Damian's Reviews > Dark Age

5/5

“I would die for the truth that all men are created equal. But in the kingdom of death, amidst ramparts of bodies and wind all of screams, there is a king, and his name is not Lune. It is Reaper.”

Pierce Brown has done it again. Words cannot begin to express enough how incredible Dark Age is. He has finally eclipsed Golden Son for me. There isn’t a single thing I can criticise about this book, nor a thing I would change. To me, it is perfect. A masterpiece. I find myself ever so slightly concerned with how he could possibly even up the game with Light Bringer; but I’d be silly to doubt the man as I know he can do it.

I’m not going to ramble on too much about this, I’m just going to talk in superlatives because that’s what Pierce, and Dark Age deserve. This is the best Red Rising book so far, and one of, if not, the best book I’ve read this year. The only book that comes close is Fool’s Fate. Right now I’m feeling exactly how I felt when I first read Fool’s Fate. That I was reading something incredibly special and that it would be very hard for any book to replicate that feeling - but here we are.

The pacing here is spot on, with a grippingly intense part one focused solely on a bloody siege and a desperate attempt of survival. Following this with part two, we’re thrust head first into the lions den of the politics of this incredible world. The world building continues to astound as do the characters, until we’re finally exposed to scenes that would give the famous Red Wedding a run for its money. After this, Dark Age just goes from strength to strength as Pierce delivers even more iconic moments to rival that of the series past, harrowing scenes that will make your skin crawl, and exceptional character developments.

I can’t talk about exceptional character development though and not mention Ephraim ti Horn. I mentioned in my review of Iron Gold that Ephraim was perhaps the best new addition to the series as a POV character. The character only solidifies that thought with this book. Ephraim’s development is a thing of beauty. The man’s character arc is scintillating. It’s incredible how Brown delivers a character that so masterfully straddles the line between comical and whimsical, and profound and heartbreaking. His redemption is the pinnacle of Dark Age. In a book that is rife with epic battles, intricate political schemes, mesmerising monologues, and holy shit moments - the character and redemption of Ephraim ti Horn is what I will think of when I think of Dark Age.

As I’ve already said - an absolute masterpiece. This is everything you could ever want from an epic Sci Fi Fantasy series. Dark Age is the pinnacle of this incredible series. I am so unbelievably excited to get into Light Bringer.

Hail Reaper.