A review by thefoxyreader
Dark Age by Pierce Brown

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 
The middle book in a trilogy always has the chance to just be filler. To be the book whose only objective is to act as a bridge to get its characters to the exciting finale. The sad middle child, forgotten in reviews of the entire series.

With death, destruction, and dark character moments, Pierce Brown delivers the Red Rising Saga’s The Empire Strikes Back entry with the unbelievably bold Dark Age.

While Iron Gold was a breath of fresh air with new perspectives, Dark Age adds the new voice of Virginia and takes all of our main characters to the utter depths of despair as they navigate the oncoming war. Here’s a brief summary of where our main heroes are:

Darrow: If there’s one thing we can count on The Reaper for it’s to make bad decisions that result in catastrophic loss of life. Darrow continues the war on Mercury while struggling with his decision to prioritize the world and his ideals over his family.

Virgina: Virginia struggles with the same dilemma as her husband, Darrow, but has the trickier job of trying to outsmart her opponents with rhetoric and policy as she encounters political strife and there is an obvious traitor within her circle that led in the kidnapping of her son and niece.

Lysander: Setting out to prove himself and his family’s legacy in his first battle, Lysander discovers that war is not as elegant as the poets and scribes described. It may cost him everything he’s ever held dear.

Ephraim: On the run with Pax and Elektra, Ephraim lands himself in the middle of Sefi and the Obsidians. He is given the opportunity to train them, but with so many enemies, does Ephraim even have a choice?

Lyria: After being abducted by Victra, Lyria remains in captivity with only notes from Volga through a vent as her companion. Will she escape to get revenge on the Red Hand who killed her family? Or will she become a pin cushion for Victra’s own revenge?

There’s A LOT that happens in this book. It’s 750 pages and I never felt like a page was wasted. I still adore Ephraim, and Brown’s gift of writing clever dialogue really excels in his chapters. I also really enjoyed Lyria’s character arc as well.

While I initially groaned at seeing Virginia had chapters in this, I ended up appreciating her character and viewpoint more.
The incredible twist that happens in her chapters had me cackling in delight, which obviously helped.

I read this with the Nerdy Girls of Northwest Arkansas series book club, and our group was split on whether we liked it or not. The arguments for not liking it mainly revolved around the book being violent for violence’s sake and just utterly devoid of hope.

I disagree with that assessment. While it is dark, there is a certain amount of realism that Brown retains in his science fiction series. This is war, and you cannot have war without having major loss, whether it’s loss of life, loss of hope, or loss of innocence. He makes the stakes incredibly high throughout the book, and characters are either rewarded or literally gutted for decisions they make.

I respect authors that take their characters to the lowest point before building them back up. As I likened Dark Age to The Empire Strikes Back, this book ends on a seriously dark note, but I also can’t help but feel that it’s going to wrap up on a positive note in the next installment that I am now excitedly waiting for.
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