That was bloodydamn awesome.
I know I'm not the only one who was somewhat disappointed by Iron Gold. It was as action-packed and suspense-filled as the rest of the series, but I was dubious about the Lyria and Lysander and Ephraim POVs, and Darrow was less "heroic resistance leader" and more "guy with his head up his own ass."
I hold to none of those complaints. Consider me sold on the additional PoVs as all being great characters and great additions to the universe. The juxtaposition of the four - Darrow the champion of the Rising; Lyria, betrayed and abandoned by; it Ephraim the disillusioned cynic; Lysander the true believer in the Society - works perfectly. The addition of Mustang as a PoV is another great addition.
Much of the problems with Iron Gold, this book makes clear, are rooted in the paradigm shift. In the first three books Darrow and his allies are pure underdogs. In Iron Gold they're ascendant. The Rim is keeping to the peace treaty, and the Society down to one last stronghold on Venus. None of this felt right for Darrow, especially him being answerable to the Senate. But in this book, as the events at the end of Iron Gold play out, the Rising is back on the defensive, and Darrow shines once more. Not that all his actions in Iron Gold don't have consequences. He's alienated the Senate, greatly weakened Mustang, Sevro has abandoned him, and Pax and Electra are in uncertain circumstances. Luckily this is exactly the kind of story that Brown can tell and tell really, really well.
It doesn't quite have the perfect arc that Golden Son did, but things are fast paced, intense, and surprising. Brown clearly knows precisely were he is going with this. There are places where it veers into sci-fi cliches (Ousters from Hyperion/Reavers from Firefly/etc), but like all the other times Brown has leaned on tropes, it doesn't matter because it's just that freaking awesome.
There were a ton of developments I never saw coming. There were deaths that shocked me. One thing in particular that is emphasized is just how brutally effective the Society is when it wants to be. Gone are the decadent Pixies and Bronzies that made up the vast majority of Golds before the Rising. The Golds on Venus know that they are in a fight for survival, and the Society is able to function as a war machine in a way the Republic cannot.
Very solid 5 stars. Hail Libertas! Hail Reaper! PAX AU TELEMANUS!