Golden Son

by Pierce Brown
442 pgs  (Red Rising series #2)

Darrow, a teenage Red, began his life as a slave, working every day in the mines below the surface of Mars. He, and all other Reds, had been taught for generations that their role in the solar system was to work to bring about a better future for all mankind. Meanwhile, the Golds, the ruling caste in society, lived off of their efforts and kept the Reds ignorant of the life all others lived on the surface of Mars, and throughout the solar system.

In Red Rising, he is taken by a group of rebels and transformed into a Gold--a transformation that involved an extensive education, training in battle and war strategies, and surgeries that changed him physically into a perfect human specimen. All these changes were made so that he could be inserted into the world of the Golds, and find a way to destroy their system from within.

Golden Son begins a couple of years after Red Rising ended. Darrow now serves one of the ruling families of the Golds--the head of which was responsible for the death of Darrow's wife. Darrow now has to fight against every instinct he has for revenge and wait until he's able to accomplish his ultimate goal.

Golden Son doesn't suffer from the "sophomore slump," nor does it suffer from any of the issues that tend to plague the middle books of trilogies. You never feel like Brown is holding all of the best parts of his story until the last book. The action and pace of the book are fantastic, and if the increase from book one to this one is any indication, book three is going to be impressive. Fortunately Morning Star comes out next month.

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆