorite moments.

Battle of Heliopolis
Rising tide speech
Iron Rain of Mars
Darrow Vs. Volsung Fa
Song of Persephone
Ephraim's redemption
Day of red doves
MY HONOR REMAINS!!!!
Storming of Olympus
The stormgod

HM: The passage, Darrow learning what EO said to her sis, Ragnar swearing loyalty, the blood eagle, "we brush away light resistance," and Darrow vs Cassius Round 2/The gala

Grimdark/dark fantasy was added to my TBR. (Not in Order)

Demon Cycle By Peter V Brett
Any Warhammer book
First law by Joe abercrombie
Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence
Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Black Company by Glenn Cook
Malazan By Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esselmont
Nevernight Chronicles and Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
Acts of Caine by Matthew Stover
Berserk (post-golden age) by Kentaro Miura
A Song of Ice and Fire reread by George RR Martin
Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
5 warrior angels by Brian Lee Durfee
Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock
John Gwynn/Faithful and Fallen
Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Second Apocalypse by R. Scott Bakker
Empire of the Wolf by Richard Swann
Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Mistland by Kian Ardaland

Closing thoughts

This was such a blast to read, and every page felt like something crazy is or is about to happen. It's a really good entry to grimdark, considering it starts sort of YA. The fandom I've noticed can be a little zealous when someone doesn't like it. The only thing I regret is that this book forced me into BookTok and BookTube. I hate it (Not the series booktok). What a toxic cesspool that place is! Like, they tried to cancel PB for reading Henry Kissinger and are currently cancelling RF Kuang because she included an Israeli character. Like, have y'all read grimdark?

My next read will be Stormlight. I know that sounds weird, but this was bleak, and I need something less bleak, and plus, I need to know if Brando Sando is worth the hype.

u/tgrady28

Book accurate Moiraine and Lan.

In defense of S5 of the boys

What was the best season of the boys

How would you rate the last season of the boys

NEW READER ALERT!!!! Is the female writing as bad as everyone says it is?

I just picked up stormfront. Tell me some out of context spoilers/something i won't know till later

Whats your favorite zombie media

Regarding hangar 17b

I'm about to start this series. Tell me some out-of-context spoilers/Things i wont know until later

I just finished Lightbringer (book 6 of Red Rising). I think I found my favorite genre of Sci-fi/fantasy.

Is buying a kindle for reading worth it

Just finished the series; here are my overall thoughts.

How I found out about Red Rising

Pros RR-MS:

Cons RR-MS:

Pros IG-LB:

Cons IG-LB:

Themes

Reviews of the books.

Red Rising (6/10) B

Golden Son (10/10) S+

Morningstar (9/10) A

Iron Gold (9/10) A+

Dark age (10/10) S

Lightbringer (8/10) A+

Red God (??/10) 🤷‍♀️

Ranking of the books

Grimdark/dark fantasy was added to my TBR. (Not in Order)

Closing thoughts

I am not okay.

The Wheel of time Collection: The Forsaken (Spoilers Ahead)

Whats the most famous fictional sword

is only reading minority authors a red flag

Whos the best mentor character

So im gonna be going to college. Any tips

Red rising fans. Based on your current occupation what color would you be (Glossary in comments)

Do your thing WOT fans