Book Review | Dark Age by Pierce Brown
Dark Age, the most recent entry in Pierce Brown’s Red Rising story, is the last book I’ll be reviewing, this year. That’s right, we’re at the last review of 2021, which also marks my fourth month of releasing consistent content! And honestly, what a note to end this year on. Dark Age has so much to love, so the question isn’t really did I enjoy it, but rather how much did I enjoy it? Is this going to end up being the first Pierce Brown book that I give five stars to?
Summary
Dark Age continues the second trilogy in the story of Red Rising, which follows the continuation of Darrow’s war and the consequences of his actions from the original trilogy. And my word, are there consequences. There is punishment left and right for the past actions of our protagonist, Darrow. He has created monsters and mayhem, perhaps becoming a bit of a monster in the process. This becomes especially apparent in Dark Age, a title that serves as an absolutely perfect example of an aptonym. This book absolutely does showcase the dark age in Darrow’s universe.
Unlike the original trilogy, we’re following multiple viewpoints in this sequel trilogy. I believe it worked for Iron Gold, the first book in this new trilogy, and it worked even better for Dark Age. The execution here is outstanding and getting a first-person present perspective for each viewpoint character is absolutely the best way to tell this story. I cannot imagine this story told any other way. It is especially powerful when we get to spend some time inside the heads of people who are Darrow’s enemies, allowing us to empathize with them blurring the lines between protagonist and antagonist.
Pierce Brown’s Writing
That’s actually going to bring me to the highest point of praise that I have for Dark Age, and that’s Pierce Brown’s writing. Seeing Pierce Brown grow as a writer from Red Rising all the way to Dark Age has been an outstanding experience. Especially since I have read all of these books back to back, I have really seen his growth at an accelerated rate. You’ve probably noticed his growth in my reviews, too, given that he has gradually raised his star rating from the two stars that I gave him for Red Rising to the four stars I gave to Iron Gold, then… whatever star rating I’m giving him here (don’t worry, I’ll get to that). Pierce Brown has displayed exponential growth and it’s hard to believe that Dark Age is written by the same person who gave me Red Rising, my least favorite read of the year. Simply outstanding. Watching Pierce Brown master the craft of writing has been one of my favorite parts of reading this series, and I applaud him for his passion and dedication to becoming the best writer he can be. I can’t wait to see what he does after this second trilogy concludes.
The Characters of Dark Age
A lot of people loved the characters in Red Rising, but I myself really only cared for Sevro in the first three books, with the other characters being fairly average to me. I know that’s blasphemy, but it’s my honest opinion. However, Iron Gold introduced me to new perspectives and characters that really started to grow on me, and now I’ve found myself enjoying a great many characters in this world, but none more so than the loveable rogue Ephraim, who continued to be my favorite character in Dark Age, just as he was in Iron Gold. His presence was especially welcome here in Dark Age, given that my second favorite character, Sevro, didn’t have very many scenes in this book after the events of Iron Gold separated him from our main cast.
However, I also found myself loving Lyria’s chapters, which is surprising because I didn’t particularly care for her in Iron Gold. She really started to shine in this book and some incredible moments happened during her part of this story. In fact, the only chapters that I didn’t especially enjoy in this book were Darrow’s, but Darrow has never really been a favorite character of mine. Not because I don’t like him, I’ve just never been particularly attached to him. The other perspective characters steal the show for me, with Ephraim absolutely in the lead.
Riveting Scenes
There are some amazing moments in Dark Age. So many that I don’t think I could count them all. A lot stood out to me in this book, as Pierce Brown’s universe broadens and the chessboard becomes more complicated. New players and pieces were introduced during this book—so many that I can’t imagine how this story will be wrapped up. The next book will have to rival the Bible in length because this story has become a massive, entangled web… yet that isn’t a complaint. It’s a compliment! The stage that Pierce Brown has set is so complex and exciting that I cannot wait to see what happens next. It took me three weeks to finish reading Dark Age and even then, I was disappointed when I reached the end; I want to continue the story!
I don’t talk about spoilers for the books I review in my reviews of those books, so I can’t really state exactly what scenes impacted me the most, but there were a couple of tears shed toward the end there, which I’ve never done for a work by Pierce Brown. He absolutely killed it and we have some amazing things set up for the sixth book in this universe. I can’t praise his planning and execution enough. This has been delightful.
The Verdict
Pierce Brown has improved in countless ways since Red Rising. While I didn’t enjoy Red Rising or even the original trilogy as a whole (though Golden Son was pretty good), I am so glad that I kept going and picked up Iron Gold. That reading and trudging absolutely paid off. If you are someone who didn’t particularly enjoy Red Rising and thus didn’t pick up the second trilogy, I’d urge you to reconsider, because Pierce Brown’s mastery of storytelling is only improving. I was left shocked, bewildered, and awestruck by the time I finally returned Dark Age to my shelf.
This book works hard for and earns each and every one of the five stars I’m giving it.
That’s right, folks, I’m finally giving five stars to a Pierce Brown book. It took five books, but it’s here. Five stars to Dark Age!
I’m tempted to knock it down to one star just because my heart was broken by the end, but… well, that’s just a sign of good storytelling.
I know Pierce Brown recently scrapped the sixth book in the series and started over, so it will likely be a while before I get my hands on the end of this story, but I am so excited for that day to come. You can bet that I’ll be pre-ordering it as soon as I can, reading it the day I get it, and publishing my thoughts on the book (and this entire story) as soon as I’ve finished reading the final Red Rising tome.
Conclusion
Thanks so much for taking the time to check out my review of Pierce Brown’s Dark Age, I really appreciate it! This was definitely Pierce Brown’s strongest work by far, and I don’t know of anyone who would dispute that fact. He has grown significantly as a writer and storyteller since the release of Red Rising and it shows. I am so glad that I kept reading after the original trilogy, and you can bet that I’ll be encouraging others to do the same! The original trilogy was pretty average for me, but the second? It is incredible. If the third book is another five-star read, I’ll probably lose my mind.
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Thanks again for stopping by for my thoughts on Dark Age by Pierce Brown. Until next time… bye!