I was not ready for the man to die!!!! ( )

This review refers to the whole Red Rising trilogy (Red Rising, Golden Son, and Morning Star). It's about a future society that spans the whole Solar System, with a rigid system of castes, including the Golds, who are the ruling class, and the Reds, who are slaves without rights and perform the more menial grunt work. The trilogy tells the story of a revolutionary leader who infiltrates the Gold caste to gain power and bring the system down.

It has a lot to recommend it. It's very readable and entertaining. The first book reminded me in some ways of the Hunger Games, only on a bigger, more strategical scale. The worldbuilding is interesting, although implausible at times, with the elite Golds basically acting as a pantheon of Roman gods of war. I was engrossed but at the same time I had the nagging sensation that this is one of those stories where you have to disconnect your brain and go along with the ride. Our hero will be taken prisoner repeatedly by the most ruthless enemies, who inexplicably will fail to kill him when they can... The way people act is often too extreme and larger than life... I'm sure future battles would not work in the way the books describe... But if you are willing to overlook things like that you have very compelling characters, intense relationships, often not romantic, and a ripping story.

For entertainment value it gets 5-stars easily, but I will withhold one for the eye-rolling moments. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it, though. ( )

distopico
guerre
tradimenti

CIT: "per aspera ad astra"
attraverso le difficolta, fino alle stelle ( )

Every time I start to wonder if this book/series is poorly written, I turn the page and another batshit crazy twist happens and I forget entirely any qualms I have. I don't think I've ever read a series with a more breakneck pace. There is almost no time to let events sink in - there's always some new twist, or betrayal, or battle, or fascinating world building set-piece that I was always invested and interested, if not a little exhausted by the end. As my brother in law said, "I'm not sure if it's good, but it sure is fun." ( )

I like the universe this series is set in and I like Darrow's story. I liked but didn't love the first book in the series and this one was supposed to be even better. Most people think so.
In a way, it is a better book than the first one. There is less world-building (which I loved) and more action (better than in the last book, but still boring).
But, I didn't enjoy reading it. It felt like a chore and I was so happy when I finished. I even considered DNFing it. Things got old really quickly and although there is a lot going on, it is just a drag altogether. There is something about the style that just doesn't vibe with me. The book has too many twists and too many unimportant characters which makes it somewhat superficial. I didn't care about the characters, Darrow's plot armor is thick enough to get him through anything. And the relationships are boring. The setting is still great though, but it is not enough on its own.
I did like Sevro, he is my favourite character in the series.

It didn't help that I decided to get this in Croatian translation, which was horrible, but I switched back to the original after a few chapters. However, nothing helped to improve the impression. 2.5 stars rounded up.

( )