Golden Son by Pierce Brown
Started: 3 February 2022
Finished: 6 February 2022
On we go to book 2 of Pierce Brown’s debut trilogy. Though you can see I gobbled its 440 odd pages in three days, this one does suffer a little bit from the sophomore slump for me. Honestly, less the sophomore slump and more, the demands of a second book in a trilogy. Let’s call it the Empire Strikes Back effect. The reader knows nothing will be resolved. By its nature, everything becomes darker in the middle book of a trilogy. Revelations might cast a different light on what you’ve read so far, but, there’s a whole extra book of stuff that has to happen before the heroes can ride off into the stereotypical sunset.
This second book is also nothing like the first in its pace or structure. So, if you were incredibly taken by the premise of the first book, that will take some adjusting. I was expecting a natural expansion of the world and intrigue; so that didn’t bother me. Brown could have taken this book in any direction. The one we get is a space opera treat. The twists and turns were constant, and Brown’s pacing remains top notch — as noted by my fast read. This was a hard one to put down, and without getting into spoilers — it ends in a wonderfully brutal and twisted place — setting up the conclusion of this trilogy with many of our characters in dire straits.
I can’t wait to see how this one wraps up!