Lightbringer

Still reeling from the defeat on the battlefields of Mercury, Darrow O’Lykos finds himself a galaxy away from his wife and sovereign, Virginia au Augustus. Without her husband, Virginia is left to defend Mars from a collection of old and new dangers that could destroy Darrow’s legacy and restore the oppressive color-coded caste system. However, all is not lost, because Darrow, once enslaved but now a breaker of chains, discovers hope within old friends and new alliances. Brown’s robust and energetic writing style drops readers into a galaxy exhausted by conflict, with characters empathetically portrayed as victims in a war of attrition. Fans of Tim Gerard Reynolds, who brilliantly narrated the initial “Red Rising” trilogy, will rejoice in his crisp and capable narration. However, devotees of the subsequent full-cast installments (Iron Gold and Dark Age) may view Reynolds’s solo narration as a downgrade.