/lit/ - Literature

>>23405053
Light Bringer, Red Rising Saga #6 - Pierce Brown (2023)

There's a four year gap between Dark Age and Light Bringer being published. The first five books were published in five years. Perhaps it's a victim of the pandemic and/or other troubles, because it's not clear that the additional time helped in any way. That's unfortunate but not uncommon. As this is the book that leads up to the finale it has more setup than one may expect from the sixth book in a series. Maybe a third trilogy had been considered and then was truncated to a single book, the seventh, so much had to be done. The plot is once again back to being a matter of needing to arrange puzzle pieces (characters) in specific ways that don't feel organic, but are necessary to carry out all the required plot developments. There are several questionable narrative choices and various matters that aren't addressed. Even so, it's a fun and twisty ride that delights. I'll withhold my final judgment until after I've read the final book.

As for the characters, there's four again, though two are clearly given more importance. I wouldn't be surprised if the final book features two alternating perspectives. Darrow reads a book on how to be a better person. Lysander becomes a rollercoaster. Lyria knows what matters most. Virginia continues to endure. Brown says he got into psychology between this book and the last and it shows, though probably not in the way he'd prefer. I assume that's mostly what explains the considerable shifts in their personalities. It's peculiar, especially with some of the emotional whiplash a few of the characters go through. At least it made for some wild moments. It may just be because there's a lot more introspection, soul searching, and pondering of what matters in life than the previous books, which Brown isn't able to do as well as the fight scenes and other high intensity action. The dramatic battles and duels carried the book for me.

Light Bringer does what it needs to do, no more or less. While it's not anywhere as enjoyable as Dark Age, it does enough to be a good time. I probably would've been relatively more disappointed if I waited four years for it rather than reading it immediately after, so it's fortunate that I didn't start reading this series until I did. Even so, I'm surprised and confused by its rating (4.75), as it seems much higher than it ought to be. There are also those who feel much more strongly about its problems than I do. I know they exist and I'm able to accept the flaws, though inertia from the previous book helps. I want to believe that some of the seemingly dropped plotlines, strange character arcs, and odd narrative choices may yet be resolved. A few things that I thought would be Chekov's guns are apparently going to be left in storage. If the final book doesn't address enough of my concerns, I'll likely drop this to a 3.5 rounded down rather than up.

Rating: 3.5/5

5>2>4>6>3>1
I hope for 7>2, but expect 4~7.
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