Iron Gold

''Iron Gold'' is a 2018 science fiction novel by American author Pierce Brown; it is the first of a tetralogy which continues the story of his ''Red Rising'' trilogy (2014–2016). ''Iron Gold'' takes place ten years after the events of ''Morning Star'' (2016), with Darrow "The Reaper" of Lykos and Virginia "Mustang" au Augustus leading the new Solar Republic. It is followed by ''Dark Age'' (2019).

Plot summary

Ten years after the events of ''Morning Star'', the Republic's war against the Society continues. Virginia and Romulus are the respective Sovereigns of the Republic and Rim Dominion. Darrow leads the Republic's military as ArchImperator. Dancer becomes the opposition leader of the Republic's multi-Colour Senate. Magnus apparently leads the Society.

Darrow disobeys the Senate by assaulting Mercury, liberating Mercury from the Society. When Darrow returns to Luna, Dancer lets Julia reveal that Darrow secretly rejected Magnus' ceasefire offer. The Senate turns against Darrow, who conspires with the Howlers to escape and assassinate Magnus. Before Darrow leaves, Virginia has the Wardens arrest Darrow, but two Wardens free him. Darrow accidentally kills ArchWarden Wulfgar when Sevro interferes. Darrow escapes with the Howlers to Earth, where they jailbreak Apollonius with guard Tongueless' help. They implant a bomb on Apollonius for his cooperation.

Living as a vigilante in the Asteroid Belt, Lysander (with his mentor Cassius and their pilot Pytha) rescues Seraphina from an Ascomanni attack on her ship. At her mother Dido's command, Seraphina has retrieved footage of Darrow and Victra's destruction of Ganymede's dockyards. Seraphina hides the video. Pursued by Ascomanni, Lysander follows Seraphina's coordinates, allowing her father Romulus' forces to rescue them to Io. Romulus orders Seraphina's imprisonment and Cassius and Lysander's execution. Dido thwarts this with a coup of Romulus, whom their son Diomedes defends. Romulus surrenders. Lysander has himself and Cassius reject Pink Aurae's sexual services. Seraphina informs Dido of Cassius' identity despite his disguise. Dido demands Cassius open his safe for the video, but he refuses. House Raa swears revenge on Cassius for Revus and Thesalia's deaths, though Diomedes recuses. Cassius defeats Bellerephon, who chooses death. Dido orders more Raa to fight Cassius, who kills them until Seraphina defeats him. Lysander reveals his own identity and opens the safe, saving Cassius. Diomedes has Cassius medically treated. Dido plays the video; the Dominion declares war on the Republic. Diomedes has Aurae inform Lysander that Cassius died from his wounds.

Gaia frees Lysander and Pytha, intending them to free Romulus. Lysander wounds Gaia's Obsidian Goroth and betrays Gaia to Dido. Intending to co-rule with Romulus, Dido puts him on trial regarding Ganymede's dockyards; he pleads guilty to negligence. To Dido's horror, the Whites and Olympic Knights charge Romulus with treason, and he admits guilt, as the video was earlier offered to him, and he had the video's brokers killed. Romulus commits ceremonial suicide, accepting death to unite the Dominion. Lysander proposes to negotiate an alliance between the Dominion and the Society against the Republic; Dido accepts.

Harmony's Red Hand attacks Mars' Gammas, killing most of the family of 18-year-old Lyria. Kavax mounts a defense, and Lyria saves him from drowning; he employs her as a valet. Ephraim, Volga, Cyra, and Dano are mercenary thieves. The Syndicate's Duke of Hands recruits Ephraim to kidnap Darrow's son, Pax, and Sevro's daughter, Electra. Ephraim befriends Lyria and secretly plants a device that disables Kavax's ship on her. Kavax kills Dano. Ephraim tries to kill Lyria, then relents and takes her. Ephraim and Volga bring Pax and Electra to the Duke, who has Cyra killed for disloyalty. Lyria escapes from the Duke and surrenders to the Republic. Niobe stops Victra from capturing Lyria. Virginia stops Niobe, Daxo, Theodora, and Holiday from torturing Lyria, who helps identify Ephraim. Virginia has Volga kidnapped to coerce Ephraim. He takes the Duke hostage, freeing Pax and Electra. The Syndicate's Queen takes control of Ephraim, Pax, and Electra's fleeing ship, so Ephraim bombs and crashes it. Victra has Lyria kidnapped.

The Howlers infiltrate Venus; Apollonius retakes House Valii-Rath from Tharsus, gaining 900 soldiers. They and the Howlers attack Magnus' forces. Milia is killed, and Apollonius saves Darrow. They find Magnus withered and bedridden. Apollonius reveals he had Magnus poisoned three years prior. Magnus reveals Atalantia's leadership of his forces, her imminent attack on Mercury, and Pax and Electra's kidnapping. Darrow, Sevro, and Apollonius incinerate Magnus. Darrow deactivates Apollonius' bomb but breaks his promise to give Apollonius the Saud and Carthii hostages to control Venus. Instead, the Howlers use the hostages for safe passage from Venus. The Howlers split up: Sevro's group to Luna, Darrow's group to Mercury.

Characters

* Darrow au Andromedus of Lykos, the "Reaper" and the "Morning Star": a Red physically remade into a Gold to infiltrate and destroy the Society. The former leader of the revolution known as "The Rising", Darrow is the ArchImperator of the new Solar Republic.
* Virginia au Augustus, a.k.a. "Mustang" (Gold): daughter of the former ArchGovernor of Mars, Darrow's wife, and mother of their son Pax. She serves the new Solar Republic as its elected Sovereign.
* Sevro au Barca, a.k.a. "Goblin" and "Ares" (Gold/Red): Darrow's best friend and second-in-command. His father was Gold and his mother was Red.
* Victra au Barca (Gold): Darrow's former lieutenant, Sevro's wife, and daughter of the Julii family.
* Cassius au Bellona (Gold): Darrow's close friend-turned-bitter enemy known as the Morning Knight under the previous Sovereign, Octavia au Lune. Although he and Darrow have reconciled, Cassius remains an independent freedom fighter far removed from the Republic worlds.
* Lysander au Lune (Gold): grandson and heir to Octavia au Lune. Cassius has raised and protected him since the rise of the Republic.
* Kavax au Telemanus (Gold): longtime ally to Virginia and Darrow, father of Daxo and the deceased Pax au Telemanus.
* Niobe au Telemanus (Gold): Kavax's wife.
* Daxo au Telemanus (Gold): son and heir to Kavax.
* Thraxa au Telemanus (Gold): daughter of Kavax and Niobe.
* Magnus au Grimmus, a.k.a. the "Ash Lord" (Gold): A former ArchImperator and supreme commander of the Sovereign's fleet, he and his allies are the remaining holdouts against the new Republic.
* Atalantia au Grimmus (Gold): the Ash Lord's daughter, sister to Aja au Grimmus and Moira au Grimmus.
* Julia au Bellona (Gold): Cassius's estranged mother and Darrow's enemy, a supporter of the Ash Lord, and widow of Tiberius au Bellona.
* Romulus au Raa (Gold): Sovereign of the Rim Dominion, home of a collection of Gold families who seceded from the Society in the distant past.
* Dido au Raa (Gold): Romulus's wife.
* Seraphina au Raa (Gold): daughter of Romulus and Dido.
* Diomedes au Raa, a.k.a. the "Storm Knight" (Gold): son of Romulus and Dido.
* Marius au Raa (Gold): Quaestor, and son of Romulus and Dido.
* Alexandar au Arcos (Gold), Howler and the eldest grandson of Lorn au Arcos, the former Rage Knight and Darrow's mentor.
* Pax (Gold): son of Darrow and Virginia.
* Electra au Barca (Gold): eldest daughter of Sevro and Victra.
* Apollonius au Valii-Rath (Gold): imprisoned brother of Tactus.
* Regulus ag Sun, a.k.a. "Quicksilver" (Silver): the richest man in the known worlds and co-founder of the Sons of Ares. He has almost singlehandedly rebuilt Luna following the fall of the Society.
* Sefi (Obsidian): Queen of the Obsidian Valkyries and sister to fallen hero Ragnar. She is a longtime ally of Darrow's but now realizes his war's toll on her people.
* Wulfgar the Whitetooth (Obsidian): hero of the rising, now ArchWarden of the Republic.
* Holiday ti Nakamura (Gray): Legionnaire and Darrow's deputy, formerly a mole for the Sons of Ares.
* Ephraim ti Horn (Gray): former son of Ares whose fiancé, Holiday's brother Trigg, was killed rescuing Darrow and Victra from imprisonment. Ephraim works as a freelance thief.
* Volga Fjorgan (Obsidian): one of Ephraim's associates.
* Dano (Red): one of Ephraim's associates.
* "Dancer" (Red): Darrow's mentor in the Sons of Ares, now a powerful senator in the Republic and leader of the Vox Populi faction.
* Rhonna (Red): daughter of Darrow's brother and one of his lancers.
* Lyria of Lagalos (Red): Gamma Red from Mars who saves the life of Kavax au Telemanus and joins his household.
* Cyra si Lamensis (Green): locksmith and one of Ephraim's associates.
* Pytha (Blue): pilot and companion of Cassius and Lysander.
* Mickey (Violet): carver who remade Darrow.

Development and themes

Brown announced a sequel trilogy to ''Red Rising'' in February 2016. He later noted, "I didn't think I would write more but I started seeing so many plots, particularly with the Ash Lord and the chaos that happens when an empire falls." Brown said of his inspiration to write the sequel trilogy:

Brown said that while the first trilogy followed Darrow's quest, the new series explores the consequences of Darrow's rebellion, asking, "Have they unleashed dark ages or a renaissance? I think you can pretty much bet it'll be dark ages for a little while." He cited the primary theme as "What is better, rule and order or chaos and freedom?", and later explained, "What this new book is about ... is seeing the people that are affected negatively by the positive actions of Darrow, and seeing the negative repercussions of them." Before publication, Brown noted that both Darrow and Mustang would be "integral characters" in the novel, which would be told from four viewpoints: Darrow, another familiar character, and two new ones. Though Brown considered several characters, including Mustang and Sevro, he wanted a more even representation of colors, and chose Darrow, the Red-turned-Gold protagonist of the first trilogy; Lysander, a Gold disenfranchised by the events of the previous novels; and two new characters with a grudge against Darrow and the Rebellion: Lyria, a Red freed from slavery in the mines, and Ephraim, a Gray whose husband was killed rescuing Darrow. Brown said, "I want to expand the universe and also see how others perceive Darrow." Besides introducing new characters, the new trilogy will explore planets and elements only briefly touched on in the previous series. Brown called the scope of the new trilogy "huge" and "far more ambitious than ''Red Rising''", noting: "It spans the solar system, weaves in disparate cultures and moons and planets—most of which had to be created from scratch. It has been an exercise not only in world-building but in understanding how the world would affect these diverse characters." Comparing the new trilogy to the previous, Brown said, "It has the firefights and midnight duels and blood feuds, but many of the characters are not wrecking balls like Darrow. They must use other means to achieve their goals." He explained that the novel's title "refers to the original Gold conquerors; the founders of Society who were infinitely tougher, smarter, and more brutal than their descendants would become after 700 years of rule. It is an ideal that many of the former ruling class wish to bring back in their fight against the Rising."

Brown also noted, "Several of the main characters in the next one will be gay. Darrow's heteronormative outlook has been changing after leaving the mines. He began embracing sexual fluidity and gay characters like Tactus." He discussed the popularity of his novels among the LGBT community, adding, "It's amazing that they have found a home in these books ... All these lost souls in my books have connected with people and I find it incredibly moving."

Publication

''Iron Gold'' was released on January 16, 2018, and debuted at #3 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. It is the first novel of a planned tetralogy.

References

External links

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NPR review

{{Pierce Brown

2018 American novels
2018 science fiction novels
American adventure novels
American science fiction novels
Dystopian novels
Classical mythology in popular culture
Fiction set on Jupiter's moons
Novels set on Mars
Novels about slavery
Novels by Pierce Brown
Novels set on Phobos (moon)
Science fantasy novels
Works about women in war
Del Rey books
Sequel novels
Novels about war and conflict