Dark Age (Red Rising Series Book 5)

2023-08-09: Dark Age A book that lives up to its name in every sense. A long-heralded nightmare of violence, tragedy, and hopelessness, this fifth book in the series is home to a tonal shift that feels inevitable in hindsight, and can, one hopes, only leave room for light. In a series full of unforgettable moments, this book surely holds some of its most grim. But even so… It stands as one of Pierce’s best. As good as Iron Gold was, looking back it feels very much like a lead-in to Dark Age. Golden Son may still stand apart as my favorite of the series for now, but Pierce’s storytelling has done nothing but improve with each release. He is a masterful plotter; layers upon layers upon layers. Decisions that are logical, that matter, and that explode into webs of potential and what-ifs? The risks he takes, the breadcrumbs he scatters, the story behind the story… it’s just phenomenal. Part One of this book is, I think, Pierce’s strongest work in the series thus far. In seventeen chapters that flip back and forth between Darrow and Lysander POVs, we are shown the Darrow we never got to see in the ten years between Morning Star and Iron Gold. In the throes of war, the Sword of the Republic, where the Reaper is at his most comfortable, his most effective, and his most frightening. And Lysander is his perfect foil, presenting a conflict that is more ambiguous than I think many want to admit. At the very least, getting inside of both of their heads is a good way to see how people convince themselves of the righteousness of their own actions, and is a good reminder that when you know the whole of someone, it becomes much more difficult to support them entirely, and just as difficult to dismiss them entirely. To know someone is to understand them, and understanding requires no agreement. This book spreads us out more than we have been before, with the addition of Virginia as a POV character, and thus an eye on Luna. Each plot line is captivating, and each holds its own and proves itself worthy of the time spent. We get more screen time here with characters that have previously only been mentioned; like Atlas, or Ajax. And even more well-known characters shine brighter here, like Alexandar. Pierce is expert at showing us more of his world. Revealing to us what was there all along. That which we did not get to see for reasons of locale, or point of view. With the dark age coming to a close—or perhaps that is a fool’s hope—we say goodbye to many characters. Those we cared for, those we hated, and those we were just getting to know. And though death comes swiftly, it does not come lightly. These were characters with futures. Characters that mattered. Characters with destinies, snuffed out. Dust and shadow. Now we look toward the light. “You asked me a question long ago. It was on Mars before we lost her. You asked, what do I fear? I fear a man who believes in good. For he can excuse any evil.” He holds up a hand to feel the wind. “What have you done?” 2019-08-17: Zero stars. Not enough Diomedes. I kid, I kid. I'll give the same warning here as I did at the beginning of Iron Gold. If you would like to remain completely blind as to which characters live through the original trilogy simply ignore this review. 'Spoilers' of that nature will be included. Spoilers for this book however will be either hidden or absent completely. Now then. WOW! Wow. Mr. Brown you've done it again. Red Rising is one of my favorite series. My brother, father, and I await the releases eagerly and tear through them as soon as we are able, all the while discussing, mourning, and asking many times 'What chapter are you on??' A new installment is a big deal, and Dark Age proved to be among the best. Having just finished, and absolutely loving it, I am eager to proclaim it the very best of the bunch. But I don't want to be hasty as this series is full of phenomenal moments across all five books. It just may be that Dark Age sets itself apart from the rest. I will say this. In sheer horror, in dread, in unbelievable, jaw-dropping moments of brutality and punch-you-in-the-face level shocks, it reigns supreme. In every sense of the phrase, this book lives up to the title. The original trilogy was a struggle of will, violence, and righteousness to topple a dictatorship. The fourth book, after a gap of about ten years, was Pierce pulling back the veil and making us say, 'Hmm, maybe things are going to get worse before they get better.' Here in the fifth we ask, 'Will they get better at all?' This one is dark. I don't think I've witnessed a kill count like this since I was in the middle of the Malazan series. I literally started a list of the fallen in my phone notes to keep track. I may even post that below under a spoiler tag in remembrance. So be warned all ye Howlers; all is not well in the Republic. Not by a long shot. It is important to note however that while this book is unceasingly bleak at times, it contains all of those things that catalyzed my love affair with the series, and then some. An absolutely breakneck pace. Tight plotting. Incredibly well-written and complex characters; new and old. The feeling of it. You just feel it. There's something about spending time in this world, in Pierce Brown's head, that makes me feel a certain way. It's just how he writes. He infects you with an enthusiasm for a world that might otherwise seem ridiculous. A science-fiction book full of larger than life characters who fancy themselves Roman gods? And their eyes are different colors? Huh? But damn it. It's just too good. And the crazy thing is it's just going to keep going. After the insane ride that was Dark Age, the stage is set for even further craziness in the future. So much so that one wonders if Pierce will just continue to up the ante with each installment and keep putting out better and better work. It didn't seem possible but hell, here we are. I realize that I've given no specifics about the book. I'm not necessarily sure I want to at this point. I've said enough to get my point across all without mentioning anyone by name even, but I guess I'll dive into it a little. Lysander's chapters stood head and shoulders above the others in Iron Gold as my favorites of the bunch. Not so here. And not because they weren't phenomenal; they were. It's just that Lysander is no longer so removed from the other characters that I was forced to view his piece of the story as a separate entity. He's in the mix now, and it's every bit as satisfying as one would hope. Darrow remains a force of nature. It is quite something to have witnessed the creation of a legend. But that is just what he is. We watched it happen. And now Darrow is given the same respect, the same fear, that legends before him like Lorn au Arcos, the Ash Lord, Nero au Augustus, Aja au Grimmus, etc were given. It's satisfying to watch. Lyria and Ephraim both pull their weight in this one as much as anyone, and we are even treated to some Virginia chapters, so as to get a look at what our beloved Sovereign is up to while her husband makes war on Mercury (speaking of which, Part One in its entirety was just phenomenal, some real Abercrombie's 'Heroes' vibes there). My feelings about Lysander are much more conflicted now that he's entered the fold. But that's the name of the game with this book, and maybe the series at large. We are no longer witnessing a story for which it is easy to take sides. Now, given several points of view, we are forced to realize that characters we deemed utter monsters are people too. Shocking, I know. Seriously though, we now face, on a regular basis, the ugly truth that the characters we love are the ones who have to make the hard decisions. Darrow has to make hard decisions. Lysander has to make hard decisions. We may not agree with them. We may rail against them with everything we have. But Pierce has the hooks in deep. We watch in horror as the characters we love.. kill each other. Kill others. Kill lots of others, indirectly or no. And what do we get? Well, conflicted emotions in my case. But that is where true magic lies in a story. Make me regret loving someone. Make me love hating someone. Pierce does it like it's second nature. Maybe it is. I mentioned a list of the fallen above. I'm going to post that now. Be warned. I repeat, be warned! What lies beneath this spoiler tag is, well, a huge spoiler! Huge! Don't open it if you haven't read the book! So here it is. We remember the fallen: (view spoiler) The tragedy of the gifted is the belief they are entitled to greatness, Lysander. As a human, you are entitled only to death.

Dark Age by Pierce Brown is epic on every level, this is a novel of loss, sacrifice, redemption, heart break, political power moves, and tyranny. This is book five of the Red Rising Saga. This book was so welcomed by me, because I thought that book four Iron Gold was the weakest in the series. This book follows the same format from Iron Gold, where it gives the same five character perspectives Darrow, Lyria, Ephraim, Virginia, and Lysander. This worked a lot better this time around it didn't feel like all the characters were setting up something for the next novel, there's a only one that didn't feel complete, and was a set up story. This novel wrapped up all the stories from the cliff hanger of Iron Gold, and managed to go into new territory and create new problems as the stories moved forward. This book does a great job of showing two characters difference towards the same goal, as a reader they kept making good points and then screwing up there own ideas to beat one another, it was such good character work and plotting. The twist and turns are so good it reminded me of the midway turn in the original Red Rising and the end turn in Golden Son. There's a lot of character's too keep up with which was a little daunting since it had been over a year since reading Iron Gold, and two years since reading the original trilogy. This book brings back some characters that you might have forgot about in the original trilogy that you might have forgotten. One character I thought would have made it to Iron Gold but when they do appear it is well worth the wait and the shock value that they're capable. The Plot: Darrow has gone to fight a war in Mercury to free more colors from slavery, he had to sacrifice not finding his son Pax in the process. His Wife Virginia the Sovereign has kept the kidnapping under wraps to not alert anyone and for people who want her power to say she's compromised. She with Servo, who's daughter was also taken help track who took the kids. Virginia also is trying to gather support for her husband n the unsanctioned war on Mercury he started. Lryia is being tortured by a pregnant Victra, who is Servo's wife, She does not know she was a pasty and was manipulated by Ephraim. Ephraim downed his ship on purpose with the two kidnapped kids, when he relized who's hands they were going to and there intentions, but where he downed the ship there people who see a big opportunity to use the kids as a bargaining chip to gain power. Lysander convinced what's left of the Raa family to make Darrow pay for his huge betrayal and lie in the book Morning Star. He meets with a members of his family to take Darrow down on Mercury. He's finding out the people remember that he is rightful heir to sovereign. What I Liked: This is edge of your seat story telling at it's best. There's so many twist and turns one person will have an advantage one moment then switch, then find out there was a puppet master in the shadows. The character's arc in all stories evolve and come full circle. Secrets are revealed that were hinted at in past books making it really rewarding for having read the first 4 books in the series. Every character has an agenda and it's constantly shaping but it all makes sense. The flow of this book is amazing it does let you catch your breath after a big reveal but not too long because another one is coming soon. The character's big and side character's all sound different and easy to separate from one another. A great ending not a cliffhanger like the last one but you know where most characters are headed, and it going to be bloody. What I Disliked: This is a broken record comment, but with so many character's if there was some synopsis for the character's, it would be great, thank goodness for the internet, so I could look up the character's to know their history in the series, the book usually gets there, and gives a background eventually. Lyria story is still the weakest story but is way better than in Iron Gold. Recommendations: I totally recommend this series with a little warning about content, this is a brutal story where people are ripped apart, swearing, sex, rape is threatened, radiation rots the people form inside out, and urination on a vanquished foe is par for the course. This is book is rated Young Adult but could really be adult. That being said I'm an adult that loves Game of Thrones and stories where no one is safe and a brutal world. I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars. my ranking of the series from top to bottom is Red Rising, Dark Age, Golden Son, Morning Star, and Iron Gold.

Another great book in this epic series. I could not put this book down. Excellent pacing. Deep rich story. Great characters. Masterful development. There is a lot to love about this series and particularly this book. There is also a lot going on all over the place. There are four different POVs and I was all in on each. However, my biggest issue with this book was that I found some parts to be fairly predictable. Not a huge issue. And, those who have made it this far in the series will be well aware of the violence, brutality and grim dark tone of the story. You can expect a lot more of the same in this installment--a lot more. There are more than a few very rough moments in this book. Ultimately, this is another great book. Unputdownable.

Dark age is book 5 in the red rising series and book 2 in the 2nd trilogy, needless to say this isn’t the place to start if you haven’t already been reading the series. Pierce brown is my favorite author he had been in the top three or four anyway but with Dark age he cements his place at the top, it’s not just that he is a great writer and a amazing storyteller, which is not always a given in a author even a successful one, but it’s the consistency of the series he writes that make me think that make me laugh, that they trill me, and yes at times break my heart, 5 books on and not one I would judge less then 5 stars. Dark age is about consequences and as with the series as a whole it is about chains a frequent motifs in the series where it mean freedom from slavery in the books it hides a deeper meaning in the chains our own nature impose our greed our lusts our avarice and cycles of violence and behavior we are doomed to repeat and above all about the legacy, good and bad, that our parents leave us. Like the other books it what the author describes as science fantasy, or I would as extremely well written space opera, so Space ships and robots abound mankind has been segregated and bred into castes defined by color with gold at the top and red at the bottom. Despite the advances most conflicts are resolved by hand to hand combat , and there’s an actual cavalry charge at one stage why I call it space opera, though often lyrical in its prose and possessing a intelligence and wit often lacking in that sub genre though rather them aimed at the science or how everything works it’s spent on observations about human nature. essentially this is a Greek myth come to life Demi gods and all both if the first trilogy was Homers Iliad a paen to the glory of war then this is Virgil’s Aeneid with a sting in the tail. Like iron gold this book contains multiple points of view if the first trilogy was about throwing off the chains of oppression then the 2nd is about happens when the consequences of our actions come home when we pay the price for youthful hubris. So ephraim, Darrow , Lyra, Lysander are again the major POV characters with Virginia being a another view point character the strength of the novel is again it’s villains both expected and unexpected its weakness few save that I wish the author would expound a bit more on the differences between the different strains of man when he does it’s more for the strains we don’t have a POV character such as the whites through Xenophon and the blues through Orion and colloaway also I am a bit ambiavielent about how the Syndicate story resolved lots to love in one way with a character I adore returning but it seems a bit forced? And possibly disconnected from the main storyline however that said there are more then a few hints that a different game is being played in the shadows. The secondary cast grows again with the unsworn, the fear knight and Faa being a particular highlight, also pax and Electra come into there own here as Demi gods in training. I would love to go onall I want to do is discuss this book to death but since I don’t want to spoil and it’s hard to discuss any of the ongoing storylines which are continued from iron gold without doing so all I will say is bloodydamn this is a fantastic read.

Bought the book it was damaged requested a replacement almost 3 months later no refund and no book

Brutal violence and heartbeat pausing story twists. I loved the story and character development. A deeper look into Mustang a.k.a. Virginia. Victra's story. Many times I had to lay this book aside to pause and process. Yet many times I could not stop reading to know what's next and that's how I finish the last pages.

It was a gift for my friend. She liked it very much. I didnt read but it was big and beautiful

That was BRUTAL. Dark Age broke me several times and I spent nights awake reading and also left weeks between chapters in terror of titles. Hail Libertas.