Look, you can read this as a generic dude-bro power fantasy and be done with it—and still have a great time. You still get the adrenaline-fuelled action scenes, the heroic speeches, the interpersonal drama, and the underdog revolutionary story. But there's so much more if you pay attention. Building on the world established in the previous book, it walks the line between ridiculously violent, over-the-top ostentation, arrogance, and comically self-serving behaviour—but Pierce Brown manages to keep this society authentic. None of this would have worked if the characters didn't take themselves and their world seriously—but they do. So we get this extremely hierarchical society based on oppression and the exploitation of those deemed lower. So what do you get when everyone is neatly organized (meaning: subjugated) into their caste, and the ones on top revel in excess, with nothing to do but sit atop everyone else, busy with their schemes and machinations? Well, of course, you make up unnecessarily brutal war games, create increasingly ridiculous titles for warriors, and turn everything into a reference to the Roman Empire—which you regard as the peak of humanity (second only to yourself, of course): petty house wars, conflicts for political gain, and so on and so forth... Pierce Brown finds yet more ways to show how ingrained the need for domination and hierarchical thinking is within Gold society—and how, in their arrogance, some of them even believe themselves to be just. We still follow Darrow, who has shed the tiny bit of Gary Stu-ness he had in the last book, while still pursuing the same goal—but now with even higher stakes. That’s all I’ll say about the plot—go read it. Do yourself the favour. Some might call this a hot take, but this series is everything Babel by R.F. Kuang thematically wanted to be, just leagues better: How far do you need to go in order to go from systematic oppression to a just society? How much violence is too much? Does it break you in the end? Can you break the cycle of violence, even if it means not enacting revenge? Sure, the Red Rising series is completely divorced from real-life history, but that gives it the opportunity to be more than just a series of scenes where the author shouts at us about how messed up oppression is.

I liked Red Rising, I loved Golden Son. Fantastic second book, which in my experience is often a small let down after a great debut novel. Pierce Brown though manages to keep on one hand the plot interesting and on the other to really flesh out the wide variety of his characters in depth. And I have to agree with all the other reviews ... this ending..., it truly was amazing :) I really hope Pierce Brown manages a great ending in book three making this series to one of my all time favorites.

Most of the times the second book or movie in a trilogy is the least fav, but this book right here? I can't even... It's been six hours now, since I´ve completed it and I'm still chuckling and letting out some "pshh" "pff" "what?" "Well..."s The red rising saga is a masterpiece.

I think Darrow might be my dream man. He is someone who sacrifices for what he believes to be right and important. And I mean SACRIFICE. I still love his inner workings and how he truly sees the people around him. Also really love the story itself, which is full of friendship, sarcasm, trust and betrayal, action and schemes. And the cliffhanger and the end?? Mildly disrespectful 😤.

When I say, I don’t like the MC, I mean it. He is self-righteous, selfish and calculating; feels superior most of the time and is not really bothered by being knocked off his pedestal; and talking about pedestals: women are either put on pedestals to be worshipped and adored and thought of without flaw - and every other female character is not worthy of being thought of as female. All of the above would not stop me from liking the story if such a character was the entire point of the story. Well… it’s complicated. We as readers only have our MC’s POV and lacking at that. There is barely a mention of plans ( and to be fair, a big fun part of rebellion stories is the plans, the failing of said plans and then the subsequent quick thinking). Things happen and then it turns out to have been the plan. Deus ex Machina for the win! Maybe I could understand this IF we had Multi-POV and the plan or rescue or whatnot is part of another POV. I repeat, we only have MC’a thoughts - for my dislike on this, please refer to the beginning of my post. The few occasions where a plan was discussed, it was hinted that it was plan-ception and a bigger plan was hashed out before - and we were not invited to read about that! Story wise a lot of back and forth between parties and loyalties happens and I have to admit, I lost track. If you liked the first one for its gory violence, this one will not disappoint in that regard. Admittedly, the relation between Darrow and Mustang evolves (not necessarily meaning the romantic aspect) and we finally get more information on Ares. The 2 last chapters (no kidding) saved my rating on this, finally some planning, finally an actual goal where it’s going. While not liking the MC, some ideas are interesting with regard to philosophy, politics and the state of our planet; and I would have loved to like this book more because of those aspects. They are few and sparse and the other IMO negative aspects put a heavy damper on me while reading. I will hesitantly continue, at least I now know what to expect.

Second Part of the Red Rising Series and the struggle continues. Darrow is now Part of his arch enemy family and the battles continue. Not only his seeking for revenge but the inner fights within the diffrent families and the society itself culminate and i cannot wait for the third part. I'm still in love with the roman mythology meets space adventure meets dystopian setting. Really, really great!

This book was as fast paced as the first one and the plot well thought out. I just cannot stand Darrow's obnoxious speech making! He's basically a Mary-Sue, perfect, flaw-less with some angst thrown in when you know he's gonna succeed even when he fails. He's just too arrogant and takes the moral high ground. I think I wouldn't mind if the book wasn't told from his perspective but being in his head and hearing his self-righteous and peacocky thoughts just got on my nerves. That said, I really like Sevro and his father. If this book was told from his perspective I would have loved it.

Das Buch und alles, was darin passiert ist, hat mich so wütend gemacht. Was für ein schlimme Welt Die Handlungen finde ich spannend, die Geschichte ist mitreißend, aber einige Stellen ziehen sich so extrem, dass ich kaum Lust habe weiterzulesen, obwohl es eigentlich echt gut ist. Ich hoffe das wird in den nächsten Teilen nicht noch schlimmer, denn die werden immer dicker

Während ich die Komplexität von Band 1 noch als gelungene Mischung aus diversen großartigen Werken bezeichnete, – ich zitiere „Dystopie trifft Science Fiction trifft Olymp trifft High Fantasy! Das Leben in einer dystopischen Gesellschaft, die ihre Bewohner ausbeutet, à la Panem. Die Eroberung von und das Leben auf fernen Planeten à la Enders Game. Göttervergleiche und der Olymp à la Percy Jackson. Das Leben in Burgen, samt Intrigen, à la Game of Thrones. Kriegsgemetzel à la SPARTA.“ – hat Band 2 eher Elemente aus Star Wars. Sternenkriege, politische Entwicklungen. Ein sehr komplexer Band, auf den man sich sehr konzentrieren sollte, um die Geschichte vollkommen zu verstehen. Trotz Personenglossar brauchte ich eine Weile, um die vielen Charaktere zuordnen zu können, da die Anzahl an Farben, Häusern, Familien und Charakteren schlichtweg überwältigend ist und der erste Band schon zu lange zurücklag. Dann konnte ich der Geschichte aber gut folgen. Das Buch knüpft an Darrows Zeit nach dem Institut an. Er lebt als Roter im goldenen Mantel unter den Goldenen und muss erkennen, dass die politischen Bündnisse nicht auf Loyalität aufbauen, sondern auf Eigennutzen und Machtgier. Er erkennt, dass nur eines gewiss ist: Es gibt keine Gewissheit. Jeder kann jeden verraten. Das Buch ist durchweg spannend, stellt neue Charaktere vor, feilt alte aus und nimmt uns im Verlaufe des Buches viele auf meist mehr, selten weniger blutige Weise. Die Geschichte ist der reinste Adrenalinstoß, allerdings brauchte es etwas zu lange, um richtig Fahrt aufzunehmen. Insbesondere der Mittelteil war für mich ein wenig zäh, sodass ich das Buch eine Weile zur Seite legen und letztendlich nochmal von vorn beginnen musste. Brown schafft dann aber doch, den Leser in seinen Sog aus Intrigen, Irrungen und Wirrungen zu ziehen. Insbesondere der Protagonist Darrow ist sehr gut gelungen. Er muss auf schmerzliche Weise erleben, welche Konsequenzen auch nur ein einziger Fehler haben kann. Er erleidet schreckliche Niederlagen, um dann wie ein Phönix aus der Asche aufzuerstehen. – sehr passend als Lektüre über Ostern. Brown beendet das Buch mit einem fiesen Cliffhanger, der einen direkt zum nächsten Buch greifen lässt. Zum Glück steht es bereits in meinem Regal parat. 4 von 5 Sternen für diesen zweiten Band.

Ein fulminanter, actiongeladener 2. Teil, bei dem sich die Ereignisse förmlich überschlagen. Ein Science Fitction-Epos, dass es schafft mich völlig in seinen Bann zu ziehen und auch außerhalb des Lesens über die Geschichte nachdenken lässt. Hat alles was ich mir von einer "Saga" erwarte!