Golden Son

Book II of the Red Rising Trilogy

By: Pierce Brown

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

With shades of The Hunger Games, Ender's Game, and Game of Thrones, debut author Pierce Brown's genre-defying epic Red Rising hit the ground running and wasted no time becoming a sensation. Golden Son continues the stunning saga of Darrow, a rebel forged by tragedy, battling to lead his oppressed people to freedom from the overlords of a brutal elitist future built on lies. Now fully embedded among the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his work to bring down Society from within.

A life-or-death tale of vengeance with an unforgettable hero at its heart, Golden Son guarantees Pierce Brown's continuing status as one of fiction's most exciting new voices.

©2015 Pierce Brown (P)2015 Recorded Books

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.

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.

Dammit Darrow

What made the experience of listening to Golden Son the most enjoyable?

Beside the mellifluous voice of the narrator, the depth of every character.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Loon Au arcos. I love Darrow, Mustang, and the rest but I expected there characters to be well written. They have the unfortunate taint of familiarity whereas Loon has the advantage of expectations. He adds another layer of ambiguity to the Gold society Darrow is trying to destroy. And he is the most dangerous grandpa in history. Lol

Which scene was your favorite?

It's a tie. The last scene still has me trying to collect myself. I will not spoil it for potential readers. The cafeteria scene with mustang and Darrow aboard the Pax is beautiful. As a sci fi fanatic I expect strong female characters in sci fi fantasy. Mustang as she demands respect for her intelligence and self worth while Darrow asserts his pride. And the food.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I'll let promoters do Tag lines, I just want a bloody damn movie.

Any additional comments?

People love to compare Y.A. fanchises like hunger games, divergent, legend etc... I have read all of them. Hate if you want but I can say with all confidence that this red rising series is the best YA series of this mellinium. I only hope that book three matches or hopefully improves upon it tremendous first two installments.

Book III Hurry Up Please!

What does Tim Gerard Reynolds bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Will listen to anything narrated by Mr. Reynolds.

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

Yes!

Any additional comments?

I finished and my mind rebelled, "Nooooooo!" How much longer until the next book?! I can not wait! I am so looking forward to finding out what happens!!!

Another Whirlwind of Plots

Pierce Brown does it again. There was no sophomore slump with this gem of a second novel. Just like Red Rising this book grabbed my attention and wouldn't let it go. It was a wild ride.

The two driving factors of this book were its plot and its characters. The plot is easily my favorite part of this book. It starts complex and continues to undulate in and out of different parts of the story, so that it is nearly imposible to determine who is good or bad and what will happen next. Furthermore, every time you as the reader think the scheming and plotting is over, another level of machinations is revealed. It isn't just the big plot twists that make this book awesome though, there are many somewhat less important aha moments in this book, that through me for a loop. They may not be central elements of the plot, but they provide all of the necessary clarification a reader wants. Also, unlike less skilled authors Mr. Brown never loses control of his plot strands.

This novel has characters as ambiguous as A Song of Ice and Fire. This statement only has ever had merit to me in a few cases, and it says something about Brown's skill of character development. For Brown it is all about the changing emotions, allegiances, and overall evolving of every character. There are a few who are easy to read, but the majority of them change allegiances at least once in these first two books. I will also mention that even though Brown loves his character development, he has no problem with the elimination of characters. I would even go so far to say that he is a ruthless author.

Finally, I must commend Tim Gerrard Reynolds for another terrific performance. He continues to impress me, with his differentiation of characters and his variety of voices. I will continue to be glad that I left my beaten path of fantasy novels, and took a shot at this perfect science fiction series. I am absolutely extatic for the release of Morning Star, the third and final installment of this trilogy, in early February. Thank you Mr. Brown for the fantastic series.

It took me some time, but I finished it.

I walked away from this book a few times. I understand the author kills off characters to show the story has real stakes. I ran out of most of the characters I care about by the very end. The story became more grinding despair than plot. I wonder why the MC is still so naïve at this point. Why would he not have eyes in the back of his head by now? I dithered over buying the third book, since reviews say more of the same. I enjoyed the first book more than this one.

Better than book 1

Book 1 was good. But this book was reeeeally good. Powered through it easily. Great performance and reading as well.

can't stop listening

This series is amazing. I read a lot and have many favorite authors. This one is added to that list. Right up there with Grorge RR Martin.

Captivating, charming, adventurous.

this is the second book and I am in love with these characters, the writer made me think of them as my family. beautiful people, ugly people, and exciting and sad , adventures from all over. when I am not listening I wonder what they are all doing. I am now reading/ listening to book 3.

5/5 A MUST READ Series

Great sequel, this series is quickly becoming my all-time favorite sci-fi story. From the action to romance sub-plot, this book impressed me from beginning to end.