Review: Golden Son by Pierce Brown
Blurb:
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.
Review:
Golden Son is one heck of a book, in several ways—both good and bad. This is by far one of the most contentious feelings I have ever had towards a novel, and while my outlook is overall a positive one, and I think it achieves some incredible things, it is marred by issues that I would be remiss to not discuss in some amount of detail.
Golden Son takes place approximately two years after the events of the first novel. Darrow has continued his effort to undermine the Society, and the book picks up when the next significant events in Darrow’s life begin. If Red Rising is an introduction and background to our protagonist, then Golden Son is the story of what that background leads to. A Red turned Gold, put through deadly trials and fighting at the Institute, Darrow is now a lancer of House Augustus. Notably he achieved the goal he was given in Red Rising—to infiltrate the higher Society. I appreciate how this story continues seamlessly from the first book even with the time jump just through the shift of Darrow’s purpose. Darrow infiltrated Gold Society—what happens next? Golden Son tells that story, fitting name and all.
The first significant compliment must be given to the pacing. One common complaint of science-fiction and fantasy is how slow they can be. It’s up to personal preference, of course, but I don’t think the majority of people will find issues with Golden Son’s pace. Golden Son starts at a jog and then breaks into a sprint, and doesn’t let up until its final breath. You will never wonder why we linger, why the book wastes time on things irrelevant to the plot, because it is surprisingly lean for a nearly four hundred and fifty page book in paperback. This can be to the book’s detriment on occasion, which I will discuss soon, but for the most part this pace keeps the reader hooked. I believe Darrow’s first person perspective is to thank for this. Darrow can only describe the experiences he is witnessing, and so we are blessed to not be taken for a ride through too many minds or points of view.
Content wise, Golden Son features some of the most memorable, bombastic events I have ever seen in fiction, with scenes that cement Darrow and his enemies as iconic. Moments such as the gala, the Iron Rain, and several other smaller, less grand moments stick in my mind as strong as any of my other favorite scenes. In the moment, these scenes are executed very well, and Pierce Brown’s prose and over-the-top style works greatly in this story’s favor. Golden Son is a major step-up from Red Rising on this front, feeling like it managed to accomplish twice as much with only a little higher of a page count.
This is where my gripes begin with Golden Son, however. While the book contains wonderful events, descriptions and character moments, several of these are marred by a lack of context that takes the wind out of moments that might have otherwise had more impact. Without spoilers I cannot go into extensive detail, but significant moments have information withheld in parts I can only describe as Pierce Brown attempting to create suspense and shock the reader with previously unknown information—but it doesn’t feel like a fulfilling surprise in the moment, instead confusing the reader and making them wonder if they missed something. At least, that’s what happened to me. While I was a fan of the events themselves, I took issue with the setup and lack of buildup to the payoff. Things seemed to happen for the sake of happening, and that is always sad to see.
Another personal gripe has to do with specific characters that continue to receive positivity from Darrow and other prominent characters we empathize with. While I believe there is some amount of reading between the lines, and perhaps it is merely a case of moral ambiguity, it is disheartening to see certain characters who have committed heinous acts receive positive attention and even respect or care from people such as Darrow, who I was led to believe would never settle for injustice brought against others, and respecting when punishment is dealt towards those who committed those acts. I merely like seeing bad people receive just dues, and there are several instances where this doesn’t happen. This is potentially a controversial opinion on the series, and I won’t say this ruins the story as much as it just bothers me specifically.
One thing the series did manage to improve on, in some capacity, compared to Red Rising was the treatment of women. While I believe Darrow has his own issues in regards to potential romantic interests (there is even a scene where it is implied by other characters, or at least joked about, that Sevro’s worship of Darrow is love—where is that romance, Pierce?), that is at least my only real concern with how the women are handled in Golden Son. Characters such as Mustang, Victra, Antonia and Octavia are standout characters for me and I often appreciated their presence in scenes, and the less relevant characters don’t receive the poor treatment they seemed to endure in Red Rising. If anyone is hurt and battered in this book, it might just be Darrow, which is refreshing, in a strange way.
Golden Son, overall, manages to overcome several of the issues present with book one, Red Rising, while furthering the series in interesting new directions and setting the stakes high for book three, Morning Star. While the book has its own stumbles, they are not so extensive as to sully the entire novel, and I can safely recommend book two for those who were fans of the first. This is a much more realized, compelling, and impactful novel than its predecessor, and I’m excited to see where Morning Star takes Darrow and his companions.
