Did I Change my Mind about Red Rising? | Golden Son Review |

[@systemofafox6487]

I really like a small moment in the beginning. After the whole seating situation for the escape pod was settled, there was 1 Grey left behind. Darrow thinks about how that grey will never see his loved ones again, and his last act in his life is saluting Darrow as he's left to his doom.

[@Paul_Todkill]

And to see the other grey he rescued later? That whole arc to come full circle? Was a great moment. Also showed the true dept of "worth" in the sense of those he will have to kill (or let die) to truly break the system. Was a helluva'n opening moment for sure.

[@minaa107]

great review! this is my all time favourite series and I’m glad you came around. I think you’ll really love the second series (4th book onwards). as many have said there is a huge jump in quality in pretty much every aspect.

[@willybumbum5527]

Do more of these if you can, I enjoy your long form breakdown! I tend to put videos like these to make the time pass quicker and even while multitasking I was focused and paying rapt attention! But excited to watch everything else you have!

[@Paul_Todkill]

Well thank you so much for the kind words! For the right book I absolutely plan on doing the monster reviews again, just need to have one that warrants the hyper critical review. This one was great because there were so many elements I really enjoyed, but also decently-sized gripes, so it all balanced out.

[@TheBeardedBookBeast]

Glad you gave it a chance and continued! It keeps getting better and better! I just found your channel, enjoyed this video and looking forward to more

[@Paul_Todkill]

Agreed! Morning Star will be coming out soon. About halfway through and damn things are getting *spicy* ahah

[@TheBeardedBookBeast]

@@Paul_Todkill Hahaha of yes, spicy is a good word for it!

[@shepardice3775]

13:11 Pierce is most certainly a pantser and not a plotter lmao, he talked about it at a book signing I went to once. That continuity error was a crazy thing to miss but I do think some of your nitpicks of the beginning aren't _quite_ as valid. - Darrow hadn't officially won the Academy, him and his crew just thought they had because they thought they'd already destroyed the ship Karnus used to ram them. Karnus didn't strap rockets to a rock or asteroid. - They didn't kill him in the garden because as Karnus said, that was for Cassius. They were only there to humiliate him on camera. - Augustus dropped Darrow not because he came 2nd in the Academy but because of the blood feud and how much drama gets reported about him, it costs a lot of resources to keep Darrow and brings a lot of negative attention to the house. To Augustus, Darrow's only worth the headache if he wins. - You totally can just fire projectiles from ship railguns in an attempt to kill the command, but if you'd just replaced Darrow and Sevro with massive hunks of metal it wouldn't have worked. First of all it might not have gotten through, they needed the weapons on their starshells to do that, but even if it did and even if it killed the people there, the ship itself would still be fine and operate as normal. Their plan only worked bc it was so dangerous it was almost suicidal and virtually no Gold would do that, and because they incited a total mutiny on the ship. In a real battle, especially after he did it, the odds of it being effective are almost zero.

[@Paul_Todkill]

Fair points! To each, I mean. He had won. The ship had no crew and wasn't functioning. Karnus' vessel was "destroyed". He'd "lost" at that point. Flashing screens "yay we won" moment. Only to have the derelict ship get shot out after. Again, seemed weird. The asteroid comment was why didn't anyone else do that again. If simply strapping rockets to something kinetic and launching it at an enemy ship was so effective. (A la, hyperspace ramming from star wars) My comment was more how that opened up a potential tech bag of worms to sort out later. Similar to EMPs. 2. Sure. But also like. Karnus doesn't really care lol. We know he's a psychopath. I don't know if he even really loves cassius. It seems out of character to let Darrow live. Last point is totally valid. I stand by my gripe about him suddenly being one of the greatest swordsmen alive from off camera training though. That was weak.

[@shepardice3775]

​@@Paul_Todkill The screens never told them they won, they were just showing the ships that the sensor could pick up. It couldn't pick up the derelict ship that the Sovereign gave him because it was being distorted hidden inside the asteroid, and its engines were off. I don't think it suffers hyperspace ramming problems bc it's very dependent on the environment, Darrow not having real nukes, and it being a game rather than a larger war. Also, if the proctors agreed that it was Darrow's victory they would've just disabled Karnus' controls. They decided the game wasn't over, Darrow & his friends didn't know. The one thing Karnus cares about is his family's pride. If he'd killed Darrow himself, especially in that way, it would be disrespecting his family and make them look bad, entirely defeating the point of why he even antagonizes Darrow in the first place, so he had to at least let Cassius get his duel first. I do agree though, Darrow simply training with Lorn off screen was a disappointing way to handle it. It was obvious Lorn liked him in book 1, but I would've liked to at least know, or at the very least not have Cassius look so helpless.

[@ajklapperich1024]

Great thoughts! I am a big fan of the series, but it was nice to hear some critiques of some of this book's weaknesses; you drew attention to some things that I had not really thought about before, which was excellent. I know most of the feedback you've gotten from fans of the books is just "keep reading, it gets better!" but it is true. You mentioned how it still feels YA-ish because of the perspective in which it's written; this changes in book four (Iron Gold) where you get multiple POVs, and from then on it really doesn't feel at all like a YA series. I feel like the first trilogy is a fun, popcorn-popping space opera that brings up some interesting ideas and has a lot of cool action, but the second part of the series levels the whole thing up. You get better characterization, recontextualization of events from the first trilogy, and some really deep dives into themes of political theory, honor, family, etc. Plus, the action gets even grander and the speeches are some of the best I have seen in anything I've read. Glad you're continuing on in the series! I look forward to watching your review for the next book!

[@Paul_Todkill]

That is really interesting about the POV shift. I was wondering if that would happen! Huge selling point for me for sure. That's really great to know. Thank you so much!

[@KrissKingdom]

Really enjoyed the podcast style review, felt natural and cool like talking to someone about it in person! And interesting thoughts!

[@Paul_Todkill]

Thank you so much! That means a lot, that's exactly the vibe I'm going for. I love these kind of in-depth novel discussions so, might as well have one with all of KZbin aha!

[@rudiboiii]

Love Golden Son mainly cause of what you said. It's just like watching a mission impossible movie lol. But also because of that I didn't particularly like MS sadly. You will eventually get there and let us. I'll watch your review to see if we had similar takes or not.

[@Paul_Todkill]

Planning on getting it up next week! I have .. thoughts so far ahah.

[@charliemessano2128]

One of my fav series, but get why ppl wouldn’t like it. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. Dark age and light bringer really start to press these issue and the tandem of these two books are amazing. Way better than the first trilogy imo. Golden son will always hold a special place in my heart. Also I think me not having an issue with telling and not showing along with “haha I knew this the whole time and you didn’t” don’t bother me as much as other ppl. If it did I probably wouldn’t rate golden son as highly as I do

[@Anthony-pq4vr]

Didnt catch your review of Red Rising but Golden Son is probably in my top 10 sci-fi all time. I read it later in life (late 20's) and while I see what you're saying with the first book having echoes of YA 1st person tropes, I found Golden Son to be such a step up in both storytelling and sheer writing ability/prose, I was legitimately blown away. To this day I don't think I've read another sci fi with prose as compelling, and with a twist as unexpected. One of very few 10/10 books on my list. Anyway cheers! Earned a sub!

[@Paul_Todkill]

Appreciate it! Yeah it's definitely a clear step up from book 1 in terms of overall quality. Which makes sense given Red Rising was his first published novel. I'm curious to see how the series keeps going! Kinda glad I'm finding it later so I don't have to wait in between books.

[@Jed_I_Knight]

Really enjoyed the point-by-point breakdown. I’m excited for you to review the 3rd book. I think your thoughts show why this series is so popular. The majority of this video was you pointing out flaws in the book, and yet you can’t help but be drawn in by the world and the epic moments and come away hungry for more. It almost reminds me of Star Wars, where if you were to show the OT or prequels to a modern viewer, they might feel very let down by all the hype surrounding the series since both trilogies have many flaws. But new fans are made every day because the epic moments and the world that is just so fun to live in overshadow the flaws. P.S. my heart hurts from the Dresden jabs

[@Paul_Todkill]

Ahaha. I got about 4 books into Dresden and had to put them down, I just couldn't handle the "But wait. It gets... Worse!" And yeah I think Brown has the great shell of an idea here, and is coming into his own as a writer to really fill it out. The further along we get the better I think he does that. Book 3 will be coming soon!

[@Marc9.]

I was hesitant after the first book but really enjoyed Golden son. Although book 3 isn't one of my favorites, it does have some amazing moments. For me, books 5 and 6 are what make this series top tier

[@janellelives5158]

Book 3 has flaws but I still really love it! I’ve re read the series a few times for me books 3, 4 and 5 are my favorites overall.

[@eyramoladimeji1720]

I don't really see what happened with Eo as frigding because she chose the way she went out in a moment of defiance, while also at the same time as Darrow's mother pointed out being kind of manipulative knowing what her death would do to Darrow; let's be real Darrow didn't see the injustice of he situation until lie of the Red's existence was exposed to him, unlike Eo who saw what was happening and what he could inspire in other's.

[@Paul_Todkill]

The trope is defined as "killing the female love interest to motivate the MC and set him on a path of revenge". The killing is done by the author, not necessarily a character. Whether you consider it random suicide by EO (which is weird) she was killed (practically) by the golds. It still 100% fits the fridge trope. Kills her. Frees him to go do what he needs to do. Sets him on a path of revenge. Fits all 3.

[@eyramoladimeji1720]

@Paul_Todkill Sorry I wasn't aware of the definition, then yeah, it is fridging. I guess what I was trying to say is that the way the trope was deployed was interesting to me.

[@Paul_Todkill]

It wasn't obvious to me either at first read until someone else pointed it out to me. Her being "killed by the system", obscured it for sure, and I agree if you're going to use it. That's a good one. Points the gun at a class rather than a person. Agree it was one of the better uses for sure.

[@RekindledReader]

Looking forward to trying Red Rising soon 🤙🏻 skipped around a bit to avoid spoilers but I like the vibes 🎉

[@Paul_Todkill]

Appreciate it! Definitely not the video to watch if you're avoiding spoilers ahah. It's an entertaining read so far for sure. If you were to distill an action movie into book form, this would basically be it.

[@LeonC0704]

I never thought of Eo as fridged because she basically committed suicide. If anything, it was selfish because she forced Darrow

[@marioathan99]

Your voice is so soothing

[@paultapner2769]

Read book one when it came out. Really liked it. Read book two when it came out. Thought it was good but I started to think the quality of the writing wasn't all that great. Read book three when it came out. Similar issues with the writing but a solid end to a trilogy. I think once it expanded the scope beyond Mars was when the writing started to go a bit weak. Read book four when it came out. Thought it was great. A really good way to send it all in a new direction. Took a while to get to book five. Hated it. One of the worst bits of writing i've ever read. All the characters narrating in first person meant they all sounded the same and I would forget who was who. It solved all problems with deus ex machina weapons being pulled out of thin air. The prose was very very poor. Small print as well which didn't help. Not gonna bother with book six. But evidently this one divides opinion. So if people like it, that's fine. In a similar vein I tried Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds twice and I thought that was one of the worst bits of writing I've ever read. Cardboard characters in particular. I seem to be in the minority there.

[@Paul_Todkill]

Damn seems like you really ran the gambit with this series. I'm enjoying it so far (halfway through book 3), but I can absolutely see where both the praise and criticism come from. There is a reason my original video on this called Red Rising "the most polarizing sci-fi book of all time". This is absolutely a series that people have all kinds of strong emotions for.

[@atavismvision]

Book Five I hated as well but Book Six surprised me and feels like the best of the entire series. I came into it not expecting much, both because of how miserable the previous was and how much it felt like trolling grimdark...but Lightbringer was genuinely emotional and exciting in a way I haven't felt in the other books at all. Would love to hear your thoughts on it if you do eventually pick it up!

[@andrewkraft2586]

Yes!!! Red Rising is now so bug people hate it to be different. The Cosmere hit that point 2-3 years ago. It’s a good sign.

[@Paul_Todkill]

I'm still an admitted Cosmere fanboy lol. But I definitely see the similarities with the similarly ravenous fanbases.

[@lucasacosta2104]

My problem with this saga is that it is too over the top for my taste, like watching an anime. It happened the same to me with Mistborn. Also is sooo juvenile but is trying to be really solemn at the same time, and it just didn´t work for me. I like specific things, like some characters (the Jackal >>>) and some of the political intrigue, but then I remember how ridiculous this universe truly is. I agree that Golden Sun is way better than Red Rising, but Red Rising was very bad for me so it wasn´t such a huge evolution. I´ll finish the first trilogy just out of curiosity rather than emotional investment.

[@Paul_Todkill]

I can definitely see this POV. I had similar thoughts about book 1. I feel like the series will probably end up maturing with the MC, us - the audience and mostly Brown himself as an author. In defense of mistborn it is often marketed as YA, lol. So there is a reason it feels less adult. I usually use it as an entry point for folks into the Cosmere.

[@Iza56]

I just read first book and it seems like book two is same nonsense so maybe i give it last chance and go straight to book 3

[@Paul_Todkill]

It's definitely a step up from book one, book three will make zero sense without it. Honestly if you're not liking it where you're at, I'd probably just stop. I can see how some people might not enjoy it.

[@jamesalexander958]

I like reviews that aren't all praise. Good book though

[@Paul_Todkill]

I enjoyed it! I am absolutely more of a harsh critic though, even for books that I enjoy. Will go into basically any book with that mindset, find the pros and cons. Want to give people the most balanced review possible.

[@snakewall]

On your gripe about hating that Darroe training with Lorn... have you trained any martial art? I assure you that having a great instructor makes a big difference. Oh but you think a miner is going to outduel Cassius? Hmmm...

[@Paul_Todkill]

I care less that it happened, and more that it happened "off screen" as an "aha! Gotcha!" The fact that we didn't see him convince Lorn, or see him go through any of the struggles, cheapened it. He just rolls up and is the best swordsman around with (at least to us) no work done. It didn't feel earned.

[@allysonk6455]

I hated red rising. Like, HATED it. I was so excited because I mainly read fantasy and sci-fi and it had so much hype but I thought it was terribly written and gimmicky.

[@Paul_Todkill]

Comments like this are why I made the video! I feel like this series has people SO divided. It's what made me want to read it because it was crazy how passionate both sides were. I had to know for myself lol.