Golden Son
Year: 2015
Author: Pierce Brown
Length: 1,143 minutes / 19.05 hours
After reading this book (or more accurately, listening to it), I’m on the edge of whether I’ll continue this series. I thought Red Rising was OK for what seemed like a Hunger Games rip-off. Perhaps my problem with this one was trying to listen to it while caring for an infant. Or it was that it’s been three years since I read the last book. Maybe the genre (or what’s become of it) really doesn’t appeal to me. At any rate, I had trouble engaging with this book at all.
It didn’t help that I only vaguely remembered the main character and what his goal was. This sequel didn’t seem to have any of the recurring characters from the previous book, or at least it didn’t pull from that cast of characters very much. I understood the need for a revolution against the higher classes via infiltration, but the motivation of the main character still felt hollow. Especially now that he was among the elite, I found myself not caring about anything that was happening. It was as if he knew he was going to win no matter what, so why even bother rooting for him?
The plot itself felt convoluted, and I caught myself frequently wondering what had actually happened. A few scenes stood out to me, but they seemed to omit the larger context of what made them significant. I still question why this series is so heavily into Roman mythology and aesthetic when its sci-fi roots are clearly trying to take control at every turn. That may actually hit at my core problem with this series: it doesn’t even know what it’s trying to be.
Confusing, boring, and unengaging, I give Golden Son 2.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
