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Billy Spotz

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Billy Spotz rated a book it was amazing

Morning Star (Red Rising, #3)

by Pierce Brown (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: 2024-books, 2026-books, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in May 2024

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Billy Spotz said: " 9.5/10

"I know how the low rise when under the power of the might," - Darrow p. 244.

Again, constantly kicking myself for waiting as long as I did to read these books (and for waiting this long to write my review at this point). There's a magical feel 9.5/10

"I know how the low rise when under the power of the might," - Darrow p. 244.

Again, constantly kicking myself for waiting as long as I did to read these books (and for waiting this long to write my review at this point). There's a magical feeling when a series clicks for you and completely dictates your focus for an extended period of time. Normally I give myself a day or two to reflect on a book, but when I finished Morning Star, I felt like I needed to let it breathe for a bit longer.

Now it's sat with me for a month, and I've had time to reflect on the book and the series itself, and more than anything, I'm sad I'll never experience this series for the first time again.

Morning Star is an almost perfect conclusion to a series that only increased in quality from book to book. Red Rising is an engrossing, thrilling beginning, but is deeply flawed at times, and Golden Son delivers on the promises Red Rising makes. It expands the world, it evolves the relationships between the characters, and it continues to grow the mythos of the man who would become Darrow O'Lykos.

I read a comment on a review of Morning Star where someone said that loving Morning Star more than Golden Son hinges on learning to love Darrow O'Lykos as opposed to Darrow au Augustus. The latter is a man hell-bent on destroying the world that burned him, destroying the people who imprisoned him, and destroying the society that insisted that he and his kin are lesser for no other reason than their color.

But Darrow O'Lykos has to live for more, and that's the core tenant of Morning Star. Darrow's journey through Morning Star is one of reflection, growth, change, and acceptance. He learns quickly that even the Golds are victims of this unforgiving world, and he begins to question the significance of Eo in his life. Is he fighting for the world she wants? Is that a world he should be fighting for? Is he even fit to be the one to lead that change?

The events of Morning Star are electric from start to finish. The Box, the Escape, the Journey to Valhalla, the Battle of Illium, and the Final Confrontation are all moments that will stick in my mind forever, but after nearly a month of reflecting on the book, what sticks with me more are the messages of leadership, and the cost of change.

Red Rising was a beautiful trilogy, and Morning Star capped it of wonderfully. There's some very understandable frustrations with how the ending was handled, it was the same issue I had with the Gala scene in Golden Son, but I love seeing Darrow's growth throughout this series.

I'm hoping to pick up Iron Gold today, and I can't wait. ...more "

progress:

(page 113 of 524)
— Jan 11, 2026 09:10AM

Jan 11, 2026 09:13AM · see review