Man, you guys. I liked this book overall, but sometimes it was rough going. The third installment in the Red Rising trilogy, this book wraps up the storylines of all the characters we’ve come to know over the last two books. Seriously every damn character. I think Brown used his down time in between books 2 and 3 to attend the George R.R. Martin School of Overwriting for Serious Writers. Brown is at his best when he’s exploring the politics of the worlds and the interpersonal relationships of our main characters, and that is present here, but too often its bogged down by very, very, VERY long battle scenes. Now, to be fair, I’m one of those people who enjoys reading about the people behind the conflicts more than the conflicts themselves. The Two Towers was my least favorite book and movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy for that very reason. But still, it’s excessive at times.
Still, it’s great to catch up with the main cast of characters, namely Sevro. Ok especially Sevro. Almost exclusively Sevro. Sevro is the best is what I’m sayin’ here. When Brown is focusing on our main players, it’s a spectacular read. He keeps our characters true to themselves and because he’s done such a good job of character building in the first two books, we’ve come to know these characters almost like real friends and foes. This is both a great strength and a great weakness for this book. How could this be a weakness, you ask? Well I am glad you asked. I’m about go all spoiler ranty ahead, but for those who haven’t read it/don’t know what happens I will say this: These characters that we know so well are done a great disservice in the final third of the book. If you want the details, read on because I’m about to spoil this bitch.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Ok so one of the things I love about these books is how straight-forward Brown is with us. There’s no trickery or “gotcha!” moments where he’s more concerned with pulling the wool over his readers’ eyes than with solid writing. Until. UNTIL. The final third of the book just throws that all away. Starting with Cassius’s release from his cell, Brown gives one big ole middle finger to his readers, maybe not intentionally, but a middle finger nonetheless. The plan itself? Fine. He basically fakes Cassius taking our heroes as prisoners (and killing Sevro) to serve as an elaborate Trojan Horse to get close to Octavia. The plan is a good one. What I do not appreciate is Brown treating his readers like the idiots from Luna who fall for this. We’re supposed believe from minute one that Cassius has killed Sevro, even after all we’ve learned about how they faked Darrow’s hanging in book one and how the hemanthus flower is used. You can just hear Brown yelling “Surprise!” as he reveals that the Sevro isn’t really dead, which is obvious to most at this point. And if it wasn’t obvious to some as they were reading, I think that makes it even worse. It’s a cheap trick to try to manipulate the readers emotions with the death of their favorite character (and let’s be honest, he’s obviously everyone’s favorite) only to pull the bait-and-switch reveal of him being alive, so readers mourn someone who was never really dead. He is leveraging the emotional weight of a character death without ever actually raising any stakes. They whole thing reeked of self-congratulation and purposeful trickery and it pissed me off like no other.
*END SPOILERS*
Three quarters of this book was a satisfying end for all the characters involved, and the book was at its best when it was just focusing on Darrow and his interactions with everyone else. I wish that Brown had focused more on that than on overly long battle sequences and that other nonsense in the final third of the book. Overall, I loved the series, but parts of this book really tested our relationship. It is definitely a must-read for those who have read the first two, and the flaws in this book aren’t enough to dissuade me from recommending the trilogy to others, but my headline says it all. I love the Red Rising books, but I don’t always like them.
3.5 stars