Review: Red Rising: Sons of Ares - Pierce Brown, Rik Hoskin & Eli Powell

From the world of the best-selling YA series Red Rising comes a story of love and loss and rage!
In the future, when mankind has spread across the stars, the hierarchy of man is dictated by the color of one's caste. The Golds rule all, but what will happen when one falls for a lowly Red? See how a forbidden love will set the course of events for the future and lead to the formation of the formidable Sons of Ares!

Written by author Pierce Brown (The Red Rising Trilogy) and Rik Hoskin (Heroes of Skyrealm, Brandon Sanderson's White Sand), with art by Eli Powell (Yakuza Demon Killers, The 13th Artifact), comes the in-continuity story of revolution and Red Rising!

Red Rising Series:
Red Rising: Sons of Ares (Graphic Novel, originally published as 6 comics)
Red Rising
Golden Son
Morning Star
Iron Gold
Dark Age (September 2018)

Visit Pierce Brown's website for more information

Review:
Red Rising: Sons of Ares is a prequel to the Red Rising series that was originally released as 6 comics (which of course being a superfan I've already purchased!), I believe the comics are now out of print and only available as ebooks so I think it's fantastic for fans that we're now getting this hardback bind-up of the whole series. The hardback is available in two versions signed or unsigned which is slightly cheaper. I've preordered the signed copy and I can't wait to see it on my shelves.

Now you've got more of an idea what you're actually getting let's get to the interesting stuff like the artwork and the story. This is a prequel so it's set before Red Rising but I definitely wouldn't recommend starting here - you'll end up giving yourself spoilers for the main books if you do. I think fans of the series will love getting to see a younger Fitchner and learning how he met his wife (although this story is slightly different to how it's told in the books) and we also get to see baby Sevro which is pretty cool. It's very easy to see where Sevro gets his attitude from that's for sure! This also shows the reasons that the Sons of Ares was originally founded so it gives us a chance to see the very beginning of the revolution that changes everything for Darrow in Red Rising.

The artwork is wonderful, quite dark in colour but that fits the gory and violent tone of the story perfectly. I love the added touch that each conversation bubble is coloured to match the birth colour of the character speaking. I really enjoying being back in this world but via a more visual format and it left me wanting to reread the rest of the series again. This is one of my all time favourite series so I'll jump at any chance for more from this world and this was a lovely addition.

A Covers for comic issues 1-6

B Covers for comic issues 1-6

Source: Purchased

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Kindle Volumes 1-6:



Bind up of all 6 issues Hardback (Signed / Unsigned) / Kindle:

Review: Iron Gold - Pierce Brown

The old world is dead. But what will rise from its ashes?

Darrow was born a slave. He became a weapon.

He ended centuries of Gold rule, broke the chains of an empire, and now he's the hero of a brave new republic. But at terrible cost.

At the edge of the solar system, the grandson of the emperor he murdered dreams of revenge.

In his hidden fortress in the oceans of Venus, the Ash Lord lies in wait, plotting to crush the newborn democracy.

And, at home, a young Red girl who's lost everything to the Rising questions whether freedom was just another Gold lie.

In a fearsome new world where Obsidian pirates roam the Belt, famine and genocide ravage Mars, and crime lords terrorise Luna, it's time for Darrow and a cast of new characters from across the solar system to face down the chaos that revolution has unleashed.

Red Rising Series:
Red Rising: Sons of Ares (Graphic Novel, originally published as 6 comics)
Red Rising
Golden Son
Morning Star
Iron Gold
Dark Age (September 2018)

Visit Pierce Brown's website for more information

Review:
Iron Gold picks up the story ten years on from the end of Morning Star, the Rising was successful but there has been a decade of war and although Mars is now free the Republic are still fighting the Ash Lord for control of the planets on the edge of the solar system. Previously the entire story has been told from Darrow's point of view but here Pierce Brown opens up the world even further by introducing three new POV characters too. I have to admit I was a little nervous about having so many new narrators to the story but it actually worked really well and allowed us to see so much more of the bigger picture. Trust me, there is SO MUCH going on in the wider world that we'd have really missed out if the story wasn't written this way.

Of course Darrow's story was the one I was most excited about but I have to admit it was kind of hard to see how far he's fallen here. Darrow has given his all to the war effort and it's cost him in his personal relationships with Mustang and in particular his young son. As much as I know Darrow always does things for the right reasons (as he sees it) he does make some very questionable choices here that make life increasingly difficult for anyone who has been by his side for all these years. I honestly have no idea how he's going to turn things around at this point but the next book is going to be interesting for sure!

Alongside Darrow's POV we also get to see Lysander's side of the story, he's spent the last 10 years in exile with Cassius. It's hard to say much about what they get up to because it would be too easy to spoil things but I have to say Lysander isn't my favourite character in the series right now. Another POV character is Ephraim, he's not someone we've met before but he does have a link to people we're familiar with. At first he didn't seem like an obvious choice for a narrator, he's a disillusioned Rising fighter who has pretty much given up on life and now puts all his effort into criminal activities, but as you get to know him you'll understand why he has an important tale to tell.

By far my favourite new POV character was Lyria, she's a young red who was rescued from one of the mines on Mars by the Rising. She was promised freedom but the Sovereign has failed her and along with hundreds of thousands of other reds she has been living in abject poverty in refugee camps on the surface. It was actually pretty heartbreaking to see that 10 years on life for the majority of reds hasn't actually improved, in fact in a lot of cases it's worse than ever because they now have no sense of purpose. Lyria is a fab character, she's been through so much but she's a fighter and she's looking for a better life for herself and whats left of her family.

As well as meeting so many new characters we also get the chance to catch up with favourites from the previous books: Sevro (always my favourite!) and Victra, the Howlers, the Telemanus family and so many others. It was great to see what everyone is up to but also pretty terrifying, we already know Pierce Brown doesn't pull his punches and none of his characters are ever safe so this book is sure to raise your blood pressure! There is far too much going on for me to detail the plot but the story had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through and jumping to different POVs with almost every chapter just raised the tension even further. This is a very worthy follow up to one of my favourite series, it definitely doesn't work as a standalone so whatever you do don't skip the original trilogy but if you loved those books you won't want to miss this one.

Meet the narrators:

Darrow

Lyria

Ephraim

Lysander

Source: Received from Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review

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Hardback / Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Morning Star - Pierce Brown

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.

Red Rising Series:
Red Rising: Sons of Ares (Graphic Novel, originally published as 6 comics)
Red Rising
Golden Son
Morning Star
Iron Gold
Dark Age (September 2018)

Visit Pierce Brown's website for more information

Review:
How the hell do I review this book? I've read it twice now and I STILL can't find the right words to describe how bloodydamn brilliant it is. For the last 2 years Pierce Brown has been in my top 10 books of the year with Red Rising and Golden Son and he's done it again with Morning Star, no small feat when this was my most highly anticipated book of the year and my expectations were through the roof.

This entire trilogy has been an emotional rollercoaster, the highs are like nothing you've ever seen before but oh how the lows will rip you to pieces. Fans of the series will know that Pierce Brown isn't afraid to kill popular characters so the fear is real in Morning Star, the fear is REAL. I don't think I've ever felt so terrified reading a book and there were moments when I was so utterly heartbroken that I had to put the book down, walk away and have a little cry.

Pierce Brown's favourite food people,

he just LOVES to make us cry!

I'm not going to lie, this book will be bad for your blood pressure and I'd definitely recommend having tissues on hand, but never fear because Sevro and Ragnar are on hand to make you howl with laughter too. I honestly don't want to say too much about the plot but you can expect to be shocked and horrified, there will be betrayals and new alliances, romances blossom in the strangest of places, families are created while others are torn apart and the power base of a universe is turned on it's axis.

Love them or hate them these characters are unforgettable. Darrow is changed by the events of Golden Son and I was quite worried about him for a while, Sevro has always been my favourite but even he gets swept up in things and goes much further than he should do but luckily Ragnar is on hand to knock sense into both of them. I have mixed feelings about Mustang, I've never quite forgiven her for the way she acted after Darrow's big revelation and there are certain things about her in this book that made me incredibly angry but at the same time I can see where she was coming from about a lot (but definitely not all) of them. There are too many characters I was invested in for me to mention all of them but Kavax and Sophocles never failed to make me smile and I actually think I want the Telemanus family to adopt me!

Morning Star is without a doubt an epic conclusion to one of my favourite trilogies EVER. I'm so happy that Pierce Brown has confirmed that he isn't done with this world yet, there are so many possibilities that could still be explored and I can't wait for every single amazing, heart wrenching page.

Source: Received from Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review

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Hardback / Paperback / Kindle:

Review: Golden Son - Pierce Brown

I'm still playing games.
This is just the deadliest yet.

Darrow is a rebel forged by tragedy. For years he and his fellow Reds worked the mines, toiling to make the surface of Mars inhabitable. They were, they believed, mankind's last hope. Until Darrow discovered that it was all a lie, and that the Reds were nothing more than unwitting slaves to an elitist ruling class, the Golds, who had been living on Mars in luxury for generations.

In Red Rising, Darrow infiltrated Gold society, to fight in secret for a better future for his people.

Now fully embedded amongst the Gold ruling class, Darrow continues his dangerous work to bring them down from within. It's a journey that will take him further than he's ever been before - but is Darrow truly willing to pay the price that rebellion demands?

Red Rising Series:
Red Rising: Sons of Ares (Graphic Novel, originally published as 6 comics)
Red Rising
Golden Son
Morning Star
Iron Gold
Dark Age (September 2018)

Visit Pierce Brown's website for more information

Review:
I'm going to apologise in advance for this review because I just don't think I have the words to do Golden Son justice, I've been trying for days to write this and I can't seem to express myself in any sensible way so you'll just have to put up with my fan girl raving. Red Rising was without a doubt my favourite book of 2014, it was one of my first reads of the year and even though I read over 200 books after it none of them managed to knock it off the top spot. So as you can imagine my excitement levels for Golden Son were off the charts. I was a little nervous at the same time though, so many times you find the second book in a trilogy is a disappointing filler that doesn't really add to the story and I would have been gutted if that had happened here. I needn't have worried though because Golden Son is incredible, in fact I think it blows Red Rising out of the water which is quite an achievement!

To put it simply Golden Son is epic. It is a book that will grip you from the very first page. It will take you on a roller coaster of intense emotions - you will laugh, cry, cheer and scream in frustration. There are shocking plot twists, new friendships are built while old ones end in betrayal, your heart will be ripped out when characters you love are destroyed but you'll find yourself rooting for others to survive. The story is fast paced, the plot is intricate and has so many layers that I'm sure there are things I won't fully understand until I reread the book and the character development is fantastic. We get to experience epic battles but we also get to learn more about the society as we see Darrow working hard to bring it down from the inside. The world building is just incredible, it's already so detailed yet I feel like we've hardly begun to touch the surface and I can't wait to see where things go from here.

It's so hard to write a review when you don't want to give away any of the plot so I'm just going to talk about a couple of the main characters. Darrow has changed so much from the boy we first met, he has become quite cold in some ways and the only thing he really cares about is destroying the Golds who betrayed him and his people. He pushes his friends away and has become a bit of a loner but at the same time he manages to draw people to him, his allies would willingly walk into hell by his side and we see this happen time and time again. One of the things I've always loved about Darrow is that he isn't perfect, he makes so many mistakes but he is smart enough to recognise that and he tries hard to learn from them. There are times when it can be frustrating watching him push people away but it is easy to understand where he is coming from. I can't help but love him and I desperately want to see him find some kind of happiness even as he brings the system down around him.

Without a doubt my favourite character is Sevro though, he steals every single scene he appears in and I love him more than words can say. I've lost count of the number of times that Sevro and the Howlers have saved the day, the war would truly have been lost without them. I absolutely adore the friendship between Sevro and Darrow too. Sevro is often the voice of reason, the one who calls Darrow out when he isn't thinking clearly but at the same time Sevro can often be the more bloodthirsty of the two and he's brilliant at plotting against their enemies. Other highlights include meeting Pax's family, finally discovering who Ares is (I would never have guessed in a million years!) and meeting new character Ragnor who I hope we see a lot more of.

To be honest there are too many highlights to mention, Golden Son is so tightly plotted that there isn't a single wasted sentence. Every line is important, every single chapter is full of suspense, emotional anguish and shocking reveals. This is an exhausting read but in the best possible way and once again I feel confident in naming my book of the year even though it's only January. I think I'd be willing to sell my soul to the devil if I could get my hands on a copy of the final book, Morning Star, right now but in the meantime I'll just have to console myself with multiple rereads of the first two books while I wait.

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle:

Review: Red Rising - Pierce Brown

Break the chains.
Live for more.

Darrow is a Helldiver, one of thousands of men and women living in the vast caves beneath the surface of Mars, a people who spend their entire lives toiling to mine the precious elements that will make the planet habitable.

Until the day Darrow learns that it is all a lie. That Mars has been inhabited by generations by a decadent ruling class of people known as the Golds, who view the workers beneath them as nothing more than slave labour, to be exploited without a second thought.

With the help of a mysterious group of rebels, Darrow disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside.

But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda . . .

Red Rising Series:
Red Rising: Sons of Ares (Graphic Novel, originally published as 6 comics)
Red Rising
Golden Son
Morning Star
Iron Gold
Dark Age (September 2018)

Visit Pierce Brown's website for more information

Review:
Sometimes you stumble across a book that is so good it just blows your mind. Red Rising is one of those books and I want to grab a stack of copies and walk around the streets handing them to everyone I come across telling people that they NEED to read this book! I know it's only January but I would be incredibly surprised if this book isn't at the top of my list for best books in 2014. I've been putting off writing this review for days because there is no way I can do it justice but I'm going to try, I can't put it any more simply than "BUY THIS BOOK NOW" but we'll see if I can come up with something a bit more meaningful.

Darrow is from a family of pioneers and for generations his people, known as the reds, have worked in the mines on Mars digging for the Helium 3 needed to terraform the planet and make it hospitable for humans to live on the surface. They live hard and die young but they do it for the greater good of humanity knowing that their sacrifices will create a home that is desperately needed for future generations. Things may be tough but Darrow is generally happy with his lot, he loves his wife and lives for her and his family, they don't have much but they find joy in the small things and that's what makes life bearable. That is until he discovers the extent of the betrayal against his people and discovers that the higher echelons of society have been living on the surface in luxury for centuries. The Golds look down on the reds seeing them as nothing more than slave labour and everything that Darrow has ever been told about his role is a lie. With the help of a group of rebels Darrow is given the chance to fight back against the oppression of his people but in order to do that he will have to give up all that he cares about, he will have to turn himself into the one of the people he hates most and if he fails it will cost him everything.

I can't even begin to tell you what an emotional roller coaster Red Rising is, this book completely tore my heart out and ripped it into tiny little pieces - I don't think I've ever cried so hard less than 50 pages into a book before! It's incredible that Pierce Brown had me invested in his characters so quickly but that's a strong testament to how powerful his writing is. I was hooked into this story from the very first page and with an opening like "I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war." who can blame me? Darrow has to be one of the most memorable characters I've come across in a long time. He isn't a natural leader, he was happy with his life as he knew it and didn't go looking to change things but when his hand is forced his need for vengeance takes him to places he never could have imagined. I loved the fact that Darrow isn't perfect, he is fallible and he makes a lot of mistakes along the way but he is constantly learning from them and doing his best to improve. He is the kind of guy who is prepared to fight for what he believes in even if the battle was brought to him rather than one that he went searching for. He is forced into a world that his upbringing could never have prepared him for but his will to live, his strength and his need for revenge pull him through.

Along with Darrow we are treated to a whole host of memorable side characters, I don't want to tell you too much about what happens during the rest of the book because I really think you'll get more enjoyment out of it if you go in blind but trust me it will be a memorable journey. This is a dark story, Darrow finds himself in a violent world where things are cut-throat and kill or be killed. He is forced into situations where there is no safe or easy outcome and that means he has to do terrible things to survive, he takes no pleasure in it but he will gorydamn do whatever it takes to make it. He can't survive alone though and that means putting his trust into people who are his natural enemies. He has to battle with himself as he starts to see some of the people he should hate as his friends but nothing is ever quite what it seems and it is impossible to know who he can really trust or who will stab him in the back at the first opportunity.

Red Rising is an impressive debut and the start of what is sure to be an incredibly popular trilogy. I don't say that lightly and I honestly believe that we will see big things from Pierce Brown in the future. If you are only going to take my recommendation for one book this year then please let it be for this one - this really is a book that I definitely want everyone to read. Whether you are a fan of dystopian stories or if it's a genre you're sick to death of you will love this book. It has none of the typical YA clichés and will surprise you at every turn. My only complaint is that I've got to wait to get my hands on the sequels but I guarantee that I'll be rereading this story to tide me over until they're published.

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Other Reviews:
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.

Hardback / Kindle: