Light Bringer - Pierce Brown

Let's just list Red Rising as the Series of the Month because wow Pierce Brown did a big one with this. If you like dark future dystopian space opera, this is the series for you. Light Bringer was the mind blowing 6th book in this series (technically book 3 of the second trilogy), and at this point the galaxy has been at war for a decade. Things are darker, heavier, and somehow even more emotionally wrecking than before.

Light Bringer follows the chaos of Dark Age (named appropriately, thanks for the trauma Pierce) and takes us and our favorite characters on a journey of self-reinvention and redemption in the aftermath of total obliteration. Dark Age broke them, and Light Bringer is where they try to put the pieces back together. Same goes for us readers, honestly.

Our favorite trio is reunited and we get to watch the Reaper find Darrow again and do it through a combination of existential spirals, friendship, and the occasional bouts of well deserved Reaper rage, clang clang clang. Sounds a little corny but it lands hard. The ongoing thread of applied philosophy in this series (most notably stoicism) makes the story as thoughtful as it is brutal.

And that ending? Absolutely gutting. F**k you Lysander.

But remember my goodmen- it's uncivilized to do anything but laugh in the face of death.

Thanks for reading. We now return to our regularly scheduled agony while we wait for Red God- see you in 2026