Pierce Brown

"Ten years after the events of Morning Star, Darrow and the Rising are battling the remaining Gold loyalist forces and are closer than ever to abolishing the color-coded caste system of Society for good. But new foes will emerge from the shadows to threaten the imperfect victory Darrow and his friends have earned"--

Iron Gold

anya

Yes." Volga hesitates, embarrassed. “Well.I must eat. And I eat much more than you...smaller people. And I like beer. And I pay my landlord each cycle change. He says I am the best tenant." She blushes. "And..and sometimes I go to the Cerebian. You know. The zoo? I like the popcorn and the animals. And the people are all so happy. Especially the children. But I go in the middle of the day, so tickets are cheaper" she adds quickly at the end to mitigate the gross expenditure.

if you asked me what happened i might be able to draw a stick figure scene of one moment but that’s it

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In the epic next chapter of the Red Rising Saga, the #1 bestselling author of Morning Star pushes the boundaries of one of the boldest series in fiction. “Mature science fiction existing within the frame of blazing space opera . . . done in a style [that] borders on Shakespearean.”—NPR (One of the Best Books of the Year) They call him father, liberator, warlord, Slave King, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the war-torn planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-third of his life. A decade ago Darrow was the hero of the revolution he believed would break the chains of the Society. But the Rising has shattered everything: Instead of peace and freedom, it has brought endless war. Now he must risk all he has fought for on one last desperate mission. Darrow still believes he can save everyone, but can he save himself? And throughout the worlds, other destinies entwine with Darrow’s to change his fate forever: A young Red girl flees tragedy in her refugee camp, and achieves for herself a new life she could never have imagined. An ex-soldier broken by grief is forced to steal the most valuable thing in the galaxy—or pay with his life. And Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile to the Sovereign, wanders the stars with his mentor, Cassius, haunted by the loss of the world that Darrow transformed, and dreaming of what will rise from its ashes. Red Rising was the story of the end of one universe. Iron Gold is the story of the creation of a new one. Witness the beginning of a stunning new saga of tragedy and triumph from masterly New York Times bestselling author Pierce Brown. Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga: RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE

Cindy McKee

Pierce Brown delves back into the world he created with his phenomenal Red Rising trilogy, and it does not disappoint! Ten years after the events that broke the chains of Society, the war still rages and the aftermath is still being felt. Pierce gives you four different POV’s to follow: a young Red girl, the Gold boy, now man, who saw first hand the wrath of the revolution, a disillusioned Grey who self medicates as he maneuvers through the criminal underbelly, and Darrow, is he the hero of the Rising or the destroyer of everything? 
The multiple storylines give this story depth and varying purposes. It is a glimpse of what happens in the aftermath of revolution, nothing can be solved overnight, and not everybody lives happily ever after. 
Darrow and the Howlers are not young rebels any longer. They have families and responsibilities as well as political positions. Darrow in particular is interesting to revisit, as Red Rising was truly about his mission to tear Society down. Now, the people created the Reaper condemn his actions. I mean, if Sevro is your voice of reason, you are well and truly fucked up. 😉
Lysander was just a boy when the Revolution stormed his home and destroyed his way of life and his family. Cassius saved him and the two of them have been traveling the realm protecting people. However, Lysander still holds the ideals of the Golds as something to aspire to. Cassius is still in search of redemption in some form. The two of them are set on a course that will alter their lives, again.
Ephraim has every reason to hate the new world order as he blames it for killing His love, Trigg. But his latest shady job will either get him killed, or, no, it will probably kill him. 
Lyria represents the people who were supposed to benefit from the Rising. Instead of the freedom and equality, her family lived in camps. When the Red Hand murders her family, Lyria and her nephew have an unexpected chance out of the camp. But is it a better life, or more of the same? 

All of this is brought to technicolor life by Pierce Brown’s amazing writing. This promises to be another full throttle ride into that man’s gorgeous imagination, and I for one, cannot wait!!

Olivia

A little embarrassed that it took me 7 months to finish this book but I still really loved it regardless. Darrow just kept doing stupid shit and I couldn’t deal with it lmao

Rachel Kanyid

Finally finished! Very good, but this definitely was harder for me to get into than the original trilogy.

Anastasia 

As usual Pierce brown continues to impress 

I would admit I liked morning star a lot more than this , and this one felt a bit too much a filler novel before the grand finale which would probably be in two books , either way I'm very much into the new characters especially ephraim 

I enjoyed the fact that Sevro for once in this entire series can see past the blind loyalty, you have kids and a wife now both must take precedence in every action you take which I'm so glad he didn't forget

I very much looks forward to meeting Atalantia au Grimmus , if she is the leader of the syndicate I cam only imagine how brutal she is in person 

That aside, the pacing was great as is all RR books, I weirdly enjoyed Lyria's POV even tho she's not a teenager and I feel she has something to offer despite her age 

I do want to see more of victra and Virginia in dark age and more of Pax and electra of course ...this was a good read ...loved it

Savannah Winchell

I gotta level with y’all this is the worst in the series

Celeste Richardson

Full review now posted!

Well done, Pierce. This was a bloodydamn phenomenal reentry into a story I thought had come to an end. It was phenomenally handled, and I applaud both your bravery and finesse in this continuation of a series that has already left its mark on the sci-fi world.

It’s always a bit nerve-wracking to revisit a series that you thought was ended well. Some authors don’t know how to let a world go and move onto another, and sometimes a world revisited but revisited poorly can sour a reader’s memories of a story they loved. I think that was a legitimate concern when Pierce Brown announced that the Red Rising trilogy would not remain a trilogy, but would instead evolve into a saga. Iron Gold, the fourth book and the one that would begin the new strand of the saga, would take place ten years after the events in Morning Star.
 
There are other authors who have expanded a world they created, and have done it well. But generally, these expansions take place either before the plot of the original story, or more than a generation later, after the main characters of the original plot have passed on. I though Pierce’s plan for the Red Rising saga was ballsy from the moment I heard about it, but thankfully the man followed through brilliantly.

With every book I’ve read from him, I’ve been more and more impressed with Pierce’s writing. His prose is incredible, and I would put it on par with the majority of authors in the genre of literary fiction. Most of the time, science fiction and fantasy are about the characters, the setting, and the story. Rarely does the writing itself shine, but Pierce’s does. I’m beginning to view him as the Patrick Rothfuss of the sci-fi genre in terms of prose, and there’s no greater compliment I can give in regards to the sheer beauty of someone’s writing.

“I will love you until the sun dies. And when it does, I will love you in the darkness.”

An aspect of this book that I was nervous about but ended up appreciating greatly was the use of multiple points of view. One of the things that made the original trilogy stand out in my mind was the fact that it was told in a limited first-person perspective. I’m not usually the biggest fan of first-person, but I thought it was used brilliantly in Red Rising. In the continuation of the series, however, we have four perspectives, all presented in first-person. I thought this would be difficult to follow, but each point of view character had a completely different voice and way of thinking than their counterparts, and all four of them were compelling, fallible characters. All four of them had some wonderful character traits, but all four of them made some terrible mistakes. 

“They all want a part of it. A part of the pain that's not theirs. Nod their heads. Wrinkle their foreheads. Now they want to pity it, gorge on my pain. And when they're done or bored or too sad, they whisk themselves away to stare at a screen or stuff their fat faces, thinking 'How lucky am I to be me.' And they they forget the pain and say we should be good citizens. Get a job. Assimilate...

They planted us in stones, watered us with pain, and now marvel how we have thorns.”

One of the reasons that Darrow worked so well as a main character in the original trilogy was his fallibility. Is he noble? Yes, he certainly can be. Is he honorable? Yes. Is he a hero? That depends on who you ask. Is he a perfect? Definitely not. And each of the other three point of view characters share that last trait with Darrow. They are far from perfect. They make mistakes. But they are beautifully, achingly human, no matter what Color they are.

“A new wound can take a body. Opening an old one can claim a soul.”

We have Darrow, the hero of the the Rising. We have Lyria, a Red of Mars whose life has been made infinitely harder by that hero. We have Ephraim, a Gray who has been embittered by the Rising and has turned to a life of crime. And we have Lysander, a young Gold of the old order, whose loyalties have never been tested and are as displaced as he is himself. Four widely varied characters. Four points of view of the same struggles that have ripped apart the solar system. Four sides of what appeared to be a two-sided struggle.

“I know it may be impossible to believe now, when everything is dark and broken, but you will survive this pain, little one. Pain is a memory. You will live and you will struggle and you will find joy. And you will remember your family from this breath to your dying days, because love does not fade. Love is the stars, and its light carries on long after death.”

Getting to revisit characters from the original trilogy, and to see how they have changed over ten years, was wonderful. It was an ode to the Howlers, both the literary characters and the readers who have loved Pierce’s work since they opened the first book. But what I really loved was the expansion offered by the other point of view characters, an expansion that allows readers to experience far more of the world Pierce has created. We see that nature abhors a vacuum, and that whenever power is removed from a despot, another tyrant will rise up to take their place. We see that friendship covers a multitude of sins, but even it can only be stretched so far. We see love in all of its forms, and betrayal in just as many. We see that war touches everyone, and that everyone’s voice deserves to be heard. We see that an uprising is never truly finished. We see victory and defeat, pain and passion, dreams and despair. We see life in all of its beautiful chaos and horrendous patterns.

“War eats the victors last.”

I thought that my favorite sci-fi-fi series would always and forever be Ender’s Saga by Orson Scott Card. While Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow will indeed always remain among my favorite books, I can unequivocally say that Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga has become my favorite science fiction series, and I can’t wait to read future installments.

“Change isn’t made by mobs that envy, but by men who dare.”

Original review can be found at Booknest.

Alex

Okay, that wasn’t that bad!

I had low expectations coming in to this, plainly for the reason that I sometimes have issues with Brown’s writing style. I find he tries a little too hard sometimes to embody a sci-fi voice, when it doesn’t take that much work. 

In this new addition to the Red Rising series, I had some of the same issues. I found myself way too focused on trying to understand what I was reading at times instead of actually reading. The first half of this book dragged a little, and it took me a while to get into it. 

But the second half, boy was it good. Once I was finally back and committed to caring about these characters, I really enjoyed the book. While it sometimes drags, Brown’s writing can also be extremely well written and timed, and I love his expression of his characters. Sevro’s character had me bloodydamn laughing out loud at times. 

I also really enjoy the new characters, and the political drama that we have going on in this book. When the first 3 novels had me falling in love with Darrow, this one had me falling out. In a good way. 

I’m excited to see where this goes! 


-Feb 2019-
Okay, I bought this. I had no idea this book was a thing, I was convinced the previous three books were just that -a trilogy. Well, I’m not complaining.

elif sinem

IMMACULATE. so many beautiful new details of culture, seriously amazing character arcs and characterizations. and I've even ended up liking all the POVs!!! a book that is mostly set up but what a great set up it was. the only thing I mind were how some chapters just seemed like they should've been one and not two. Amazing amazing amazing

Cindy Lieberman

A great example of the author taking his craft and fans seriously. The story takes place about 10 years after the original trilogy. An older, more mature Darrow (he’s a dad!) is one of the main characters but there are three others who start to weave the new narrative. This would have earned a 5-Star rating if Pierce Brown were able to give the narrators more distinctive voices. While their circumstances are unique, they are all similarly feisty and intelligent. If I put the book down for a bit, I couldn’t always tell who was narrating until more of the scene came into focus. Just something he could to improve for the next outing, which I will be certain to read.

4.5 Stars — starting off my spring break book binge right.

Largely a continuation from the previous books in terms of quality. I don't think that this series has dimmed at all since it started. The pacing and scale is just as frenetic and grandiose as all the previous books, and I truly love this series.

It's so interesting the choice that the author makes, where, once we have all of space at our fingertips and our world has expanded more than we ever could have thought, we only look to the past even more, with the names, culture, and classics of Brown's futuristic society planted so firmly in the past. History is cyclical in this book to an even greater degree, and the book's oft-repeated adage, death begets death begets death, is very true. 

I'm really looking forward to the conclusion of the series.

Aleena Korell

4.5 stars. Often times, we get the perspectives of the characters that have abilities, smarts, strength-- the ones in the middle of the action, who make things happen, who make decisions which affect thousands, millions of people. We don't always get to read the perspectives of the people who become collateral damage of those action heroes.

How does Mrs. Robinson feel about Superman? Well he may have saved the world, but he also crashed through the roof of her house and now she's homeless and can't feed her family. 

Iron Gold is about the collateral damage. I appreciated that. It's something that makes the world seem even more real-- grounded, even. And in a series for which the main complaint I've heard is the "Gary Stu-ness" of it all, this is a game changer. We're getting the marginalized characters' thoughts and opinions. And mostly, they're not very fond of our Reaper.

In this book, I'm not either. I wish we could have seen him struggle with being a good person, staying grounded to his roots, even trying to reconcile his life of being a good father with his life of war. But he isn't a good father. He isn't a good husband. And he isn't a good friend. These are lessons I thought he'd learned-- and was disappointed to see that not only has he seemed to backtrack, but to become worse than ever. 

His was the only non-compelling perspective, to me, without any redemption. I enjoyed the other characters and how their stories entertwined-- Ephraim took me a while to warm up to, but even he won me over. But perhaps in the next installment we'll see if our Reaper can become a better person. Brown certainly has me looking forward to it with that ending!

Deborah Kerr

This one hurt more than I thought it would. Mostly because the original trilogy, at least for me, really lived up to the hype. And this one didn't grab my attention and hold it the way the originals did.

I went in skeptical considering how much I loved the original trilogy--and yet, I still found something about it lacking. I'm not sure if it was the disappointment in Darrow, having 4 POVs instead of 1, or how long it took to get traction. Regardless I was pretty "meh" about this book until "The thing" happened (iykyk), and then I was invested as hell.

I'm looking at Iron Gold as a 596 pages intro to (what will most likely be) the middle trilogy of this sci-fi saga. Because thinking of it that way--thinking of this book as a way to set Lyria, Lysander, Pax, and Electra up as our storytellers for the final trilogy (Darrow's dying in book six y'all, I'm calling it now) is the only reasonable explanation for all of the unnecessary exposition from a writer who is usually about hitting the gas from page 1. This was reminiscent of Red Rising which didn't really start getting into it until Darrow was at The Institute. I would be genuinely shocked if Brown can satisfactorily wrap this up in Book 6.

Things I loved about this book:
1. Kavax Telemanus is, as always, THE BEST.
2. Sevro as a Dad, was everything I didn't know I needed, and now that I have it, I will kill whoever tries to take it from me.
3. Ephraim. I'm always here for a messed-up character. ALWAYS.
4. The Iron Golds.

I'm with this series to the end, and hopefully, that's a good thing.

Ashlee

This book is a totally different beast than the previous trilogy. However, the worlds are a very different place as well and Pierce Brown has done it again.

The best part of this book is its very self awareness of how war rarely brings true peace. The worlds are still in turmoil, despite the efforts of Darrow and his friends. 

People are tired. Darrow is tired. Friendships are tested and broken. Having been gone off and on for ten years, Darrow feels no more the man he wishes to be than he did all that time ago. More than anything, I would say Darrow seems broken and lost in this book. It’s heartbreaking but also incredibly realistic.

Most low colors feel no more accepted than they did before the Rising and many are worse off. False peace hangs over the Rim while all-out annihilation rains in the Core. Virginia’s decisions and rule are tested and some find it lacking.

The true strength of this book is the multiple POVs. Getting to hear the voice of these four individuals, each effected by the Rising and current events in very different ways, was a fantastic decision on Pierce Brown’s behalf. I was so mad at some characters for their misunderstanding of the Rising’s purpose, but I also greatly understood their hate and distrust. Not everyone has the ear of the Sovereign and knows their intentions. To those suffering, they’re doing so under just another dictator who doesn’t care.

I hear Dark Age is brutal, stomach-churning and does not hold back. I’m probably not ready for what comes next, but ready to face it.

Rowan Jones

Edit: changed from 3.75 to 4 fully because the sequel cleared up some things I was mad about lol

Dropped a whole star for a really shit off-screen death for one of my favourite characters.

I still enjoyed this as I love the characters and setting, and the original trilogy is one of my favourite series ever. I really liked the new perspectives from Lyria and Ephraim, but the book didn't really feel cohesive to me and you could tell it was setting up a lot for the next book.

Jeremy Cote

I thought this was another great addition to the story. There's a lot more character development in this one, and I found myself really seeing the various sides of many of the characters. Pierce Brown took the tricky route of using multiple perspective, but he made it work in a slick way, having the story lines come together at just the right moments. I can't wait to read the next book.

Iron Gold

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