REVIEW: Morning Star (RR, #3)
If we call Golden Son the book of nonstop action and insane set pieces, Morning Star is the beginning of the Story of Doom and Despair.
I was all-in on finishing this trilogy. After how insane the last book’s ending was, I went so far as to use my last free Audible credits to check out the Dramatized Audiobook Adaptation of Morning Star, at the same time as buying it on Kindle.
When I couldn’t read, I listened.
When I couldn’t listen, I read.
I flew through this book in days.
It had such a unique beginning — yes, it’s another “reset”, just like Golden Son and Red Rising, but it’s different, here. From Red Rising to Golden Son, we think Darrow’s finally on top until, at the beginning of Red Rising, that feeling is taken away once he’s demeaned by House Bellona and we realize that he’s a small fish in a galaxy-sized pond.
But here, from Golden Son’s ending, it’s differnent because we aren’t at a new level — we’ve had our house of structure torn away. Several characters were killed, Darrow’s imprisoned, and the entire status quo’s flipped now that Darrow’s core secret is out to everyone. Hell, the book starts with him stuck in a hole trapped with his own madness, the lowest of the low up to now.
Once he finally catches up with the others, though, the dynamic is so refreshing. Everyone knows that he’s truly a Red, and with all the unshakeable “pillars” to rely on gone, after Augustus, Lorn, and Fitchner’s deaths, now our characters are stepping into their positions against the Sovereign. Sevro’s the head of the Sons of Ares. Mustang’s taken lead with the Telemanus’es.
And yet…
NO ONE'S PERFECT
It’s insane how Sevro became so much more raw, keeping his faith in Darrow’s absence, yet still almost allowing the war to make him as vengeful as Harmony, only saved by the closeness of their bond. He allows us to see the negative side of the Rising, for the first time, with how cramped and starved their secret city Tinos has become, how unstable the Society is, and how Darrow believes himself not to be the same rage-filled legend he built through the Lion’s Rain.
Mustang was the weirdest, though. She ran away from Darrow at the end of Golden Son when he revealed his last secret, a truth that would get him killed, yet when she comes back, she tells him that he has to prove herself to her? And it turns out that he had a whole kid she kept from him to test him?
How can you test somebody after you turned on their loyalty?
It felt extreme and inconsistent, and they never had a 1-on-1 to really talk about things like they did in Golden Son, but I’m still glad they ended up okay.
You know what else I’m glad for?
THE BATTLE OF ILIUM
I’ve never listened to a Dramatized Audiobook Adaptation like this before, and sure, having a dozen voice actors for every individual character is one thing, but you know what else is sick?
The sound effects.
The Battle of Ilium was taken to a whole other level with being able to hear the warfare on top of the descriptions, and it was the point where I realized, for how much they rely on “shifting the paradigm”, that’s just thinking outside the box. Somehow, the Rising has been propelled by the ability to think outside the box — and it works. So much so that Roque kills himself after losing (L bozo), and Darrow uses That to cover himself bombing the docks.
It’s clear he isn’t perfect.
DARROW ISN'T RATIONAL
…and he’s especially irrational by looking at Aja and deciding that Ragnar could beat her alone. Because he didn’t.
And he’s no builder.
Ragnar’s death had me crying real tears. He was an amazing character, with a beautiful arc for such a gentle giant, coming off of him telling Sefi to live for more than just Valhalla, for Darrow to know he’ll wait for him in the Vale. He was the one genuinely good character, only ever a victim of his circumstance and a paragon of morality once Darrow freed him.
But my second favorite moment? Just below Ragnar’s death?
SWITCHING SIDES…THEN SWITCHING AGAIN…THEN SWITCHING AGAIN?
Cassius.
My boy, Cassius.
The progression of him being captured, to seeming like he was turning to their side, to killing Sevro, ruining their plan and shipping Darrow back to the Sovereign, to it all being a setup to get to the Sovereign and 1v3 Aja?
It was mindblowing, and even sicker when Aja took on all three of them at once and it was still a close fight. She was trained by the same master as Darrow, and although it flew over my head, it makes him even dumber for thinking Ragnar could take her in a one on one. I’d still put it below the Gala duel, but as the final fight scene of the trilogy, it absolutely served its twist and spectacle.
AND SO...?
Five out of five stars as a book, and as a trilogy, only four just because of how misleading Red Rising is. I can’t believe that I stopped there, years ago. I reread and started through the trilogy as I’ve been watching Attack on Titan, and it’s just been peak fiction after peak fiction.