A bit disappointed

I found this sequel to be a bit disappointing. I'm not sure if it was the length or the lack of depth, but I just didn't connect with it nearly as much as I did with Red Rising. Also, contrary to what The Empire Strikes Back would have us believe, middle stories need an ending, too. The book should stand on its own rather than relying on the knowledge that there will be a continuation of the series, and should have some sort of conflict resolution, rather than starting an entirely new conflict in the last ten pages of the book. But what do I know? Clearly I'm not an author.

All I can say is, I enjoyed Red Rising much more than this book, and I hope that Morning Star is a vast improvement over it.

3 stars.

7 people found this helpful

A Modern Classic Which Will Endure

Where does Golden Son rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Golden Son is among the finest audiobooks I have ever read. My reading habits tend somewhat towards classics, and I am frequently disappointed by modern fare. I took a chance on Red RIsing, and couldn't get the characters out of my head when I finished. Golden Son is a greater achievement in every way when compared to its predecessor. The plot pulls the reader frantically from set piece to set piece as Darrow struggles with failure, guilt, disillusionment, and hope. The characters, introduced well in the first novel, become organic in this novel in a way I have not experienced in a novel since reading The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.While I was reading, I briefly forgot about the world outside as I was so invested.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Roque, the warrior poet of the first novel, returns to this world in grand fashion. His continually deepening alienation with Darrow makes the reader compulsively question the state of that friendship even when reading about other characters. While the love story between Virginia and Darrow was compelling, it was practically an obligatory aspect of the novel. Roque's growth as a character was highly original. I had no idea what he would do until he acted. At the same time, I fully empathized with his situation and understood his motivations for his actions once he acted. He is a masterfully executed character.

Which character – as performed by Tim Gerard Reynolds – was your favorite?

Ragnar was voiced wonderfully. While the character was essentially a replacement for Pax, the voice acting imbued his journey with dignity, grace, and magnificent resonance. However, each character was read well. I could not imagine simply reading a book like this. It must be experienced through audio.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending. All I will say.

Any additional comments?

This is my first review on audible.com, as this is the first time I have felt so strongly about a book that I needed to share my opinion. It is a work that takes the best of current trends from novels like The Hunger Games and adds the power and philosophical complexity more commonly found in classical literature. Pierce Brown, if you are reading this, please take your time in completing the third book. This trilogy has the potential to truly endure once it comes to the public at large's attention, but a slapped together finale could easily destroy the world you have so carefully built.

76 people found this helpful

Finished book 2 yesterday ordering book 3 now

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I got home from work and had to sit in my car in the garage for some time while a scene ended. This series is gripping

Any additional comments?

I am above all honest, so my reviews are not sugar coated. This is a truly great series. I dinged the performance a star in book one for an Irish accent, seems the author must have had other questions about this situation and it is explained in satisfactorily in book 2. The performance is outstanding and should get bonus stars on the performance of Ragnar alone. The prose of Pierce Brown is so damn good, I recommend any aspiring authors to listen to this series. I have read authors who seem to posses exceptional Thesaurus' which I find annoying. Pierce uses every day dialog so well I feel he is a brilliant artist with language, quite possibly up to the par of Samuel Clemmons although of a completely different style. Example (setting, a long ago mentor comes back as an arch rival, one of the protagonists greets him upon discovering the antagonist's identity) "Fitchner! How nostalgic." Simply beautiful use of language from start to finish. This is a Prime series my Goodmen. Question for Pierce did your last name have anything to do with the theme of the series or is it just happy coincidence?

6 people found this helpful

Extraordinary work

Exceeds the first in its brilliance--well worth the credit. It is books like this that create a void in their wake as I try to find something half as good (an experience that I love as I'm listening and hate as the book ends and i scrabble around for something else). I can count on one hand out of hundreds of series the times I have felt this way--and this is one of them. Other fingers listed below.

Four other audible series I've had the same reaction to:
The Kingkiller Chronicles by Rothfuss: the Name of the Wind and the Wise Man's Fear
The Stormlight Archives by Sanderson: The way of Kings and words of radiance
Raven's Shadow novels by Anthony Ryan: Blood song/tower lord
The Outlander Series, some better than others but in the end an amazing 300 hours of listening bliss

I'm glad to add another series to my "I really can't stand the wait" list. Now if only someone could give me a list--like this--of books I've never read and they'd work for me as well as these!

33 people found this helpful

Holly shit!

I have not been this affected by a book series in a very long time. maybe ever. the range of emotion Pierce evokes is unbelievable.

4 people found this helpful

I can't believe there isn't more hype about this series!!

I never ever write reviews, but this book truly merited one. I can't believe all the other YA tripe has been made into movies and not this series- this is so much better. The plot takes you for an awesome roller coaster ride- one you'll want to ride again and again. It's the perfect blend of love, loss, sadness, joy, humor and hope. It doesn't even have improbable "saved in the nick of time" situations that you can't suspend reality for. The narrator does and excellent job as well. No wonder this book has a 5 star rating!

9 people found this helpful

IS THIS A JOKE? DO YOU SEE US LAUGHING?

PRIDE IS JUST A SHOUT IN THE WIND
At times I thought of The Gladiator, Outlander, Dune, Game of Thrones, and several fantasy epics. The book has a lot of good sparks to it and Brown is a very smart guy. The book has about everything, space battles, sword fights and lots of politics.

EVERYTHING IS POLITICS
The first two hours are excellent and did remind me of The Gladiator. Brown humiliates his main character, in what seems beyond repair. That was followed by two hours of inner strife. Than there is a really good sword fight. The next seven hours was mostly politics and conversations. Like most fantasy epics, there is a lot of talk about this family, that family, the histories of these families and the violence they did to each other and why they hate each other. I don't mind a little inner strife or even the history on certain houses, but not seven hours of it. If you stick with this occasionally something exciting will happen, you just might have to wait several hours. The politics got confusing and I had trouble figuring out who I was suppose to be for and who were the bad guys or why I should care. After twelve hours I lost patience and moved on to another book.


HORIZONTAL DIPLOMACY
The narrator is very good, he does a great Scottish accent. He did not have a huge range of voices and at times I was confused on who was speaking.

143 people found this helpful

i love this story

I love the way this book flows and ends. My heart aches, my blood pumps, and the hair on my arms stands tall.

17 people found this helpful

The Second Book Is Better than the First

Don’t get me wrong. I am RAVING about Red Rising to everyone I possibly can around the office. And if you haven’t picked up this series yet, you need to start at the beginning. But Golden Son is even better than the first book – which is such an unheard of rarity and a delightful surprise that I had to review this book first. I don’t want to give away any spoilers here, and it’s hard to say much without doing so, but I can say that this series is a total genre-bender: I’d call this “Post-apocalyptic-dystopian-YA-crossover-military-sci-fi-with-history-and-general-awesome-geniusness”. All these elements shimmer here and meld together into one whip-smart saga that stays with you for months after finishing it. Needless to say January (when the third and final book in Brown’s trilogy releases) can’t get here soon enough.

36 people found this helpful

A Decline in Quality

The intelligent story of Red Rising continues with Golden Son, which moves off of Mars and details a painfully boring war across planets. Yes, it's difficult imagining that would be boring, but this story manages it. Having enjoyed Red Rising, I never would have expected to reach the last hour of Golden Sun with absolute apathy in my heart for whatever was going to happen next. Not caring whether one character lives or died. Without the spine of Red Rising's war games, Golden Suns degenerates into one spat of violence after another, with every character in the galaxy hopelessly incompetent save for the story's hero--who is mind numbingly good at breaking every record ever all the time without even knowing it. Golden Son is not like its predessecor, a smart grounded scifi, but merely the story of a god crushing two-dimensional plywood cutout characters.

Save your money and remember Red Rising fondly.

19 people found this helpful