Morning Star by 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.

Much like Darrow facing impossible odds against the forces of the Sovereign, Morning Star had the daunting task of concluding an epic that is monstrous in scale. Breaking the chains and political hierarchy introduced in Red Rising then replacing it with a fair society in a 500+ page book is a tall order but Pierce Brown’s decision to extend the originally announced trilogy to a saga (albeit announced after Morning Star was published) smartly avoids a rushed or worse, contrived conclusion. Disclosure upfront, Darrow does not fix the political system in place (that is continued over the next four books) but does attempt to overthrow the powers that be within Morning Star.

As a side note, this review will be spoiler free but I will lightly detail a few specific plot arcs that do not take away anything from the read. If you want to go in completely blind I would recommend not reading my review past this paragraph. Summarizing the rest of the review, t I thought the 2nd half of the novel was great and very much a continuation of the general feel and action of Golden Son. The 1st half is an entirely different being that’s introspective, meticulous and slow which is shift in tone from what was presented up to this point in the series.

My reading experience with Morning Star was of two distinctive sections (the book itself is divided into four parts) that left me with different impressions. The first section is devoted to the aftermath and imprisonment of Darrow following the events in Golden Son’s conclusion, his recovery, and outreach to the Obsidian tribes (large warrior class) in the polar regions of Mars. The first hundred or so pages are devoted entirely to Darrow’s psyche and character which is torn down to the ground during his torture and isolation in prison. We’re reminded in this arc that Darrow is not an almighty immortal sentinel that he appears to be but is a young man who was sculpted and trained to become who he is. Imprisoned in a space he can barely move and in complete darkness, Darrow wastes away for months reverting mentally (and to an extent also physically with atrophy and starvation) to the lost and broken Red man he was after the death of Eo. This regression is different from the typical narrative told in the series and should quell critics that critiqued how Darrow exemplified the overpowered protagonist trope.

His gradual build-up following a hail Mary Son of Ares recovery operation is where a lot of thoughtful points are discussed. Darrow recovers in the settlement of Tinos, one of the last Son of Ares strongholds left located beneath the surface of Mars. Starved for resources, supplies, weapons, the rebel morale is in pieces and poverty is everywhere. The forces are in a dire state and the uprising movement is on the edge of collapsing from within. Darrow then sets course to the polar region of Mars to appeal to Alia Snowsparrow, the Queen of the Valkyries and the single most powerful leader who may be able to unit the Obsidians for the rebel cause.

I find that a lot of “final” books/movies in dystopian or uprising type of narratives tend to all have a lag in action and pace within their final chapter. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows had it when Ron left the party and Harry/Hermione spent months ambling around with little direction. Mockingjay Part1 had a similar lag when Katniss was tasked with propaganda efforts in district 13 prior to the siege on the capital and witnessing the atrocities of the leader(?, sorry it’s been a while). The arcs are all crucial parts to their narratives that set the stage for the grand upcoming finale and clash but they still break the momentum in their respective series; Morning Star is no different. The content is great and fully necessary, but it wasn’t the most thrilling to read. Perhaps I have a bit of reading fatigue or grew accustomed to Red Rising’s overly twisty plot and fast pace, but something about this first half felt off. Character dynamics are different and strained due to the circumstances, but we’re only given a snapshot of the recent events via 2nd hand recollections since Darrow was locked up for so long. These recollection of events don’t have the same impact as experiences in real-time, it’s akin to telling vs showing what’s going on. Previous books would often alternate between fast and slow paced scenes but Morning Star has the unfortunate case of having them back to back (the attempted kidnapping of Quicksilver adds action but again, the vibes feel different). Upon finishing the book and reading Pierce’s acknowledgement, his own words say it best:

It wasn’t until I returned from the cabin that the story began to find its voice and I began to understand that Darrow wasn’t the focus anymore (of Morning Star and the series). It was the people around him. It was his family, his friends, his loves, the voices that swarm and hearts that beat in tune with his own. -Pierce Brown (acknowledgements)

So in essence, perhaps that shift in tone was intentional as Darrow is meant to feel isolated and alone despite being surrounded by supposed allies. This entire section is also completely Darrow-focused which may be why it wasn’t entirely to my taste similar to the Darrow-heavy drilling arc at the beginning of Red Rising (though I’ve since come around and am not a Darrow hater anymore vs when I was reading Red Rising). So much of the previous two novels focus on his friends or allies weaving in and out of his life and when you take them away, Morning Star feels a little off. Some of them like Dancer and Sevro are present within these plot arcs, but something feels like it’s missing. Moving on, the entire arc with the Obsidians in the arctic wasteland felt like a thematic and tonal callback to when Mustang and Darrow saved each other on their own. Mirroring that moment in Red Rising, everything in Morning Star starts clicks as soon as Mustang makes her reappearance here. Up until that point I was sitting at a 4 around a solid 4-star read (just the feels and experience, not the plot or writing itself which is still great).

Now the 2nd half of the book is where the narrative is back on full throttle and returns to the strategic warring dance that made Golden Son so compelling to me. The trip to appeal to Romulus, Arch Governor of Io (one of the moons of the Jupiter and outer planets) and the battle against Roque’s Sword Armada is gripping and full of clever plot twists. Darrow’s last play against the Sovereign is also an incredibly wild ride that I could not stop reading in one sitting. I also found the conclusion to Morning Star to be impressive and competent. I was dreading a rushed ending. It’s not that I didn’t believe in Pierce Brown’s writing, but the magnitude and extensive world he built is massive to try and resolve without crumbling. It was even more concerning to me when I couldn’t see a solid ending in sight with only about 70 pages left of the book. Non-spoiler, it got the job done while still leaving a lot open to be continued. It’s the type of ending that sufficiently concludes the “Break the Chains” uprising narrative of the original trilogy while still leaving more to be explored. However as Mustang repeatedly mentions, it’s more than breaking the chains, you need to be able to rebuild society afterwards. This rebuilding notion is not resolved at all in Morning Star and is clearly meant to be covered in Book #4 Iron Gold and onward.

Despite how strong the plot in the 2nd half of the book is, the parts that got my attention the most were the quieter character moments in an otherwise loud story. I thought the death of Fitchner in Golden Son and the lasting impact it has on Sevro with his complicated relationship was excellent and quite moving while an improvised dinner of stew/soup(?) during a winter snowstorm on Mars feels like the grown up version of some of Red Rising’s best camaraderie moments at the Institute.

However it’s the brief yet powerful conversation shared between Darrow and Cassius aboard the Morning Star that takes the cake. From found family brothers early on at the Institute to blood feud mortal enemies half-way through, six years of wagging war is finally discussed in a moment that every reader has been looking forward to and I was utterly thrilled and satisfied by it. That one chapter/scene between Darrow and Cassius is worth reading all the slow chapters in the front half of the book to get there (I wish it could’ve been longer). Cassius has always been one of the most fascinating characters to follow throughout the series for me (though one could make the argument Roque fills a similar role once Cassius betrays Darrow in Red Rising) and without giving away any spoilers (or at least trying not to, my enthusiasm may be betraying me) I am so pleased with what Pierce Brown did with his character. After being relegated to the background and not much of value except losing and suffering in Golden Son, Cassius au Bellona is given a wonderful conclusion in Morning Star.

As a tale of two parts, Morning Star’s back half ultimately pulls this up to a 5-star for me. It wasn’t my favorite in the series as a whole (that would be Golden Son) but the last 200 pages are some of the best in the series.

I wasn’t afraid because I didn’t know where I was going. I was afraid because I knew exactly how the story would end. I just didn’t think I was skillful enough to take you there. -Pierce Brown (acknowledgements)

Pierce Brown you’ve done it, the Red Rising saga (at least so far) has been added to my very small list of fantasy adventure favorites.