Morning Star

Book III of the Red Rising Trilogy

By: Pierce Brown

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

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.

©2016 Pierce Brown (P)2016 Recorded Books

Suspenseful, Powerful, Perfect ending!

I had been looking forward to the third installment to Brown's trilogy since finishing Golden Son. I was not disappointed. It was a bit slow starting, but as time passed, the story line became much tighter and focused. Brown did an outstanding job keeping the plot plausible, edgy, suspenseful, emotional, dark (but not too dark). There are some very humorous and even touching moments in the story that are very endearing. The characters are flawed, but what depth in terms of their development. They deal with difficult choices, horrific events, and real loss. Tim Gerard Reynolds pulls out all the stops with this story and treats the listener to another wonderful performance. It is the relationships that have been forged in the first book that make this trilogy so special. The end is wonderfully done, very satisfying. Kudos to the team of Pierce Brown and Tim Gerard Reynolds that have given us a story for the ages.

Don't miss, you gory dammed pixies.

I thoroughly enjoyed the series, but this last book in the trilogy surpassed my every expectation. I can't remember the last time I was so satisfied as a reader.

Listen. Enjoy.

Consistent Through Entire Series

With Morning Star, the Red Rising trilogy comes to a satisfying conclusion. The denouement is full of action and pathos and perfectly continues the momentum built up in the previous two volumes. Although not a perfect series for me, I greatly enjoyed both the book and audio narration.

Story: Darrow has been captured and mentally/physically tortured by The Jackal. But his enemies have once again underestimated his resourcefulness - a flaw that will provide the opportunity for Darrow and his allies to overthrow the Empress and free the Reds.

Morning Star follows Darrow's unique ability to build a rebellion through acquiring allies. As with previous books, he does so with grit and leadership skills while secretly doubting himself throughout. Author Brown has some great twists especially in this last volume as well as important character development arcs. He allows stories to come full circle, twisting and turning things on their heads. Commendably, events/people of the first book aren't forgotten by this third book and figure prominently in Morning Star.

When I say this isn't a perfect series, there are two standout issues for me. First, having an unreliable narrator is a writing conceit that feels more like a betrayal of the reader just to create interest. I.e., if our first person narrator creates a diabolical plan and knows the outcome, we should know about it too (since he wouldn't be worried or afraid as his plan unfolded as expected). Second, there is a lot of torture porn here - it's a bit over the top at times. Brown greatly enjoys the physical and mental deprivations he puts his characters through, that's for sure.

At the same time, I appreciate that the bad guys aren't superbly evil, that people can change their minds/alignments, and not everything is as it seems on the surface. All those nuances are especially played well in this third book. The things that killed Darrow's successes and friends in books one and two are the same things that will save him and win the war. As well, the action is well written and keeps a reader invested to see how it will all play out.

In all, this is a series I highly recommend. It was listed as dystopian originally but clearly this is science fiction. The audio narration was good as well.

A fitting end

Very much enjoyed the book. Maybe not the stellar performance of the previous two. Loved the ending though!

Great story. A bit wordy

Pierce is a masterful storyteller. And I love the delicious accent of the narrator. I have to say though this 3rd book lost me a few times with over descriptive thoughts and action scenes that I couldn't follow well. I think it could've been at least two hours shorter and just as awesome.