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Iron Gold cover art

Iron Gold

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

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What listeners say about Iron Gold

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Doesn't live up to the Red Rising trilogy

Honestly, if this book was a stand alone it would be good. However, being part of the Red Rising series makes it only okay at best. I have listened to the Red Rising trilogy over a dozen times; this is no exaggeration. Without further ado I'll plunge into the review.

Audio:

This was a big annoyance for me; and many others have mentioned the level of volume is constantly changing throughout the book causing the listener to always increase or decrease the volume on their device.

Too many narrators. Tim Gerard Reynolds was in my opinion the figurehead of Red Rising on Audible. The moment I heard the female narrator start it was.. strange. It's always been through Darrow's perspective with Tim narrating, and it felt extremely out of place to me.

The names of characters are now pronounced differently. Okay for some reason the pronounciation of Priam REALLY bugged me; but there were also a few other characters who had their names buggered up. It's always been PREE (tree) - uhm. Why change it 4 books in? WHY?

Story:

I know that it has been several years after Morning Star has ended; but the change it politics seemed so absolutely drastic to me it's simply hard to consider it plausible. I want to avoid spoilers here but at the end of the Morning Star when the Telomanuses are talking to Darrow and are talking basically what comes after the rebellion they are constantly putting down democracy and so forth. Like democracy has been the running joke of the entire fucking series. And the characters; -- I need to take a break from writing this review.This book was so god damn disappointing you have no idea. I loved this series and I still do but this is akin to the disappoint of the Avatar live action movie.

16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Audio editing should be better!

the book was great, the performances were great but the editing of the multiple performances was pretty bad - constantly shifting in sound volume was extremely irritating and someone failed at their job on this oversight.

12 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The person who mastered the audio should be fired

Great story once again from this series. The narration was frustrating due to the fact that the range in volume was all over the place. Apparently the audio technician has never heard of a compressor to make the difference in volume less.

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Well written, but be careful what you wish for

Before you read this book, or what comes next, ask yourself how much you value that satisfying ending from book 3 in the last trilogy. If you’re tired of stories not ending and forcing characters you love into more drama and eventual death (I assume) then my advice is to walk away before reading.

Not that the book is bad, because it’s quite good.

Any time to re-examine characters after some time, they’re going to be a little different. And if you’re attempting to do more than retread the same plot and pay fan service, you’re going to ruffle some feathers.

It’s hard to see the relatively buttoned up ending of the last book undone by the march of time and the reality of conflict.

Of course the war didn’t end with Daro on the beach, meeting his son. But to see the darkness of it, is another thing entirely. It’s not as enjoyable a read frankly, because the story isn’t about winning a war against oppression, it’s about the need for maintaining a fractured, fragile government, and pragmatic incremental change over radical revolution.

Daro, like us reading, is still in the past, fighting a different war that is no longer relevant. It’s jarring to dip back into this world, expecting to see old friends as seasoned veterans who have lived happy lives, only to discover they never got their happy endings and very well may not. As realistic as it might be to show the conflict continuing, its immensely dissatisfying.

The other key difference, particularly with an audiobook, is the change from narrator to narrator and perspective. It works, and it allows for the story to be something new, but again, it’s jarring compared to the original trilogy. Daring and necessary yes, but not perfect. The larger story runs the risk of forgetting about, or not paying enough due to Daro, who has been our eyes and ears and for all intensive purposes, the reader, through a trilogy prior to this.

I sure hope the Reaper gets his happy ending, or like Star Wars recently, these new books could undo the investment I’ve made as a reader. Based only on this book, not what comes next, I’m intrigued, but more than a little worried I’m reading a tragedy not an adventure.

Fingers crossed the title of the next book betrays some lighter moments and returns a sense of purpose.

For the recording, I still really like the voice of Daro, and I think my biggest gripes with the change of perspective are Julian Elfer feeling a bit too emotionally charged. Probably has to do with how much pain the character is dealing with, but the performance tried my patience with how one note it was. Surely SOME of these lines can be delivered without pain?

Also, I really would have liked to see and hear Mustang’s perspective if there was going to be more than Daro. That feels like a missed opportunity.

Anyway, I’m still a fan, just a slightly more cautious one now. The book is well done, but If you value a happy ending, cap it before reading on.

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I really liked it.

I read reviews and was tenative to pick this one up. Once I got used to the multiple narrators I found I liked each one. I felt it complimented the story, making me feel more connected to the characters.

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Narrators

Tim Gerard Reynolds is fantastic, the others are ok, but not that great. takes away from the book a bit.

2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

slow start

Took a third of the book to get going. After part 1, I really looked forward to listening.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Return to the red rising series amazing as ever, execution of the audio book not so much.

To start off, yes you should read/listen if you’ve enjoyed the original trilogy. A new age, new ideas, new characters, more of the fantastic world Pierce Brown has created. Simple as that. The perspective of writing different chapters from different characters is a bit unsettling at first, but soon becomes welcome as it expands the universe.

As for this specific audiobook, let’s just say after a few chapters I had ordered a physical copy of the book. I did see A LOT of reviews complaining about volume levels and bad mixing.. I experienced very little, if any of this. Ignore them, because I listen in the car and with in-ear headphones and no issues.

Back to the audiobook, If you didn’t know, the book is written from the perspective of 4 different characters, with 4 narrators for each character.

Darrow- Tim narrating Darrow is a top notch performance as always, he is god tier. My criticism comes from the other three:

Lyria - my personal favourite story line of the new three, but the narrator is terrible. She conveys too much emotion into it, it’s actually comical how bad it is at times. I just had to laugh even at the most serious story points. Sounded like she was ready to break down and cry. Literally read Lyria chapters, couldn’t do the audiobook for them. Terrible.

Lysander - not the worst narrator, but he had terrible punctuation to the point it left me confused. He outright skips pauses, commas, periods, and I often got lost understanding who was talking or how it was to be delivered. Went back and physically read chapters cause I was so confused and noticed he left out half sentences and words.. it was bad.

Ephraim- this narrator had a thicker accent, a bit harder to understand sometimes, but had good pacing. My issue with him was the amount he would slur words. Sounded like he just pounded a bottle of vodka then showed up to work. Another issue I had was when he would narrate women’s voices, I could not make out what he was saying, no matter the volume level, it was odd.

Overall, I recommend reading the book over this specific audiobook. If you have no other choice, or you only listen to books, then I’d still pick it up, but just know the performance won’t live up to the original trilogy.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good but not as good as the others

Enjoyable but not as riveting as the other novels. Having said that I'll certainly read the next one.

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

audio is challenging

love the series but little things with the narration were challenging, mostly having to do with volume (constantly needing to turn up) and discontinuity with pronounciation of names... if youlisten all in a row, it is jarring when the names are not pronounced consistently.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Geoffrey Davis
  • 2018-03-24

Narration Ruined the amazing series

What disappointed you about Iron Gold?

I despised the new narrators. I just listened to 3 books that were masterfully done, then you give me this. I don't understand why you change it up. Tim was so good by himself.

200 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Anonymous User
  • 2018-01-21

Audio needs to be balanced

Story is okay, not up to the standards of the first 3 books. The narrators are okay except the audio really needs to be more balanced. If I have it loud enough to hear the quiet parts, the loud parts are piercing. This make sections of the book almost unbearable.

195 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • molly a dues
  • 2018-01-23

Who the Bloodydamn Chose These Narrotors?

Tim Gerard Reynolds is the most perfect gorydamn narrator for the poetry Pierce Brown writes. I cannot even focus on the story, the other narrative is so obnoxious. AUDIBLE FIX THIS!!!

193 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • B
  • 2018-01-18

Too many cooks in the kitchen

How could the performance have been better?

I understand the appeal of a cast of narrators but a part of me wishes Tim Gerard Reynolds narrated the entire book. He is so intricately entwined with the original trilogy that is startling when you first hear a new narrator early in the book. Honestly, I want a solo version with only Tim....that or switch it up and form a super-group of Tim Gerard Reynolds, Kate Reading, and Michael Kramer...could you imagine?

166 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Nick Cabezas
  • 2018-01-29

1 narrator please

TGR needs to go back and narrate the entire book. The other narrators completely ruin the experience for me.

123 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Alpha20
  • 2018-01-21

Too many narrators Mr. Brown

What made the experience of listening to Iron Gold the most enjoyable?

Tim Gerald Reynolds is a master narrator. Reynolds has already developed the voices for these characters in 3 other books. Adding the other narrators takes away from TGR performance and the Red Rising experience. It does not flow effortlessly like the other books and gets confusing. Missed the mark as far as the audible version is concerned.

120 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Quinn Radford
  • 2018-01-20

Great book, fix the audio :c

the narration, the story is all great but the audio volume is poorly balanced so it's hard to hear unless you're in a really quiet environment. the loud parts are too loud and the quiet parts are too quiet. can't really listen to it on the go.

113 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Adam Holt
  • 2018-05-03

Inconsistent Volume and Narration

My review is purely on the quality of the audio book. I have some issues with the story as well, but as I haven't finished it yet, I'm willing to reserve judgment.

Overall, the quality of the audio mixing for this book was pretty bad. From chapter to chapter and sometimes even within chapters, there are noticeable changes in volume that force me to adjust the volume far more often than I'm comfortable with.

My biggest complaint about the audio book though, is with the narrators for the Lysander and Lyria chapters. The narrator who "plays" Lysander speaks in a clipped and businesslike manner, rarely lending any sense of drama to even some of the more dramatic sections. There were times when I wondered if he was paid by the word and was trying to get through it as quickly as possible. By contrast, the Lyria narrator seems to only speak in completely frantic or utterly furious tones (even when narrating very simple sections) to the point that her voice becomes grating and difficult to listen to. Both the Lyria and Lysander narrators seem to pay little attention to punctuation, often running over obvious pauses that sometimes make it difficult to follow dialogue.

I certainly understand why there were four narrators for this book given the story structure, I just find their quality quite disjointed. Tim Gerard Reynolds does a fantastic job in this book as in the previous ones and I thought that the narrator for Effraim is nearly as good. It is to the point where I dread hearing the introduction to a Lysander or Lyria chapter because while I find their stories very interesting, it can feel like a chore to get through them.

106 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Inkstom
  • 2018-01-30

Too many narrarators

What disappointed you about Iron Gold?

I prefer to have only one person narrate the book. The multiple narrarators detracted and distracted from the book so much that I turned it off after the beginning of the 7th chapter. Booo and shame on them for thinking this was a good idea.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Iron Gold?

Poor performances.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Why change a good thing? Tim Gerard Reynolds did a fine job of the first three books. What made them think it would be a good idea to add an additional 3 persons?

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I'm severely disappointed in the portrayal of this book enough that I want a refund. It was not the way I intended to enjoy this book.

103 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Christopher Breaux
  • 2018-10-07

Should have stopped at 3..

This book was awful, like seriously, it feels like a standalone and should have been. I love the original series and it should have ended at book 3. This one feels disjointed and all over the place. Reaching for a plot and storyline. I wanted to so badly to love it but it was such a hard listen. The first three, I couldn't wait to press play and continue when the kids were in bed or I was driving in the car--this one, I had to force myself to listen to.

SO sad for this series.

84 people found this helpful