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.
Hello. I'm Pierce Brown, the author of the Red Rising Saga, a NYT #1 bestseller. I figured I'd write you myself than have corporate copy pasted below my totally natural author photo.
In my books you'll find stories of men and women finding their inner strength when all seems lost. You'll also find me exploring themes of love, violence, hope, and power--what it means, why people seek it, and how they hold onto it.
These just keep getting better. These audiobooks help visualize the story so well. The brutality and pace of the second half is really brought up a notch. Dark Age cannot come soon enough!
Are you Prime? Because I am absolutely not. I’m emotionally compromised and slightly dehydrated.
I don’t know what everyone’s whining about - “It’s not like the first three.” Well, of course not. The Society’s in shambles, kids are grown, trauma’s been marinating for a decade. It’s messy. It should be. We can’t go straight into slinging razors and ramming ships into each other - can we at least offend someone, spit on a Gold, maybe slap a peerless or two? Goryhell, foreplay, people.
I actually really enjoyed the multiple POVs. It felt like zooming out on the war - seeing the cracks, the consequences, the collateral. Some characters I wanted to hug. Some I wanted to punt off a bridge.
And the graphic audio production was flawless, as expected. At this point, I don’t even have thoughts of my own. The cast is narrating my life. I hear Mustang when I try to be brave and Sevro chuckling at my own jokes.
As tradition demands, I cried. Twice. (Minimum quota met.)
And now I’m well and truly screwed. I want Dark Age like a Obsidians want a bloodbath, but there’s no chance I’m facing that war without the voices that carried me this far. So I’ll wait. I’ll suffer. Maybe cry into a pillow.
Should have left it at three books. I hear that Dark age is a brutal read, so I will continue. But this one was hard to get through. The characters seem to be losing their traits from the first three books. Heavy plot armor continues. Worse it has been extended to the two new characters that I don’t like. I will say again the added perspectives were very unneeded and in my case unwanted. Narration was very poorly done in this graphic audio.
Sometimes it’s better to end a series. I love Brown’s story telling. It’s possible I tire from this story. I would love something fresh from Brown.
I don’t know how to write this without spoilers but I’m gonna try…
Lyria!! She spend the whole book trying to help, being the better person, and that’s where you ended the book?!? That’s just mean.
Ugh, Lysander. I knew you were gonna make me mad. Cassius would be so disappointed.
Ephraim, I’m hoping redemption is on the horizon for you. I really am pulling for it. For Holiday’s sake.
The Ash Lord! Ok, I kinda already suspected that ending so no surprise there. Darrow is pissed but, dang my Sevro real mad about all of it! This could break up some friendships.
Iron Gold is definitely my least favorite book in the series so far. Don't get me wrong it's still very good and honestly better than most books.
however as a red rising book it wasn't what I was looking for. while I appreciate the continued growth and world building I was not open to new characters eating up 50% of the pages. I want to stick with the characters I know and love.
this one was dense, and I'm glad I listened to the dramatized adaption audiobook because it felt like a film in my car.
This book differs from the initial trilogy. The flaws and cracks and personalities begin to show. By the end, you will be rooting for the gold of the rim.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
3.75⭐️ I understand that this book needed to happen, however, I wasn’t able to connect with it as well as the original trilogy. Hopefully it picks up and everything starts to connect in Dark Age.
- I did not really enjoy the time jump, but I guess it was probably necessary. - I don’t like how the group had become hypocritical. Like Victra saying that people who are complaining about the living cost on Luna are ungrateful? I just don’t think that “freedom fighters” should think like that. - On another note, Victra losing her shit when her daughter is kidnapped was so powerful! I loved how from the other POV’s we saw how terrified people were of her!! AND SHE WAS PREGNANT😂😂 - I really didn’t like that ending. I just don’t think that Darrow from Red Rising would have made that decision.