Light Bringer by Pierce Brown
Blurb:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Darrow returns as Pierce Brown’s New York Times bestselling Red Rising series continues in the thrilling sequel to Dark Age.
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.
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.
Lysander longs to destroy the Rising and restore the supremacy of Gold, and will raze the worlds to realize his ambitions.
The worlds once needed the Reaper. But now they need Darrow, and Darrow needs the people he loves—Virginia, Cassius, Sevro—in order to defend the Republic.
So begins Darrow’s long voyage home, an interplanetary adventure where old friends will reunite, new alliances will be forged, and rivals will clash on the battlefield.
Because Eo’s dream is still alive—and after the dark age will come a new age: of light, of victory, of hope.
Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga:
RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE • LIGHT BRINGER
Review:
“DO NOT FEAR FOR ME. INSTEAD, PITY THEM”
I met Pierce Brown while I was reading this! Omg, anyways when I told him my favorite character was Victra he told me the quote above is his favorite line of hers. So naturally, I HAD to start the review with it!!
I read this VERY slowly, I just wanted to make it last forever. I tried to tab all the important things so when Red God comes out (sometime next year?) I’ll be ready for it!
Pierce Brown continues to be one of the most quotable authors I’ve ever read. I love his prose, and how each line tells its own story. He creates such unique circumstances, having Darrow’s Mother cover Virgina & Victra’s gold sigils with red, and tells them “Go, daughters of Mars, and be our wrath.” Just an example of a small moment having a huge impact on the reader!
Eo continues to haunt the narrative, and it’s incredible how much she can offer all the characters individually.
I lost my love in Hanger 17b. We just got him back, and I finished this book weeks ago, and still cannot believe how impactful and heartbreaking this was.
“I want a fight. I need a fight. It’s how I’m made—to struggle in eternal vain.”
THIS SECTION WILL INCLUDE SPOILERS
Darrow – Oh Darrow, the constant struggle, the constant fear of not being enough. The constant love he pours into his friends. When he sees the video of Sevro being sold at market, he thinks to himself that “love has seldom caused me such physical pain.” We start this book with Darrow not having Sevro or Cassius and you can really see how much he needs one of them to bounce ideas off of. His relationship with Sevro is broken after they parted ways earlier, but he tells him “Even if we lost this war, and I was dying, I’d smile if I knew you’d gotten out,” and Sevro believes him, and UGHHH I loved it so much. When Darrow reflects on getting Sevro back, his first thought is of Victra and then of Virginia.
“The generation that lights the fuse usually gets buried in the rubble.”
Sevro – Sevro is broken by the loss of his son, he thinks Victra doesn’t want to see him. A strong talking to from Darrow shows him he needs friends, just like Darrow needs friends to hold him up. Sevro really does try to be the dad he never had, but in this book he’s thrown back into his fathers world, a secret message just for him from the Daughters of Athena, and the inheritance that comes with it. The helm back from Matteo, and the stories that he relives. Also, being in tight quarters with the man who killed his father, he has so much around him reminding him of his dad, and all the ways he doesn’t want to be just like him. Sevro ends up making Cassius a bottle of alcohol, which was such a touching, but mild moment.
“I am Cassius Bellona, son of Tiberius, son of Julia, bother of Darrow, Morning Knight of the Solar Republic, and MY HONOR REMAINS.”
Cassius – the CHIN. LOL omg Cassius brought the sass and the class to this book, I have loved him since the beginning, but he just escalated up the ladder of favorites during this book. His bromance with Darrow and the way he flourishes in that friendship, and his relationship with Lyria, listen, I did not know I needed Cassius and Lyria to flirt, wasn’t on my radar but it RULED this book. “Matteo was beautiful, but Cassius. Oh, that’s a man.” Her giving her terrible callsign and him laughing and giving her a new one, EAGLET, crying laughing. Darrow reflects that Cassius is the last person he’d expect a Red to like. And Sevro insults him that Cassius claws for every chance to be the hero, and he does, AND his HONOR REMAINS. Darrow just got him back; I will never recover from this.
Lysander – well, I didn’t mind you before when you were a weird bookish boy, but after what you did to Alexander, I was furious, but you still thought you were doing what was right? BUT NOW, I shall never forgive you. (this really means what a great villain, and though I dislike him entirely, I love seeing his friendship with Ajax and his moral complexities on the page.) His proposing marriage to save the Raa girl that survived the slaughter was actually a beautiful move, but I can’t help but wonder if she will ever meet Pax.
Victra – at one point in the beginning Kavax mentions to Virginia that he just wants Lysander to fight Victra so she can beat him, and that just the most amazing endorsement for my favorite girl. Victra parks in Virginias reserved spot, and I just laughed. It’s SO Sevro coded. Petty friendship goals.
Virginia – I loved getting to see Virgina interact with Pax on the page. He’s different from her, and maybe different than what she expected. But her motherhood reflections really stood out in the page! Having to be the sovereign and send her husband away must have been impossible, I love that Darrow listened this time, and I love that she is in charge of literally everything!
“You’re acting like you share a language all of a sudden.” “Isn’t that always the case with those who’ve read the same books?”
Other moments I just adored:
Cassius says he’s a couple with Darrow until Virginia fights him for Darrow. Darrow tells him he is his brother, now and forever.
Cassius unintentionally calls Darrow his best friend.
Darrow in Lysander’s bed on the Archimedes, sees the family phrase, LUX EX TENEBRIS, out of darkness, light. And Lysander is in Darrow’s bed on the Morning Star.
We come to learn that Virginia’s shadow is the Sovereign, Darrow’s shadow is the Reaper, but Sevro’s shadow is the Goblin.
Burning Questions:
Is Rhonna alive??? I know she was lost while in the battle, but Darrow doesn’t reflect on her when he cycles through his list of fallen friends.
Will figment return?
Where is that little weirdo, the abomination? I was surprised we didn’t see him at all here.
“Venus is the planet of love. What is Mars the planet of again?”
This line above just made me laugh, it was like Thor, and then there was war, it was just perfectly placed. And then later, this “Come be our god of war.” At one-point Atlantia asks Lysander what house he would have been at the institute and it reminded me of my family sitting around taking quizzes to see who our godly parent would be lol.
I read this in Mythology May, and really enjoy focusing even more on the mythology that these are based on, I could make a whole separate post about it LOL but I’ll leave you with the reflection that Virginia shared with Darrow, so many of Jupiter’s moons were named after women or goddesses whose lives were ruined by Zeus, now to be held under his gaze for eternity.
“My son is lost. He will come home. But he is not here today. The enemy is. So today, we are not mothers. We are not fathers. Wea re not brothers or sons, they come to make us slaves again. So today we are not dreamers. We are not Colors. We are Swords. We are wrath. WE ARE REAPERS.”
This will be one of my top favorites in the series, and top books of the year! I loved Iron Gold for all that it brought to the new saga, but every page of Light Bringer was a grand time, and the BANTER, and the BROTHERHOOD, ugh, so good. I think Pierce Brown gave Cassius the character ARC I am hoping that Jamie Lannister gets in Game of Thrones. (This means I loved it!)
Would I reread? Yes! I had a grand time with this one! The Banter, the brotherhood, the battles it was all SO GOOD, I’ll def be reviewing before Red God comes out, but a full read MIGHT just happen.
Would I recommend? Yes, I think this second series outshines the first, and each book really has its own focus and voice. Lots of people can enjoy this series, and it just gets better and better!
Recommended for Fans of Andor, Rogue One, Mythology and The Expanse
