Review: Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga #4) by Pierce Brown

 Summary from Goodreads:

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.

My Review:


What I Liked:

New Characters. This new series goes away from a single point of view instead it has four of them. I would usually hate this but I really enjoyed the new characters Brown has created. Lyria is by far my favorite one, her chapters are read so well in the audiobook, and I always looked forward to her point of view. The other ones were interesting as well. We still got Darrow's point of view, which I liked from the first three books. And it was interesting to read about Lysander and his separate storyline. 

Plot. The book was so long but I felt that every chapter leading up to the main plot was action packed. I enjoyed the continuation of the new series and will be checking out the next two books. 

Writing. I keep coming back to these long and well-crafted science fiction/fantasy novels because of Pierce Brown's writing. He is great at making interesting and well-developed characters who the reader comes to love. Also, he is good at world-building and creating such unique fantasy elements. 

Audiobook. I decided to pick up the 23 hour audiobook and I'm glad that I did because it was so good! I enjoyed the four different narrators we got for each character. The narrator who read Lyria's chapters was amazing, her descriptions of some of the intense scenes gave me goosebumps!

What I Disliked:

Length. I did feel that the novel was a little too long. The audiobook helped me power through the 600 pages but I struggled with the print version.

I recommend checking out the whole Red Rising series. 

My Rating: 

4.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars