Iron Gold was hard for me to get into. The first three books in the Red Rising series are told entirely from Darrow’s perspective, so suddenly jumping between four characters was a major adjustment. I was already invested in Darrow’s story. At first, I really didn’t care about what the other characters were doing.
Following four stories at the same time also made everything feel slower. I would get interested in one storyline, then the book would jump to someone else and leave it hanging. It reminded me of Game of Thrones, with all the different characters, houses, and regions having their own conflicts. I can see what Pierce Brown was going for as the world of the series gets bigger, but I still preferred the more focused storytelling of the first three books.
It didn’t help that Morning Star felt like the end of the story. Everything was wrapped up nicely, and the characters more or less sailed off into the sunset. Early in Iron Gold, it felt like new problems were being created just to keep the series going.
Around halfway through the book, things finally started happening. I never came around to liking the multiple perspectives, but they became easier to tolerate once the stories picked up and each chapter felt like it was going somewhere.
Ephraim ended up being one of the more interesting new characters. Mustang and Holiday use Volga as leverage to force him into helping recover the children, so becoming the good guy isn’t entirely his choice. The fact that he cares so much about Volga still shows that he has a heart. He’s an antihero and kind of a screwup, but you can also see that he could be a better person if he ever got himself together.
Romulus’s trial and death were probably the most interesting parts of the book for me. His view of Darrow gave me a different way to look at the war. Darrow might be his enemy, but Romulus understands what will happen if the Rim gives him another war to fight.
Darrow is tied down by the Republic, the Senate, and all the responsibilities that come with governing. Attacking Mars or Luna would unite the Colors behind him and turn him back into the Reaper. Killing him wouldn’t necessarily stop the Rising either because somebody else would eventually take his place.
Romulus concealed Darrow’s destruction of the Ganymede docks because he believed another war would eventually destroy both the Rim and the Core. Even after being sentenced to ceremonial death, he continued arguing for peace and asked Lysander if he could save the worlds. I thought that was a really interesting way for him to go out.
I’m also not completely convinced that Cassius is dead. Lysander never sees his body. He’s simply told that Cassius died, which feels intentionally unresolved. Cassius isn’t listed with the characters at the beginning of Dark Age, so that doesn’t exactly help my theory, but I still think there could be more to it.
The relationships from the original trilogy also seem to be pulling apart. Darrow and Mustang barely communicate throughout the book. Sevro still loves Darrow like a brother, but he leaves after Darrow continues toward Mercury instead of returning for their kidnapped children.
I don’t think Darrow simply chose Mercury over saving them. He recognized that the kidnapping was meant to pull him away from the war, so he chose his duty even though it cost him Sevro’s support.
Victra is doing whatever she can to recover her daughter instead of waiting for Mustang and the Republic to figure it out. She has Lyria kidnapped because she thinks keeping her close could help lead her to the children. She’s a mother trying to get her child back, and she isn’t going to sit around waiting for anyone else to make the next move.
I still have plenty of questions. Did Dancer have something to do with the kidnapping? Is Kavax alive? Where does Lysander go after everything that happened in the Rim? More than anything, I want to see what happens when Lysander and Darrow’s stories finally collide.
I’d give Iron Gold a 4 out of 5. I never particularly liked the multiple perspectives, but the second half pulled me back in. I’m excited to read Dark Age and find out what happens between Darrow and Lysander.