Iron Gold

good quality paper, decent book

I'm only halfway through but this is probably my favorite book in the series yet, together with the first book (which starts really slow but I love the whole story at the insitute).

5 stars, definitely 5 stars. I would give 10 stars if that were a thing. My love for Pierce and the Red Rising Saga has no boundaries whatsoever. It hurt. It hurt so much and I loved every single second of it. "After ten years of war I no longer believe in moments of peace." Dear Lord, this was a wild ride. To be honest, the entire Saga is a wild ride, but this book made my heart race and left me gasping for air on more than just one occassion. I just can't get enough of it. I have to admit, I was kind of weary at first. I just finished Morning Star a little over a month ago and I loved it so much and I didn't want to let go of that rush I felt when the story came to a close. On the other hand... it would've been ok if he'd left things how they were. We got our ending, we kind of got closure. And at the same time the story wasn't done yet. Props to Pierce for deciding to get back on the horse and to not give up on the story yet. He's not exploiting the success of his Red Rising universe to gain some more money: it's definitely not. In fact, this is one of the first times I've read a book that deals with the aftermath of a revolution. There's tons of dystopian book series, with heroines or hero's tasked with taking down a corrupt system. And they usually succeed, one way or the other. We get to see them celebrate their victory, but what we don't get to see is how things continue from there on. What happens next? How do people go on with their lives now that everything they know has been taken away? How do they cope? Pierce didn't want to leave it at that, he took us - yet again - on a journey to outer space, to planets filled with people who are living in fear and poverty, to a Republic with constant treats from two sides. Pierce decided to deal with the aftermath. He did not let us down. “Men call him father, liberator, warlord, Slave King, Reaper. But he feels a boy as he falls toward the war-torn planet, his armor red, his army vast, his heart heavy. It is the tenth year of war and the thirty-third of his life.” This book isn't like any of the other books in the Saga. It has multiple POV's, whereas book 1-3 only deals with Darrow's POV. I won't lie, I had to get used to it. I didn't really care for the other characters at the beginning, except Lysander - but not because of Lysander, that had everything to do with my neverending love for Cassius au Bellona, the exiled Morning Knight and former best friend turned frenemy of Darrow. I was kind of hoping for another reunion in this book, hmhm. After a while, the other characters grew on me. Not everyone - Ephraim is a dick I don't like him all that much, but Volga is a treasure and someone needs to give her all the muffins in the world and limitless visits to the Hyperion Zoo. I did like Lyria, though, and the journey she went on. I loved her interactions with Kavax and the fact that she made some decisions that went against everything she believed in but were the only choices she could make to keep her and her family safe. I really admired her strength and her spirit. No surprise there, if there's anyone who can write strong, badass and yet still vulnerable women in a sci-fi world, it's Pierce Brown. I love his women. Mustang, Victra, Thraxa, Rhonna, Volga, Pebble, Lyria, Niobe, Eo, Deanna, Sefi.... and so on. Anyhow, the other characters kind of grew on me. It was refreshing to read about this world Pierce created from another perspective than Darrow's. It was interesting to see how others thought about him, Mustang and the Republic they created. I can't help but feel very protective over Darrow, though. Every time Ephraim, Lyria or Lysander thought or said something negative about him, I had the urge to scream at my book: "YOU DON'T KNOW HIM! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T GET IT! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HE'S BEEN THROUGH!" And it's true, they don't know him like we do - they don't know about the things he's sacrificed in order to get where he is today. Darrow is like a son to me, he's so important. Literally my favourite sci-fi character thus far. He's complicated and continues to make mistakes. He says the wrong things all the time, but then he makes up for it by correcting his mistakes and being one of the most generous, loving and kind people ever. I love him and I will protect/defend him at all costs. So, yes, I liked the others just fine, but I will always prefer Darrow's chapters over them. “My wife is not as fickle as a flame. She is an ocean. I knew from the first that I cannot own her, cannot tame her, but I am the only storm that moves her depths and stirs her tides. And that is more than enough.” OKAY ABOUT THIS. MUSTANG & DARROW ARE MARRIED HALLELUJAH!!!!! I've loved them together ever since book one and have been rooting for them along the way. And now they're married. They have a son. They are a family. It was great for as long as it lasted. Of course things went wrong pretty soon and Darrow made some questionable choices which put not only his relationship with Mustang in hot water, but the one with his son as well. Nevertheless, I knew this was how it was going to be from the start. We all know Darrow, we know he feels responsible for everything that has happened over the past ten years. He acts all great and mighty and he always says he has a plan, but deep down inside he's still that little red boy. He's scared of losing that part of himself, but I don't think he ever will. I think he's made mistakes, many of them, but he's always trying to do what's right for everyone. Not just Reds or other lowColors, but for all the colors. Red and Gold alike. He wants this Republic to work and he knows sacrifices have to be made to make that happen. “I suppose that is what every man must tell himself in war.” His voice rasps and he sucks again on the water tube. “That there will be an end, and when it is done, enough of himself will remain. Enough to be a father. A brother. A lover. But we know it isn’t true. Don’t we, Darrow? War eats the victors last.” There are so many things in this book that are worth mentioning. The fact that Sevro and Victra have four (!!) daughters together, and that he's an absolutely wonderful dad. Or the whole Clown & Pebble thing. Tongueless. Maternity armor. Cologne that smells like piss. CASSIUS AU FREAKING BELLONA. It's filled with politics, war, love, friendship, humour, betrayal, loyalty, duels, intrigues, secrets, heists, psychopaths.... I raced through it. I couldn't put it away. It hurt so so so so much to read this book, sometimes every page I turned felt like a punch in the gut. But it was absolutely worth it. “Once, the worlds called Cassius the Morning Knight, protector of the Society, slayer of Ares. Then he murdered his Sovereign, my grandmother, and let the Rising tear down the very Society he swore to protect. He let Darrow destroy my world and bring chaos to the Society. I can never forgive him for that, but neither can I repay the debt I owe him. He kept Sevro au Barca from killing me.” I also love Cassius au Bellona very very very much. This has been a PSA. -- PIERCE YOU ***!!!! I love you and I hate you. Well, I could never actually hate you, but you're a genius with words and I can only wish to find the same talent somewhere in me one day. I got sucked in, at some point I was in so deep I couldn't hear what was going on around me - until I heard someone say my name. I can't go into detail about all the suspense and plottwist without spoiling anything, I can't do that without ruining the experience of reading this fourth installment in the Saga, but I can say this: if you love a good sci-fi story, you will absolutely love this book. You will shout at the characters, you will shed tears and when it's over you'll curse the writer for keeping us waiting until at least September for book five. For me, the wait will be agonizing but with no doubt totally worth it. The ending blew my mind, I honestly DID NOT SEE IT COMING. And at the same time I kind of did. It all just... fit together. It worked out perfectly. This is such a well planned story, I can only say this to Pierce: you're brilliant and I love you. “She would have lived in peace, Darrow, but you have brought her nothing but war.”

Cadeau pour mon copain super hâte de le lire avec lui, j’ai bcp aimé les tomes précédent

*Original review on Goodreads and My Blog* EXCERPT* Silent, she waits for the sky to fall, standing upon an island of volcanic rock amidst a black sea. The long moonless night yawns before her. The only sounds, a flapping banner of war held in her lover's hand and the warm waves that kiss her steel boots. Her heart is heavy. Her spirit is wild. Peerless knights tower behind her. Salt spray beads on their family crests--emerald centaurs, screaming eagles, gold sphinxes, and the crowned skull of her father's grim house. Her Golden eyes look to the heavens. Waiting. The water heaves in. Out. The heartbeat of her silence END EXCERPT* So much of this book was me talking out loud to Darrow. Mainly, "What are you doing?" Obviously, I'm not going to spoil anything with all of that stuff. All of my babies are having babies =) Well, two of them more so than others. I wouldn't expect less of those two =) Some of the main characters that came back took a little bit of a backseat to some new characters. And when I think I might find one I'm going to love, they get killed so what's the point. Although, I really want to see what's going to be up with Tongueless. I'm very intrigued by him. I did fall in love with Lyria. Her story starts out horrible right from the start. I felt really bad for her. And even though she does some dumb things, I think she's learning and going to be a great character. At least she better be! I know some people might be upset over someone's death in the book but for some reason I don't think it really happened. Pierce Brown doesn't usually do it so calmly and by that I mean, sort of push it off to the side and moving on. Nope. It didn't happen. We shall see in Sept!!!! Yes! PB is the man! Who puts out the second book of the trilogy in the same year! THE MAN that's who. Now watch, I just jinxed it! Anyway, we have some other characters come back from the original trilogy and take a front seat. They were good but all I wanted to focus on was Sevro and Darrow. I love Sevro so much and I'm so afraid something is going to happen in the next two books or at the end of the third one. Pierce Brown you better not! I have so many scenario's in my head that I can even think straight. But, it will be what it will be. This book is more of a picking up after the wars sort of book. You have some people that were lied to, you have some people that turned traitor, you have people that keep doing stupid things, you have other people that do more stupid things. You have people being set on fire. That was fun. Evil person gets set on fire. We have underwater stuff that I thought was cool. We have some blood and gore as usual. Not tons but still. I'm not sure Darrow taking on an evil person to help him take another person out was such a good idea, but it worked. Now lets just see what havoc they are going to start in the next book. Or they could just sit on one of the planets and be all nice. Right!! Either way, I loved the book. I loved being with my peeps again. I actually want Sevro and Victra to have their own book with some of the howlers in it with them. They need to have their own planet and just do the crazy things they do =) I really, really, really hope Darrow comes to his senses. What is wrong with you Darrow? I just don't know what to do with that ending. I hope it's going to end well and maybe Darrow knows something we don't know. I feel like I don't know who he is and I felt that way in the very beginning. We shall see... Happy Reading! Mel ♥

Essa saga é maravilhosa demais! Aguardando ansiosamente que se transforme em um filme ou uma serie de TV