Ricky Church reviews Dark Age: A Red Rising Novel by Pierce Brown…
Fans of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising saga will find the author wastes no time upping the ante in his latest installment Dark Age, a gripping, exciting and brutally bloody book Res Rising fans will lose themselves in. With plenty of action, political intrigue and a host of new and old characters, Brown makes a captivating narrative that examines the darker side of war when in a way his original trilogy did not as Darrow, Virginia and his other characters face conflict on multiple fronts. There’s a lot going on in Dark Age, but it is pretty well balanced and readers will only want more by the end of the story.
Whereas Iron Gold was a bit of a slow burn and had several different plots seemingly unrelated to each other for most of the story, Brown hits the ground running and rarely lets up. The main plot sees Darrow assaulting Mercury in an attempt to save his troops while Virginia tries to discover who is working within the Republic to tear it down and kidnapped her son, but there’s a couple other subplots that feed into the larger picture through the other characters. Brown juggles a lot in this book, but balances it pretty well by utilizing a different approach to the POV chapters than Iron Gold by splitting up specific characters and plots into their own sections to help with the flow of the book. It makes for a pretty cohesive story that amps up the tension for some of the bigger events, even if it may be a while before reaching some of the favourite characters again.
Brown’s character work is once again great as he finds new facets to explore in familiar characters whether they’re a POV or not. The insight into Darrow’s mindset is particularly interesting as Brown plays around with his moral compass like never before, forcing Darrow to try burying the humanity in him and push aside the fear he feels for his wife and kidnapped son and become the war god his enemies fear. It’s quite intriguing to see him battle these two sides of himself and it’s made even more intriguing in how his perspective is often paired and paralleled with Lysander, the heir to the remnant Society. Brown makes Lysander an even more interesting character than he was in Iron Gold by focusing on his entitled views and hypocrisy in subtle ways while acting as the hero of his own story. Ephraim and Lyria also enjoy exciting perspectives which see them grapple with who they have become, but the real draw to Dark Age is the inclusion of Virginia as a POV. For the first time in the series, we get to see how her mind works and the various machinations she pulls off. Her chapters are half political intrigue and half espionage worthy of Game of Thrones as Brown makes her voice incredibly captivating and earnest. Virginia is a standout of the book due to the focus placed on her thought process and how she compartmentalizes her feelings.
Red Rising has been known for its ultra-violence, especially as it has increased with each book, but Brown brings it to a whole new level in Dark Age. He doesn’t mess around with the ‘dark’ in the book’s title by displaying some pretty brutal scenes or its aftermath. Whether its through war, torture, desecration of the dead, sexual violence or other means, Brown’s use of ultra-violence may seem gratuitous, but it does serve a larger purpose than bloody entertainment. Firstly, it obviously raises the stakes for all the characters and secondly it serves Brown’s theme of what war does to a person and a society at large. Darrow isn’t the only one concerned with his moral slide and violent nature while others, namely the villains, revel in their cruelty and violent acts. It goes to show how the Golds’ ideas of honour and nobility are just to cover their psychopathic tendencies and Brown examines this theme really well as each character reacts differently to the various bloodshed they witness. The prose is evocative with its descriptions, sometimes making it a little uncomfortable with the graphicness.
Even with the graphic violence, though, there are plenty of exciting beats with the action. Brown once again thinks outside the box with the sequences and vivid descriptions of the battles. From Darrow’s initial assault on Mercury, fights in Mars’ cave tunnels to the climactic final battle between Darrow and the Society’s forces, the battles are visceral, chaotic and incredibly descriptive in their carnage, featuring some of the most memorable sequences in the entire saga. The only downside to Dark Age is the introductions to a host of new characters. Some are quite compelling, even if their connections to past Red Rising characters feels a bit shoehorned, but it can be easy to lose track of who is who among the new characters, especially during those big battles. The good thing is that the new characters stick pretty much with one POV character for the majority of the book which makes them a bit easier to keep track of.
Dark Age is another strong instalment of the Red Rising saga and amps up the intensity of the previous book by examining the violence of warfare and placing several of the characters in dire constraints. The graphic violence may be a bit much for some, but Brown still makes the sequences quite exciting and emphasizes the characters emotions and development over the action. His character work is again exceptional as he places several people in new directions and examines their emotional state of minds. Dark Age is a book fans won’t want to miss and will have awaiting the next one immediately.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church
