This book is a really interesting exploration of how someone can get so wrapped up in a cause that they become the very thing they were fighting against. And, in turn, inflict the pain they themselves have been hurt by on their own families which further perpetuates pain. At what point is fighting for a cause more harmful than walking away and letting fresh eyes take over? Darrow is fighting for equality and justice among Colors, which is virtuous, but his wife and son are left to suffer while he repeatedly goes on suicide military missions for the past decade. Also, as we see with Lyria’s story, the Rising hasn’t helped everyone. And in Lyria’s case, made their lives worse. The trolley problem has been referenced/alluded to throughout this book. Especially at the end when Darrow forgoes looking for his son to save the ‘thousands’ in his army when they are heading for disaster. The tragedy of Darrow is that he is the figurehead of the movement, but he may never get to see the justice he is fighting for and may not be fully appreciated by lowColors until after his death.

It’s also a harsh reality that those in power will always have the upper hand and unless you just kill every single one, you will always have someone who disagrees and doensn’t want change or equality/justice. So, can you every really have peace? And if not, at what point does Darrow feel that he has done enough and can let someone else take the lead? It’s definitely an interesting exploration of justice and how long it takes and how messy it can be. I am interested to see where Darrow’s arc goes now but my romantasy loving self just wants the Rising to take full hold and everyone to be happy and for Darrow to live out the rest of his days happily with his family, not only for him but also for the peace of Mustang and Pax. But I have a feeling Red God will be bittersweet and I worry what the bitter portion will be. Likely, we will have some major character deaths and I’m not ready. Take your time, Pierce.

I have complicated feelings about this book. I felt good about where we ended in Morning Star. Darrow got a happy ending! But then it was like the author got the itch to inflict emotional damage and decided to write Iron Gold to throw a wrench in Darrow’s character arc. We start off with Darrow and Sevro arriving back after a YEAR of being away at war. Sevro’s daughter, Electra, gave him a warm welcome whereas Pax was cold AF to Darrow and that was a gut punch to read.

Sevro being a girl dad is so fitting. I love this for him! Seeing him be soft with his girls and Victra shows how he and Darrow are going in opposite growth trajectories from when they met. Sevro was the hard shell when he and Darrow met and wanted Darrow to toughen up. With Iron Gold’s ending, we see that Darrow has gone full warlord whereas Sevro is a family man now and really only went with Darrow to help Darrow’s son, Pax, by trying to keep Darrow from getting himself killed. I am interested to see where Lyria and Ephraim’s story go but mostly I want a Mustang POV. We have been told she has ‘genius intellect’ so I’d really like to see that in action.