Review: Morning Star by Pierce Brown
Blurb:
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.
Review:
“Per aspera, ad astra.”
Pierce Brown has done something truly special with the first trilogy in the Red Rising series. I have long held that the first era of Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson was the quintessential trilogy: perfectly executed with a phenomenal wrap up that had an Olympic-style landing. Red Rising is the first trilogy since I’ve read Mistborn that has challenged it for the coveted seat of “Best Trilogy.” Morning Star was fantastic conclusion to a stunningly good trilogy.
This review is going to be full of spoilers because I don’t think I can do this book and this series justice with a vague review that remains spoiler free. So, if you haven’t read the series but you’re reading this review: stop now and read the book. TL;DR review is: THIS IS BLOODYDAMN GOOD. GET READING, GOODMAN.
“If we fall, others will take our place, because we are the tide. And we are rising.”
I will say that after Red Rising, I was a bit concerned what other story could be told in this world. I had the benefit of knowing that this is a planned 7 book series, so I knew Brown had more to tell. But it seemed like Red Rising was pretty self-contained story that, while it could be expanded, didn’t seem like it needed to keep going. Golden Son blew me away. Morning Star completely sealed the deal for me. If I wasn’t already, I am officially indoctrinated into the cult of the Howlers.
“I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war. My name is Darrow of Lykos.”
After the absolutely jaw-dropping cliff hanger in Golden Son, I came to Morning Star with trepidation. How was Brown going to hurt me now? With a completely devastated and defeated Darrow who had been kept in a hollowed-out table for the past 9 months, emerging only to be tortured and used as a plaything by the Jackal. It was heart wrenching to read, but I’m glad Brown didn’t old back any of the punches. We felt the physical and emotional and psychological torture that Darrow was living through. His journey back to the Darrow of old was slow but we watch as he matures into a more holistic version of himself while maintaining the gritty, violent darkness he developed as a Helldiver of Lykos.
“All that we have is that shout into the wind—how we live. How we go. And how we stand before we fall.”
“What is pride without honor? What is honor without truth? Honor is not what you say. It is not what you read. Honor is what you do.”
There were parts of Darrow’s early journey in this book that drew strong parallels to Rand al’Thor’s journey in some of the middle books of the Wheel of Time. Rand’s character arc is one of my favorites in fantasy. But what I loved about Darrow’s journey is I felt his ups and downs. Sometimes with Rand and the way Robert Jordan wrote the Wheel of Time, I had to really use my imagination to get into his headspace and feel what he was feeling. To understand what it felt like to be in the box in Lord of Chaos or when he was controlled by Semirhage in The Gathering Storm. But Pierce Brown puts us into Darrow’s head and, like it or not, we’re transported down into the depths of Hell with him and up to the peaks of Olympus.
Unfortunately, Darrow is not the only one who suffers in Morning Star. I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive Pierce for taking Ragnar from me so soon. His death is beautiful and painfully well done. It’s a prime example of how well Brown can channel into the reader’s emotions and then twist them like a knife in the gut. This was a particularly touching line from Ragnar. “I am no builder. So take your time. We will wait.” The death was poetic but so sad.
Another moment that surprised me, in terms of the amount of emotion Brown was able to wring from my soul, was between Victra and Antonia. Antonia had just brutally murdered Thistle and, in response, Victra had beaten her into oblivion. With blood still on her hands, she said: “I used to braid her hair. I don’t know why she’s like this. Why I am.” It was so devastatingly poignant.
Obviously, Brown has demonstrated himself as a master of rousing speeches and powerful phrases.
“Guard your hearts. Guard your friends. Follow me through this evil night, and I promise you morning waits on the other side. Until then, break the chains!”
But, aside from the twists and turns and reveals that left my jaw on the floor and made me fall deeper into love with this series, my favorite scene was between Sevro and Cassius. Sefi has gone rogue and begun putting the Golds on the ship to trial in a mock court of justice which ends with each of them on the dangling end of a rope. Cassius has the sign of the Reaper carved into his chest. Sevro comes into the room filled with rage at Cassius, the man who killed and then beheaded his father. Instead of carrying out his own form of justice, in a poetic mirroring of Darrow’s beating at the Institute, Sevro proclaims his own sins and hangs himself alongside Cassius, forcing Sefi to release both. And then this: “We are the new age. The new world. And if we’re to show the way, then we better damn well make it a better one. I am Sevro au Barca. And I am no longer afraid.” Chills.
Morning Star is a bloody, vicious conclusion that has catapulated Red Rising into the revered pantheon of my favorite trilogies of all time. Taken completely unexpected by how much I would become engrossed in this world and in these charecters, like a brutal Iron Rain, Brown unleashes these stories with searing savagery for all those who read them. Red Rising is not for the faint of heart; it is for those who love grim, violent books based around a Rising of passion and honor that, while flawed at times, screams to be heard and respected. I cannot wait to continue with the second arc of this series. Red God cannot come soon enough!
And as always:
“My pleasure, Good Reaper.”
“Hail Reaper.”
