Dark Age (Red Rising Saga, #5) by Pierce Brown

Dark Age (Red Rising Saga, #5) by Pierce Brown

In Dark Age, author Pierce Brown has created an incredibly dark fantasy novel, a continuation of his Red Rising series.

For readers who haven’t picked up his excellent books yet, and you really should, this series is about a futuristic world in which humanity has divided itself into “colors” based on genetically engineered changes to our DNA. The Golds, the top of the color pyramid, were created as war machines, and they dominate all other colors.

At the bottom of the pyramid, the Reds mine and complete menial duties, basically as slaves to the rest of the colors. Other groups don’t have it much better.

Enter Darrow, a former Red whose DNA was manipulated to change him into a Gold. This entry in the series has him and his allies fighting against the remains of the Society, a group that believed in the divisions of humanity.

Darrow’s faction believes all humanity is created equal.

This is not a series for young adults. The action contains graphic sequences and includes various forms of torture, so much so, that I had trouble getting through some of the chapters.

And so many people die. I was starting to think author Pierce Brown killed off everybody I cared about… then he killed more! Silly me.

I didn’t enjoy this entry in the series as much as previous ones because of this gratuitous violence. But still, this is an epic work of fantasy and I have to give the author props for all his hard work.

Looking forward to the final book in the series which is set to publish next year. Highly recommended for adult fantasy readers.