Review: Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

They call him father, liberator, warlord, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the pale blue planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-second 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 everything 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, and 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.

Anytime I read the first book in a new series that follows one I love as much as Red Rising, I approach with both a huge dose of excitement but also a touch of apprehension that it won’t live up to the previous series. I am so excited that Iron Gold lived up to every expectation I had and maybe even set some new ones for the rest of the series. It has all the traits that Ioved in the Red Rising series, but the current story stays fresh and exciting.

Iron Gold is set about 10 years after the last one left off and the peace that Darrow and Mustang worked to achieve is beginning to show signs of serious strain. There is the threat from the Ash Lord, but internally there is also politcal strife as groups try to jockey for power. Darrow is faced with some incredibly hard choices and some of his decisions, quite frankly, just don’t go over well. It is interesting seeing him go from being the favored son of the land, a living superhero of his time, to, well … you’ll have to read to find out, I don’t want to go into too much detail. We also get to see how his decisions impact his son who feels Darrow always puts the war first. Because really, Darrow continues to see himself as critical to everything, and just doesn’t feel like anyone else could get the job done like he can. And honestly, sometimes you have to wonder if that is true or not.

For perspectives, Iron Gold features about 4 POVs, one of which is a brand new character that I absolutely love. She is a red girl who has suffered great loss but also has a keen sense of determination as well as a pretty strong moral code. She manages to set her life on a path she could never have expected, or even imagined, and it puts her in a prime position to be critical in this story. Honestly, she has a lot of the traits that I loved about Darrow. She is determined and can be quite fearless, doing unexpected things that she thinks anyone would do, when really, the rest of us know that’s not the case. I kind of feel like all the other POVs in this are on par with the Red Rising trilogy, but something about this girl, I just enjoy even more. That’s really saying something.

So if you were a fan of the Red Rising be assured there is more excitement to come, and this book lives up to every expectation I have for Pierce Brown (warning, that includes ending with serious cliffhangers), you MUST read this, it will not disappoint!