More RR art drawn by me because I actually cannot stop thinking about this series (Sevro is next)

I have two....

1. Dark Age is by far the best book in the series and it's really not even close.
2. Dancer died a coward and his character assassination pissed me right the fuck off because i loved him through Morning Star.

I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but what's the actual purpose of following Lyria all the way to Quicksilver & Matteo's hideout?

• To prove Quicksilver is so powerful he has a contingency plan and can essentially restart civilization without Darrow/the others
• For her to get the ability to navigate (using QS tech) back to Darrow & company
• A classic 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all'? (lame)
• A glorified side quest to compound and mature Lyria's character for what's to come in Red God?
• Did Matteo secretly fix the Figment which will resurface in Red God?
• F: All of the above

Inspired by all of the lovely Victra and Mustang art as of late; I thought home girl needed some representation.

I'm in the middle of some series, read the first book a good while ago finally bought and read Golden Son and immediately had to finish Morning Star after. Incredible, really one of the most fun series I've read I don't know how many authors I can say present their action this viscerally. The Battle of Ilium, that helldive in space through the Pax into the Colossus may well be the coolest thing I've ever read, definitely one of em.

The pace of it from the start of Golden Son to the end of the trilogy I burned through these, I love the first half of Golden Son culminating in the gala, I loved the gala. I love that it ends with Adrius, the forever reign of gold these self proclaimed gods and the final barrier wasn't an immortal Sovereign, not her actual honest to god reaper in Aja, it was a petty, small, vindictive Jackal and his shadow put down by everyone around them. My only disappointment was losing Ragnar, a good death but he was a better character and I loved em.

Killer trilogy actually shocked it isn't adapted, excited to eventually get through the second trilogy.

Posted after finishing Iron Gold that I didn’t really like it all that much compare to the OG Trilogy. A lot of fans seem to hold some version of that sentiment, while a few passionately oppose that idea. But all agreed that Dark Ages is a massive step up. Having finished I can add to that agreement because it was a great book. Below is what I liked most about it, and some things I bumped against

What I liked:

1. Darrow & Lysander Part 1 - Talk about McGuire vs Sosa in 1998. Just home run after home run after home run. After the slow pace of IG, having these two heavy hitters taking the entirety of Part 1 was so refreshing and entertaining
2. Mustang POV - What a great addition to the POVs. After spending a book with Lyria just crying the entire time, it was nice to have a female POV who took her turmoil by the reigns. Plus, it’s Mustang. Who wouldn’t want to see her POV?
3. Ephraims Redemption - After spending the majority of IG whining as much as Lyria, Emphraim actually gets some urgency and purpose with his story. He was always a good character, but he just needed to be in a good setting.
4. Overall Pace & Scale - Pretty self-explanatory, but this book hits the ground running and doesn't give you a second to breathe until like 40 chapters in. The OG trilogy was the best page turner I've ever read, so it was nice to be back to form.
5. Part 4 - Amazing mirror to Part 1. Just the two big dogs going at it again. The dread of it all. "In the Kingdom of death, admits the ramparts of body's and winds of screams, there is a king, and his name is not Lune. It Is Reaper!" Perfect

What I didnt like:

1. Lyria - It probably seems like I'm raggdolling this character, but her chapters were actually an improvement from IG. That being said it was mostly off the back of Victra. I caught myself twice being like "wow how many Lyria chapters have I just read?" An improvement, but still not my favorite
2. Obsidians- I don't read a lot of Red Rising Reddit out of fear of spoilers, so I don't know if this is a hot or cold take, but I hate the Obsidians. I liked Ragnar, but other than him I have found the Obsidian storylines to be my least favorite part of the series. I didn't like Sefi and I basically feel like Ephraim after she dies and they sack the city and he's like "It was basically one woman who was keeping you decent." They suck!
3. Massive Darrow Gaps & Sevros Absence - When Darrow's in the mix this book going 120 MPH, but there are like 3 big gaps in the book where you don't hear from himfor like 15+ chapters. Also needed more Goblin.
4. "Somehow Palpatine Has Returned" - Jackal clone... give me a break. I hope they wrap that up quickly in Light Bringer because that is such a garage sequel trope

Overall, I thought the book was a massive step up from Iron Gold and had a blast (and a lot of dread) reading it. A few cons, but they didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. Excited to finish Light Bringer, so I can actually read these reddit pages more without fear of anything being spoiled because I do love this series.

My question is not which death hit the hardest or the saddest, but which affected the storyline the most. I think the obvious answer is Eo because her death kicked off the entire series. Other than her, I think of Quinn, Fitchner, or Ragnar.

Curious what you all think

I just finished the chapter with the assault on the senate and the mob. I felt a pit inside leading up to it because things were going too well and were too happy for Virginia. The moment we didn’t jump cut to past the vote I knew something was wrong. I fucking knew Lilith was alive. I hate her, I hate plubious, I hate the syndicate so fucking much. They killed my boys dancer and Daxo. They didn’t deserve to go out like that. And Virginia is being assaulted. I’m literally shitting myself in fear for her. Before the chapter I wanted to go back and check up on Darrow, now I want to know what’s going to happen on Luna.

Do those dumbass low colors know what the reaper is going to do to them when he returns? How fucking stupid you can be doing that to mustang and expecting nothing to happen. I’m so mad I’m sick to my stomach.

Edit: also please don’t spoil anything past chapter 31. I haven’t finished the book yet.

I’m about 400 pages into Iron Gold and the hate for this book is so unwarranted 😂 yeah it’s a little slower than the first three but the stories of each character are pretty intriguing.

I think eph and lyria is a cool path crosser. I was genuinely surprised when it was revealed he is Philipe.(I just got to the part where the gas goes off in the ship don’t say anything else.)

Darrow has a lot less action than we’re used to but seeing his arc going in a negative direction and the questionable calls and thinking he has throughout the book has been engaging and interesting.

Lysander being a man and struggling with the loyalty to his color and the loyalty to Cassius is a good internal problem to watch unfold.

The back and forth between the POVs and storylines is not as choppy and hard to follow as a lot of people have said it to be.

This is still a great book. It’s okay that someone’s head doesn’t get chopped off every four sentences. Come on guys 😂😂

Lo Howlers,

I am in desperate Bloodydamn need of assistance. Myself and three others are travelling to Edinburgh from London to attend the evening with Pierce Brown through the Portobello Bookshop on October 15th at Central Hall, Edinburgh.

However unfortunately we only managed to get three slagging tickets as the fourth member booked on late. Could anyone assist with sourcing a final ticket to the event. Any help would be Prime. Hail Reaper!

​

Yeah, basically I was listening to the Empty Netters podcast; during the Carving sequence they were talking about the focus on pitviper venom in Darrow's heart and how the Pitviper could've also been a very effective title for Darrow.

Don't think they were wrong.

- every Red is gonna recognize it

- venom in Darrow's heart

- watching them to learn to strike with the slingBlade

- the young Golds are compared to baby pitvipers 'cause they don't know restraint yet

- they're creatures of Mars

- could've had some play on 'don't tread on me' or the symbolism of the snake versus eagle for the Bellona conflict

Dunno; think it could've worked.

Every time I reread I have this question, like how do the reds never realize that it's been generations and generations and years upon years and multiple sovereigns too probably, I know golds live much longer but they are not immortal

I bought these forever ago and totally forgot about them. There was something with the dominus stickers, is it too late to redeem my prize? Probably but figured some howler here would know

Last one went over well, and it’s nice to get a little distraction in the form of thinking about all the responses so if anyone is inclined to participate like last time (very grateful to everyone who has) let’s try this one out.
If you could bring back the homie (whomsoever you feel fills that role) you can but, big butt, you have to sacrifice someone of equal value, importance, emotional connection whatever you think of it as. However that replacement has to from the same side. For example; you can’t trade moon boy for the chin, or a small character like cyther for rags. Nor can you bring back sefi using atalantia. Let’s try and not get too overthinky about this and just accept that all events played out as we know them despite knowing they wouldn’t.

I’d trade Sevro for Ragnar
And Ajax for lillath

I am just starting the iron gold half of the series and am wondering what others opinions on the multi perspective story telling.

My first experience with this style was when I read the Heroes of Olympus series of Percy Jackson. I thought it was interesting getting to see others POV. However it made the chapters with the characters I wasn’t fond of drag on.

Let me know how you feel about this style of writing. Also tell me which point of view was your favorite and least favorite. Please try your best to not spoil.

In book 4 i think the Adomination captures Sevro. It was also alluded to that he had gained access to the mind control device that Alexander’s grandmother used on him to erase his memory of his parents.

I thought for sure that PB was teeing us up for a best friend turned mind controlled enemy where Sevro is set upon Darrow and the republic.

What an incredible arc that could have been.

Instead we got the abomination sells Sevro to Apolloonus plot. Which was cool, but not what I would expect from Abomination since his history and enmity toward Darrow and friends is very personal.

Seemed like a missed opportunity for an incredible plot.

Cassius au Bellona by me.

What happened to those legions holiday said we’re ready to deal with any disturbance, why couldn’t they help(it’s looking like darrow really should’ve pulled that coup with Pegasus legion)

I’ve finished Lightbringer(may lysander by blood eagled with extra salt) by the way so don’t worry about spoilers

DARK AGE + LB SPOILERS TOO ‼️

I just saw a funny TikTok meme about Darrow having to sit through a senate hearing while Sevro and the volk are fighting off in the rat war 😂

I remember reading how Atlas expressed how the rat war was the least of his favourite (not to say he has a favourite or enjoys war), even for him.

What do you imagine made that war so terrible? And what lengths do you think Darrow and the republic had to undertake to ensure the republic was victorious by ultimately beating the Society remnant?

We already know that battle of Mars was for Darrow and the Republic to take back Mars (How cool was it for him to take that planet twice??). So they were already on the back foot..

I was never much of an avid reader. Most of my nights consisted of me lying in bed with my wife, staring at our phone screens and doomscrolling until our eyes turned red. It wasn’t until May of this year that an Instagram reel suggested some books I might be interested in based on my movie/show selections. The books suggested were Between Two Fires, DCC, and Red Rising.

Looking for a positive change in my life to build better habits and reinvigorate my imagination, I decided to buy all three books without any idea what kind of journey I was about to go on.

It’s now August, and I can say that Red Rising is the first book series I’ve ever finished. Not only that, I’ve been able to read the books to my wife at night, or at least catch her up on what she’s missed while her show was on.

From some of the interviews I’ve seen, Pierce may or may not peruse the subreddit, and if so, I wanted to say thank you for helping me build a healthy habit of reading with the incredible world you’ve built.

For my fellow Howlers, Hail Reaper, Hail Libertas. Thank you for this community as I don't have anyone else other than my wife to talk about this amazing series.

P.S. There are so many great post-series book suggestions on here. I decided to go a different route than the typical sci-fi norm and will be reading The Green Mile by Stephen King. Super excited, as I’ve only heard great things about his books.

Okay so I’m reading Dark Age, excellent book so far, and I’ve reached the start of Ch 26 “The goblins prey”. It begins by describing the so called Duke of heads, the leader of the syndicate assassins and how he was was killed by sevro. Then they described him as a “grey with a heavy mustachio held together at the ends by 2 platinum bands, he had big bones and a strong neck.” DUDE. I swear I’ve seen him before!! I cannot remember for the life of me where but perhaps at some point during Iron Gold? In one of Ephraims scenes? Can someone help me out, I’m going crazy thinking this character has been on the page before.