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

Product Information

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. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE SERIES. DO NOT READ IF YOU AREN’T CAUGHT UP TO THIS BOOK. It also contains spoilers for this book itself, and while those are in spoiler tags, they do not work on the mobile app. So if you’re reading this on mobile, LOOK AWAY CHILD. 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.

Marooned far from home after a devastating defeat on the battlefields of Mercury, Darrow longs to return to his wife and sovereign, Virginia, to defend Mars from its bloodthirsty would-be conqueror Lysander. So. I’ve had this feeling since Iron Gold that Pierce is setting up the death of the Reaper, and the title of book 7 does not give me much hope to the contrary. My hubby thinks Sevro will have to kill him (I think that notion is ridiculous lol), but he hasn’t read Light Bringer and Darrow has more or less found redemption for all of the horrible shit he’s done. And I was so happy to see that redemption – I was losing faith in him, and it absolutely broke my heart. Something else I was ecstatic to see was the catharsis between Darrow and Sevro. They are my BROTP!!! I haaaated seeing them fight, and their dissonance the last couple of books has been killing me a little. Sevro is my absolute favorite character of the whole entire series (very closely followed by Victra) and I neeeeed him to not die in the next book. View Spoiler » Speaking of Sevro, the scene where he found out that Ulysses died broke me :( « Hide Spoiler Overall Assessment Because Eo’s dream is still alive—and after the dark age will come a new age: of light, of victory, of hope. But it all starts to become unraveled when you realize you are reading about these extremely experienced and literally hand crafted beings of battle coupled with the supposed greatest minds in the systems and yet they are constantly being duped by betrayal. This book was good in the way that Brown is always good. It’s got the action and excitement you would expect, and the twists and turns you don’t (but also do, because they’re always there). So for those who are hungry for more Red Rising stories, don’t worry. You’ll get it.The Reaper is a legend, more myth than man: the savior of worlds, the leader of the Rising, the breaker of chains. As Pierce does so damn well, there’s a knife twist at the end that sets the series hurtling toward its conclusion. This book reminded me why I loved this world, these characters, and that bloodydamn Pierce Brown in the first place. 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.

a b Snetiker, Marc (December 15, 2016). "Pierce Brown debuts new Red Rising trilogy, cover, plot". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved January 27, 2017. The Reaper is a legend, more myth than man: the savior of worlds, the leader of the Rising, the breaker of chains. But the Reaper is also Darrow, born of the red soil of Mars: a husband, a father, a friend.

Success!

Sheehan, Jason (January 11, 2015). " Golden Son Is Space Opera That Doesn't Forget The Opera". NPR . Retrieved January 28, 2017. Mustang got more POV time! Virginia got the screen time that she deserved in this one and I was so here for it. Her character has always been a compelling part of the series so to see a major piece of this story through her eyes was so satisfying. Snetiker, Marc (February 5, 2014). " Red Rising (2014)". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved January 29, 2015. 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. Michaelian, Britt (January 17, 2014). "14 to 40: The Mother-Daughter Book Experience of Red Rising". The Huffington Post . Retrieved January 29, 2015.

To give a mood spoiler: this book is *bleak*. *Iron Gold* and *Dark Age* were also plenty bleak, so it wasn’t exactly unexpected, but this still was painful to read. Pierce Brown grew up in seven different states. His mother, Colleen Birdnow Brown, was the President and CEO of Fisher Communications and the Chairman of American Apparel's Board of Directors. [1] [2] His father, Guy Brown, is a former local banker. [3]

Member Reviews

Brown announced a sequel trilogy in February 2016, [13] to begin with the novel Iron Gold in August 2017. [16] A prequel comic book series, Red Rising: Sons of Ares, debuted in May 2017. [22] [23] 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] 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]