Light Bringer: the Sunday Times bestseller (Red Rising Series)

Product Information

Truitt, Brian (February 1, 2014). " Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field". USA Today . Retrieved January 29, 2015. I have seen things a Red miner was never meant to see—unspeakable horrors, impossible beauty. Things that would make the tail of particles seem commonplace. But today I feel a little different. A little more willing to see there’s beauty here on this stepping stone. Maybe it’s the book. Maybe it’s the radiation. Whatever it is, I feel like today I have enough strength to look the other way, past the shadowy shoulder of the Archimedes to an expanse of stars in the distance where my eyes settle on a dim, ruddy light. Howler, Kelly (October 5, 2018). "Pierce Brown Talks Dark Age, the TV Show Status and Red Rising Tattoos at NYCC". Howler Life . Retrieved July 21, 2019. The world of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising expands further in the next installment of the Sons of Ares storyline. Sheehan, Jason (January 11, 2015). " Golden Son Is Space Opera That Doesn't Forget The Opera". NPR . Retrieved January 28, 2017.

Snetiker, Marc (December 30, 2014). " Golden Son (2015)". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved January 30, 2015. I’ll say this from the get go to set expectations. Light Bringer was not my least favorite nor my favorite book of the Red Rising Saga. Out of the 6 current books it sits at #4 behind Golden Son, Dark Age, and Morning Star, but ahead of Red Rising and Iron Gold. To put that into further perspective, I have never ranked a Red Rising book below 9/10. So it is no insult to say that Light Bringer is my 4th favorite of the series. They are all basically amazing. Anyway, on to the actual review.

My thoughts

Kyriazis, Stefan (February 1, 2018). "Red Rising author Pierce Brown Iron Gold Interview: TV show, Dark Age, Book 6 and Cassius". Daily Express . Retrieved March 15, 2018. Just as the title suggests it’s starting to get a bit silly. I love the characters and the writing is well done on the level of how it makes you feel as if you could be there. The descriptions used, the details, the dialogue all inspires emotion. Here, we’re going to see how Darrow and Virginia have managed to actually lead this new government and society. We’re seeing that idealistic visions fail in the face of real struggles, different people, and new issues. And we see how those heroic young characters have grown into new versions. A little more weary but also now they have new focuses with lives lived and families. New responsibilities will now shape their decisions. There’s still the wider, humanistic views and concerns, but we’re now going to face them with people who have grown up and have known responsibility both mundane and grand, who now know exactly how one solution will never fit every problem. I can’t and won’t forgive Brown for killing a character that I love. I won’t say who and I saw it coming, but I’m still displeased. A good arc for that character, though.

As of June 2021, the Red Rising saga had sold over 2 million copies in the US alone. [24] Reception [ edit ] The worlds once needed the Reaper. But now they need Darrow. Because after the dark age will come a new age: of light, of victory, of hope. My thoughts However, those of us who have read through Dark Age know that some of the relationships that we’ve come to love so much are in dire straits, potentially broken forever. I was really happy to see that the few relationships that are focused on in Light Bringer are written in such a way that feels true to the characters involved and also to the trauma of what they’ve been through, whatever the outcome. There is also a new friendship formed that I really enjoyed. How the author writes his characters is one of my favorite things about this series and that didn’t change in Lightbringer. Some of the very best moments were intimate, emotional scenes between characters with deeply meaningful relationships. That is where I will stop with that discussion though because I can’t say more without spoilers. a b Snetiker, Marc (December 15, 2016). "Pierce Brown debuts new Red Rising trilogy, cover, plot". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved January 27, 2017.There is so much that Brown does right with this series, and so I’ll just touch on a few points of appreciation. By following those young characters into adulthood and the new world they managed to form in the first trilogy, we have a rare chance to explore the reality of the epic endings. Character-wise, we spend most of our time in Darrow’s head. Lysander is #2, and Lyria and Virginia come in more or less tied for #3. Yes, the war is waging on, there are moments of military campaigns that are well played out here that Pierce describes in breathtaking prose. Yet it’s the human moments, interludes with characters, glimpses of their hearts and souls that make Lighbringer sing. In February 2014, shortly after the release of Red Rising, Universal Pictures acquired the rights for a film adaptation in a 7-figure auction. [14] Marc Forster is set to direct, with Brown writing the screenplay. [14] [15] Brown told Entertainment Weekly that after completing the original trilogy, "I took a meager little break, mostly to stretch my screenwriting muscles." [16] As of February 2016, the film was still in development, with Brown having written the first two drafts. [17] He said in March 2016, "I have written the first two drafts of the film and now we're on the third. Hopefully it will be greenlit this year. The vision from the film makers is ' Lawrence of Arabia in space', which is terribly exciting for me as it's my favorite film." [18] The rights eventually reverted to Brown, [19] and in January 2018, Brown said he was developing Red Rising as a television series. [19] [20] Brown confirmed in October 2018 that the project had a director and a showrunner, and added that the film rights had also been resold to an unspecified studio. [21] Red Rising Author Pierce Brown Shares Experiences That Shaped His Futuristic Society - The Surge™". The Surge™ . Retrieved 2016-01-27.

And one last point that I want to mention. Years ago, someone asked Willem DeFoe about how he was so talented at playing villains. To paraphrase, he said that he never played them *as* villains, because no one is a villain to themselves. Everyone thinks they’re righteous. That idea was on my mind quite a lot as I read this. Brown wrote six novels [5] and faced rejection from over 120 agents before selling Red Rising. [6] He wrote the novel in two months above his parents' garage in Seattle, Washington. [3] Howler, Kelly (January 29, 2018). "A Red Rising TV Show Could Happen Instead of a Movie". Howler Life . Retrieved July 21, 2019. Pierce Brown does it again. I am stunned and heartbroken and I feel like my brain has been pushed through the tiniest holes of a cheese grater. Was it worth the four year wait after Dark Ages? Abso-freakin-loutely. While not as gut-wrenching and nail-biting as the Dark Ages, it delivered all that I hoped for, and more. Brown scaled the story down and focused on these two men who have journeyed so far. The world and the war Brown has created comes to life in vivid 3D. He hits home on the sacrifices, the greed, the sheep and the loss. His characters have a genuineness to them and consistently stay true to themselves as they evolve and grow. I feel as if I know them and share their experiences and emotions. I should mention that I also feel enraged by the actions of some, from self-serving greed to the hierarchy and trappings of the colors.For all that, there’s always a feeling of deep hope at the end of these books. Even in dire situations, the characters have personal reflections that carry the reader beyond the action and into the reasoning and feeling of the people involved. We see wide swings between despair and sentimental hope, and they’re always realistic. Because no character maintains perfect morality, I feel like they are even more worthy of respect.

You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” -Harvey Dent, Batman: The Dark Knight. Ephraim, Pax and Electra are kidnapped by the Obsidians led by Sefi. Sefi hopes to lead the Obsidians into a new age and secure their freedom. They start by taking over several areas of Mars including Cimmeria. Sefi reveals to Ephraim that Volga, his former apprentice, is the last surviving daughter of Ragnar Volarus and is the heir to the Obsidian throne. Ephraim, feeling he has been reformed from his ways as a thief, refuses to help Sefi. In Olympia, Ephraim encounters a giant Obsidian named Volsung Fá, the ancient leader of a pirate tribe called the Ascomanni. When Sefi does not believe him, Ephraim and the children escape.

a b Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 6, 2014). "Universal Wins 7-Figure Auction For Red Rising, With Marc Forster Helming Mars Tale". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 28, 2015. The Reaper is a legend, more myth than man: the savior of worlds, the leader of the Rising, the breaker of chains. Full Creative Team of Pierce Brown's Original Red Rising: Sons of Ares Comic Book Series Announced". IndieComix.net. February 20, 2017 . Retrieved February 24, 2017. More than a decade separated from Olympia’s airy sepulchres has done little to dim Cassius’s spectacular talent for condescension. Worst of all, in typical Cassius fashion, he’s taking his damn time. Six weeks he’s been gone on a mission to Starhold—an ecliptic trade post between the orbits of Mercury and Venus—to secure us the helium we need for the Archimedes. While here I am: either languishing in the old Sons of Ares base that’s hidden in the belly of the trash moon or latched onto the side of his ship like an industrious barnacle welding the days away, knowing time is running out. A large part of how I rate a book depends on if the author was able to get an emotional reaction out of me. If a book is able to accomplish that, unless they do something else that is just really not my thing, I will typically really like or love it. That being said, Light Bringer made me cry once and tear up at least once if not more. Not heaving sobs, but tears none the less. Part of that I’m sure is the love I already have for this series and especially the characters, but an even bigger part is that Brown continues to write scenes with such raw emotion.