Published: July 25, 2023
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Series: Red Rising #6
Genre: Science Fiction
Pages: 682 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 5 Stars
Synopsis:
Darrow returns as Pierce Brown’s New York Times bestselling Red Rising series continues in the thrilling sequel to Dark Age.
“The measure of a man is not the fear he sows in his enemies. It is the hope he gives his friends.”—Virginia au Augustus
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.
The worlds once needed the Reaper. But now they need Darrow. Because after the dark age will come a new age: of light, of victory, of hope.
I’ve always found that some of the most difficult reviews to write were for the best books, and this is definitely one of those. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of Light Bringer after the utter despair that was Dark Age, but I was so pleasantly surprised to find that it took a hopeful turn. It wasn’t all glory and triumph, but it was so much lighter in tone that the name Light Bringer was an apt one.
This begins with Cassius rescuing Darrow from Mercury and as they moulder away in a defunct Sons of Ares base, Darrow suffers from some serious survivor’s guilt. To be fair, the entire awful mess was thanks to his arrogance finally catching up with him and a series of very bad moves. Lysander, meanwhile, is yucking it up with all his new pals on Mercury and throwing some rather expensive celebrations all while he tries to plot against Atalantia and get his frankensteined ship into the air. This is all really just the calm beginning for a pulse pounding story of personal redemption, betrayal, and some hella cool battle scenes.
We were down one point of view character this time around and the shift in where the main characters are located really changed the secondary characters we got to see too. I miss Victra! She gets some page time, but it’s pretty minimal because we don’t spend all that long with Mustang either. Most of the chapters bounce between Darrow and Lysander as the much of the main conflict is where Lysander is and Darrow is hurtling towards it. Lyria has her fair share of POV chapters as well and I admit, I have grown to like her since she was introduced in Iron Gold and I feel like she has really proven her bravery at this point. We get plenty of Cassius and Sevro page time, which I loved despite Sevro’s rough re-introduction to the story. Surprisingly, we get a ton of page time with Diomedes au Raa and I enjoyed those moments!
This was a really solid book that I think went a long way to patching up some of the abused psyches of our beloved characters. Not Lysander, he can go straight to hell. I do kind of think Virginia has gotten a bit of a disservice this installment because while her POV chapters were quite important, it felt as if she was taking a backseat to the others. Also, I thought it interesting that we didn’t hear anything from the Abomination and Lilith, though I’m sure the final book will address that situation.
Overall, this was an incredible story that holds up equally well with each of the previous installments in the Red Rising saga. There were moments of hilarity, heartbreak, and downright badassery. Pierce Brown really knows how to make you feel each of the big moments whether good or bad and that’s what I love so much about these books. I absolutely cannot wait for the final installment, which I believe is tentatively titled Red God.
I generally try not to include a bunch of spoilers in my reviews, but I feel like I can’t honestly gush about this without talking about some of the most incredible scenes in the series thus far. So, from this point on, there will be spoilers, but I was nice so this is at the bottom of the review.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
- Dominus Portobello – I was driving six hours to a conference and the moment they name dropped ol’ DP, I almost lost it! Honestly, the whole sequence where they went to ‘rescue’ Sevro from the Minotaur was fantastic. Sevro’s always been a mad bastard, but to find that he escaped, bit the Minotaur in the face, and was waging a rat war within the walls was just fabulous.
- The whole battle on Phobos was just stressful. We see Virginia making these impossible calls and seeing her people look at her in horror because they know their friends on the ground are about to die was quite powerful. The tight tunnel warfare and the chapters as Virginia is trying to escape with her small crew were quite stressful!
- The scene on the bridge of the Dustbringer was *shocking*. I so did not expect Atlas to stroll in wearing Helios’s FACE and HANDS.
- Darrow’s duel with Volsung Faa, especially as Darrow gets into the flow and basically invents his own style of razor fighting. Also, when Darrow et al cut their way out of a LEVIATHAN and make their grand appearance! So cool.
- I was utterly shocked, disgusted, and betrayed when that little bastard Lysander betrayed and murdered poor Cassius. I weep for him and I weep for Darrow, who had just gotten his old friend back after years of being on opposing sides. And the irreverence with which Lysander treated his mentor’s body!! I suspect Pytha will get her revenge.
- Also, a special shout out to Darrow for basically changing his way of thinking after reading a weird self-help/religious text given to him by a stranger who may or may not be a spy. That, for some reason, gave me strong Dune vibes.
Powder & Page 