Iron Gold

By: Pierce Brown

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds, John Curless, Julian Elfer, Aedin Moloney

Length: 23 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Honor and betrayal fuel a caste-shattering revolution in the action-packed new novel from the number one New York Times best-selling author of the Red Rising Trilogy.

Ten years after the events of Morning Star, Darrow and the Rising are battling the remaining Gold loyalist forces and are closer than ever to abolishing the color-coded caste system of Society for good. But new foes will emerge from the shadows to threaten the imperfect victory Darrow and his friends have earned. Pierce Brown expands the size and scope of his impressive Red Rising universe with new characters, enemies, and conflicts among the stars.

©2017 Pierce Brown (P)2017 Recorded Books

Another great story, poor narration

Overall, I enjoyed the story and am eager for the next installment. I liked Pierce Brown's decision to fast-forward through the first 10 years of the war and to see how the characters have developed. In particular, I love how Darrow's character evolved (I'll say no more to prevent any spoiler).

I was very disappointed with the audiobook's narration. The first 3 audiobooks were narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds, a master of his craft. In this book, 3 additional narrators are added for various points of view. I'd have preferred TGR as the sole narrator for this book, but was open to the change. Unfortunately, the other narrators were not up for the task.

In particular, Julian Elfer's narration of Lysander au Lune's story almost ruined the book: his overall pacing was too quick; character voices lacked any significant distinction; he flowed through sentences with an annoying cadance that would lower the pitch at the end; conversations between characters and internal monologues were read without appropriate pauses or changes in pace (it was always at the same rhythm). As a result, during his narrations I never felt as though I was 'in the story'. Instead, it felt like someone was reading the book aloud in a class and I had to imagine the nuances. For me, it ruined this subplot of the story. I sincerely hope that this book is re-recorded with different narrators (or, better yet, just TGR). In the next installment of the series, I hope that Julian Elfer is not the narrator for Lysander's subplot. If he continues, I may not listen.

great story audio issues

The story was excellent but there was audio issues. The quiet parts were almost inaudible.

Maybe I wasn't ready

After starting this story I was quickly reminded how the first trilogy effected my emotional well being. I felt for Darrow's plight and his battle to make a better life for himself and family. But, most of all I remember how it played on my emotions with all the behind the scenes back-stabbing. Just when you thought things couldn't get worse, a secret deal would present itself and the day would be saved. This book seems to be following the same path, with surprises throughout as expected, but the day is still looking gloomy.
My main problem was seeing the fall of Darrow after 10 years of war. His character is tired, the war has him drained, he's lost perspective. I kept wondering if after getting into this second trilogy if I'd done the right thing by starting it. I liked the ending of the Red Rising trilogy, and perhaps should have left this new dilemma alone, showing all the disillusionment of the enduring war.
That being said, I have to give it 5 stars, because it's that good, revealing the realistic side of this war from several different perspectives. Survivors all, but not better off for it and maybe not surviving much longer.
Meh, to the four narrators....I just don't care for multiple narrators in an audible listen. Tim Gerard Reynolds is a master of his craft, so let him shine.

terrible sound production

The volume of the performances varies wildly and is frequently inaudible. The story itself is quite good but I would not reccomend it unless you can listen in a completely silent environment

Just read it

The newest pinnacle in novels. The mixing of genres and making fiction still feel like potential reality is great.

slow burn, uneven narration, good setup

Good book, takes a LONG time to get interesting. three of four narrators are good

Great next installment marred by bad narration

If you could sum up Iron Gold in three words, what would they be?

More Tim Gerard Reynolds Please (I cheated)

What other book might you compare Iron Gold to and why?

Obviously to its predecessors

Did the narrators do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

Well, no. Too many cooks, not enough Tim Gerard Reynolds. See my comment below.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yeah--who thought it was a good idea to use multiple narrators?

Any additional comments?

I both read the book and listened to it because of how much I loved Tim Gerard Reynolds as a narrator. Oh boy did the publisher make a mistake in using multiple narrators for the multiple POVs. There are a few problems here. The first is that Tim Gerard Reynolds is simply much better than the others--he is the voice of the series and it is bizarre to hear anyone else reading it. The second, and more significant problem is that it is plain strange to hear different narrators pronounce names in a different way (ie, Roque becomes Rock) and voice characters that Tim Gerard Reynolds had already made his. Finally, in the Lysander chapters, the narrator, who has a lovely accent, reads the story like it's the stock returns. The most egregious example is...


*** SPOILER BELOW

The death of Cassius, which should be a huge moment, is completely lost in his lack of emotional range. Compare his delivery to that of TGR's reading of the death of Ragnar. It's night and day.

Good story...

I am not usually a fan of multi-point of view novels. This one was better than most. Still, it left the listener confused at times. I hope it will all come together in the next book. The reason I gave the performance only 3 stars was because of the record levels were so out of wack. Some was super quiet, some was loud. I had to keep adjusting the volume level every few minutes. Not their best work by any means.

Truly a fantastic story continued.

Iron rains, betrayal, heartbreak, and the confliction between Darrow and the Reaper! A Marvel indeed.

New performer is an extreme disappointment

Tim Gerard Reynolds the incredible performer of the original trilogy once again is able to draw the listener into an immersive, thrilling, emotional, environment that is unsurpassed. Unfortunately his co-performers are not so skilled, and combined with post production that did not better level out the volume there are times when the others are either screeching in your ears or constant adjustment of the volume is needed to keep from missing part of the narrative. My strongest complaint is with the performance of Lysander - I have heard better pacing and nuance from the recitation of a grocery list. Also, did you not listen to the previous books? ROCK. Really?. It is annoying in the extreme. I was tempted to abandon the audio version and read it only in print as the frustration of the oration overshadowed an excellent story. My annoyance with Lydia and Ephesians performers was manageable but as Lysander looks to be a central character, I can only hope someone will lock the idiot performer in a room and force him to improve his skills before attempting another go and thus ruining another audio book.