The way Lysander describes Darrow carving his way through the mob like a tiger through grass was pretty awesome too

I would die for the truth that all men are created equal. But in the kingdom of death, among the ramparts of bodies and wind all of screams, there is a King, and his name is not Lune! It is Reeper!! Chills every time.

So, just wanted to put this out there, the way I read Dancer's change of mind, he was under the impression that the republic could form a peace with the ash lord. Maybe not a lasting one, but one that would give them time to clean up their own mess internally. The reveal of the manipulation told him that the golds were never going to actually give them that time. Either it was going to be outright war or such toxic manipulation of the senators that the republic would never function. So he chose war, and he chose to trust in Darrow. Dancer wasn't given much screen time in the new series, but I have a suspicion that it was agonizing for him to be against Darrow, particularly when it came to abandoning him on Mercury. So all it took was evidence that his plan wasn't going to work and he was on board.

I thought dancer was sleeping with the pink from the syndicate not the red hand

When I read dark age and the jackal appeared I couldn’t help but think “wow, they’re just stacking the L’s on us.” This was further supported by the other threats in the books and darrow’s eventual loss. This was still my favorite book but it really did feel at the time like pierce just wanted to make the readers depressed.

When Cassius shows up the book was in such a dark place that him coming in with his great personality made me scream like a girl hahahaha

The thing with Cassius is we didn’t see him die and his body just “disappeared.” So I was waiting for him to come back. If I’ve learned anything from this series it’s if we don’t see the character die, then they are probably not dead.

My favorite part of finishing a red rising book is coming to watch your guys videos. Love you guys keep up the fire reviews 👍🏼

“ figment is interesting, we will see where that goes…” lol 😅

The best book of the series so far to me, looking forward to starting Lightbringer next. I was blown away by Darrows sections in this book, from the very start Pierce had me hooked Hail Reaper!

I’m glad that Kyle’s magnificent voice was the definitive proof for you guys in the question of the existence of God

Great video as always guys! Regarding Richard's problem with the Red Hand and them not making sense; While I totally get why to an outsider their actions may appear illogical so far as they do nothing to further their supposed goals of freeing reds, I think their existence in their current form is reflective different kinds of tensions that manifest within real movements. I think the religious themes of the red hand were apparent so I'll use that to demonstrate. For instance, the view on the ground within many religions is that people of the same religion who follow a sufficiently different sect or church are worse than non belivers despite the obvious agreements they have on core ideas. In these context sides sometimes use a kind of original sin myth where the other side commited something heretical that made them almost irredeemable (think Sunni vs shia muslim conflict with who should succeed the prophet) for the red hand that original sin was Ares being a gold which they felt was irreconcilable with their system of belief. Now the reds who accept Ares' rising are not just regular folks but agents spreading heresy and as such they present an even bigger threat than the society to the red hand. The fact that the republic is the more popular sect also incentivizes the red hand to become more extreme and dogmatic because the fear helps keep people in extreme movements. Anyway sorry for the long comment.

Back on the concept of trust in Golden Son. I think the thrust is about the risks of trust, not if it was right or wrong, and the reasons for trusting someone. The outcomes of when Darrow (or other characters) do or do not trust someone seems chaotic. But it’s the motivation that counts. At the end of Golden Son we get both sides of the coin. Darrow chooses to trust Mustang because of love, because he wants to live for more, we know in the end that was right but Golden Son leaves it open to seem chaotic and leave questions in the mind of the reader. Darrow had been trusting Adrius out of necessity (not love, etc) and look how that ended. If you trust for the right reasons …

I think Austin just rates the Dialogue and Prose higher whenever he likes the book. Hope you like Light Bringer! I thought it was a great book myself.

Love your channel. I love the deep dives and discussions you guys have! You help me to see aspects of the characters, world, etc. that I may have not caught while I was reading. You bring an energy and excitement that I really appreciate too. Wow! Thank you guys!

You guys got me to start reading Red Rising about two weeks ago. Just started Iron Gold! The series is so good! I've had a hard time actually reading the last few years and mostly listen to audiobooks, but I am devouring these books.

Okay so after listening to the whole video, I think it would be a fun structure for you to review the events of a book chronologically. I’m more interested to hear your takes on what happens in the book, and not so much your individual ratings. I also feel like you jump around a lot given your current structure. But hey, just do whatever you think is best.

So excited to see this posted!! I’m starting Red Rising today.

It’s finally here! Thanks guys 👌🏻

Been WAITING for this one! I knew he’d get you back!

Look forward to these every week! Would love to see y’all do more Discworld books 🤪

I LOVED the all tension build up at the end between Lysander and Darrow too ! Like you said I loved how Darrow knew something was up but was traped because he needed Gilraltes (I think I completly f***ed up his name but you get it x) )

Very late, but this book really made me appreciate Pierce Brown's simple diction that was prominent in previous books. Obviously this book's diction was a little more complex, but it still had that snappy Pierce Brown charm that I've learned to love from these books. It allowed me to keep track of all the things going on because of how simple it is. I love his straight forward approach to writing ESPECIALLY when it comes to Darrow.

So excited for first law!

But with Dancer… I think he didn’t believe the Ash Lord was involved but Virginia confirmed it, wasn’t it?

I had an idea for the conflict resolution. Might work. Each color goes to a country, to solve the problem with the possibility of golds conquering the others, I suggest a solution based on Ulises idea previous to the war of Troy (works in-world also because of the fixation on ancient times). If a planet dates attack another, all the rest of them have to come in their aid. That way no planet would dare try and conquer, as it would have to defeat the rest of the solar system, with more resources and all that

The beginning chapters of Light Bringer is literally set to the soundtrack of The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy.

I am so pumped to see how Austin reacts to first law. How you guys enjoy it

Get ready for Light Bringer it’s INCREDIBLE

love the video! I cant wait for The Dragon Reborn review!

"As I weave them into my twitching meat carpet". Pierce had to have went through some murky stuff when he was writing this.

Okay...I just finished Golden Son on Feb. 24th, and am about to start Morning Star. I was nervous, given that (spoiler free) review, then I saw you didn't like Iron Gold and I was VERY worried. But, seeing you BOTH excited for Dark Age has me so excited to push through because I thought RR was great and Golden Son (for me) was ABSOLUTELY 10/10!! Phew! I only watched this so far as seeing you both excited about it, so, on to Morning Star I go!! ❤

I felt the same about Dancer Richard ! So happy someone else pointed it out !! I also agree about Tactus ! When I re-read it and Lorn was saying "Some people are inredeemable" I was thinking like Austin : yes that's what we learn by the end ! And when Lorn said Darrow was right I was like "Nooooo" x)

So glad that you liked it. It's a great book indeed. On the pandemonium thingy. I think it is simpler and more practical. While the pandemonium chair is a sophisticated intelligence and counterspionage tool, the scorpions are kind of only a torture thingy that will tell you when someone's lying. So morally, the benefits of the pandemonium chair and how it can help you protect an empire outweigh the cost of the torturous experience. Not so much for the scorpions. And yes. Cassius was a deus ex machina, definitely. Still loved it. Especially with the rest of Cassius story line in light bringer....(no spoilers).

I'm more into Lit books and all that, but I love the chemistry of this channel so much I can't help but watch it, love ya.

So hyped up just seeing the spoiler free reviews, Can't wait to get into the Red Rising series Big fan of your channel Love from India :)

Have you guys considered compiling your ratings on a list? I think it would make it pretty interesting.

I can’t wait for your review on: Lightbringer The Traitor

Dancer realized his reasons for opposing Virginia were not entirely his. Dancer was fatigued by the 10 years of war and I think the Society used his war fatigue to create an anti war party to destabilize the Republic and when he was confronted by Virginia and Severo he realized it. That's what I got from this. Hope this helps change your mind and understand Dancer is a good guy, but became a single issue voter not completely of his own accord.

I just felt like the years of war got to dancer & I felt like dancer starting switching side when Darrow sold out the red army & gave them up to die

Very strongly disagree with you about Dancer. Dancer didn't want to go to war because he thought the peace treaty from the Ash Lord and Julia au Bellona was sincere. He thought that they were actually very close to peace. He had grown distant from Darrow because Darrow was off to war. A lot of lowColours follow him fanatically, throwing themselves at the enemies and basically suicide killing themselves in this decade spanning war. And he felt helpless for people like Lyria, who were "liberated" from the mines but lived in slums still (only to be slaughtered by the Red Hand). And then he felt betrayed by Darrow because Darrow did Iron Rain over Mercury instead of even telling the Republic about the offer of peace. When Darrow's lie was revealed, he feared that Darrow had become a war mongering tyrant and that Virginia was in on it-or blinded by her love of Darrow or whatever. And when Virginia ambushed him with Darrow's mother, she should have presented her evidence better. Because for the Reds being gay is like illegal (I assume it was bred into them by Society so that they could reproduce more efficiently), so Dancer's first thought was that she was blackmailing him from his Red supporters. He changed his mind because Virginia revealed that there was never a real offer of peace and that they were being tricked by the Queen of the Syndicate and he was being used by the Duke of Hands. He realizes that Darrow was right, that peace with the Ash Lord was not an option.

I didn’t like the fact that they brought back that character either! 😂

Lightbringer is pretty great. Can't wait for that review.

THIS BOOK IS EPIC

love this. do you lads like to read more than one book at a time?

Wonderful first 7 min of a video, sadly I won’t be watching past that point until I get a chance to read the series. I will be wrapping up the Mistborn trilogy soon then Red Rising will be more of a priority for me.

I’m super late to the party but wanted to ask. What are your thoughts on Lysander besting thraxa and Darrow? It almost seemed too easy in my opinion. I believe it mentions in the book multiple times how Lysander isn’t a warrior/not a great fighter, etc. seemed weird to me but I understand it. Love the show!

Lysander choices got me so angry 😅😅

damn. this book made me flexing my biceps with strong emotional drive

Using the new Ramber Rating System, Iron Gold was a 2☆ "dissapointing" and "flawed" for me. So, I'm not enthused for Dark Age, but seeing Richard's praise for it is really encouraging. So, book in hand, here I go!

Thank you Rich! Something was weird about Dancer for me in this book, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. You articulated it perfectly for me.

3 months late… first time I read IG it took me forever and I wasn’t feeling it. It wasn’t until I had read DA and then reread IG. Did I really actually appreciate the book at all. Totally get the apprehension. DA is just nutty

When are you guys reviewing Light Bringer???

I really want to read the books after the main trilogy, but for some reason Pierce’s writing makes me think he makes bad things happen to cause shock rather than organically making them happen. It seems he writes something and then he thinks,” okay something terrible needs to happen to keep people reading.” Still like the main series, but just how I feel.

Guess i gotta go read Dark age now 😂✌️

Ok. Godamitt. Time to finally get into Red Rising.

Listened to this one on the spofy, have not read any of the series, but ya know what, I might now.

When is the Lightbringer episode coming out!!!!??!?!?!?! Found you guys two days ago and dang I enjoy y’all’s podcast

I actually really loved iron gold 🤣 I didn’t know that was an unpopular opinion.

In the beginning I was getting tired of Lysander & was wondering where the other characters were

You two are great. Your energies are a Beautiful Disaster. Dark Age was masterful. Just finished Light-bringer and grieving heavy. And I am all for Hyperion Supremacy. It is one of my favourite books of all time.

“Twitching meat carpet” was one of the most memorable and visceral parts of the book for me

Oh my god dark age is just so insane i felt literal weight when i shut the book. I miss Alex so fucking much and im so happy cassius js back as darrows boyfriend

I don’t know if this will change anything for Richard but mustang convinced or “proved” that the syndicate/ ash armada was trying to pin them against each other so I think he didn’t want to lean into there plan

somehow Palpatine has returned is the first thing that popped into my head as well,

Guys are you have any plan to review of To sleep In A Sea Of Stars....

I try to think of Jackal 2.0 as more Voldemort than Palp, but definitely had that knee-jerk cringe reaction initially when Palp came to mind. The Lilath and Virginia dynamics were great though. Also, after those scenes he’s gone away for a while now, so I’m hoping something amazing is brewing there.

PLEASE DO LIGHTBRINGER!!!!

About Lysander racism : the worst moment for me was his thoughts about Rhonna ! Disgusting ! I hated him sooo much in this moment ! (I mean I hate him anyway, but even more then !)

I think you’d be right to refer to different Colors as different species because they cannot naturally interbreed.

47:25 haha...

It's interesting that you asked yourselves if the colors are actually the same species because just today (after seing a post theorizing that Rhonna would be pregnant with Alexandar's child, which I don't believe at all) I realized that biologically speaking they technically aren't ! The definition of a species is that two individuals of the same species can reproduce and have children that are fertile, but it's explain in MS that different colors actually can't have a child together without being carved so technically...

I’ll call it the Red Rising Reading Rodeo 😂

It was a little dark and some of my favorite characters didn't do too much. I don't think they needed to bring back the same villain the universe is very large.

Just wait. Lightbringer is going to rock your world.

Well now I can’t wait to hear you about Light Bringer 😎

I AM SOOOOO HAPPY FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!! I CANT WAIT FOR LIGHTBRINGER

Tactis died in golden son (lorn killed him) so the complaint should be aimed at that book

I’ve powered through so many of these red rising episodes, Austin should pay penance by watching Rich do a ‘Shadow of the Torturer’ episode

And I will read that romance for you.

If you think that each Colour has their own planet, where would Sevro and Pax live? Seeing as they are mixed Colours. Would Virginia and Darrow live on separate planets?

Aye I got a shout out. I'm moving up in the world.

When will drogon reborn review is coming 😅

Wow I felt the opposite with Ephraim. I liked him in Iron Gold. Did not care much for him in Dark Age. I looooooove Lyria though

Yeah storm light doesn’t touch the red rising series.

Have yall read lightbringer yet?

I did like this book a lot, but the whole thing is so up and down and feels like it really drags on. The most interesting character was Ephraim though, whom I couldn't stand in the last book.

For as much “dislike” that Richard has for Ephraim and love he has for Volga, I’m curious if the dislike comes from seeing himself in Ephraim 😂😂. Amazing videos my good-men

Yea you missed out making him read the twitching meat carpet scene. I think tim gerrard reynolds does it perfectly though, can't get better than him

Lysander is a hypocrite!!!!! He has these morals but then suddenly “he doesn’t have time”… come on

Red Rising may suck but 2ToRamble rules

I just finished the book and I honestly kind of hated it. It was just stacked to the brim with plot conveniences, big “red wedding” type moments happening, but with no real reason for them to be happening other than “it cool”. None of those moments felt deserved the way they do in books like A Clash of Kings, there was 0 buildup besides a cheap one of line about Daxo wanting to be a father right before and 0 payoff. On top of that the dialogue from all of the adult characters was so unbearably childish, but the dialogue from Pax who is 11 years old sounds like it’s from a Greek political play. I cannot understand how this is the highest rated book in the series when it’s so unfathomably sloppy at times and just plain cringe at others. Like is Pierce Brown capable of writing a good villain besides the Jackal? Because it sure doesn’t feel like it when every single villain HAS to be a rapist so that you have a reason to hate them besides them being “bad”, but they have no real motivations the way the Jackal does.

Dancer was always a selfish character. The way he acted in MS, he didn’t want all humanity to have freedom. He wanted golds imprisoned.

laughed out loud at nato

Unrelated but can we expect a dragon reborn review anytime soon?

Hello. I sent you guys via email the story line and the world that I'm writing. I would really like to know your opinion. Love your video, keep the good work❤❤❤

Love the content, one critique: Having scores out to the hundreds is so dumb.8.15 is an 8.2. The .05 is so worthless. But my mans a contrarian which makes the show work, so I guess its fine.

I'm on team Richard about the Abomination !

He really does need to touch grass

I'm glad you're not writing the end of the society and Brown is.