Anyone else stop reading after the first trilogy?

I did, for about 45 minutes.

Heretic

You could stop with Morning Star, but for me, how Morning Star ends left some loose threads that still needed to be addressed.

Octavia’s dead, but the Society is still around. The Ash Lord is still a threat, & so are the Moon Lords of the Rim since Romulus knows that it was Darrow who destroyed the Ganymede Dockyards and not Roque.

I mean if you want Disney-esque end to the series, it's fine I guess.

But it would leave the series in a really weird place ( if PB left it there, and started a new series).

Even without all the gold houses spread throughout solar system ( who would fight to the death against the new republic), it will take a lot of work to create a different kind of society.

It does get darker, but no darker then like game of thrones or something along those lines. The multiple POV is an adjustment but trust me when I say the new characters are worth it, and you get a POV of a fan favorite character, less frequently, but throughout each book I think.

The second trilogy is much bigger in scale and the emotional payoffs are pretty incredible, so I highly recommend it to everyone, I did the audiobook for IG as well and it made it a lot better. Just a tip, ya pixie.

Faa….enough said

The second trilogy (I guess now tetrology) is far superior to the first. Iron Gold is the weakest but it’s still excellent.

I told my mother-in-law she can take the blue pill and stay in la la land or take the red pill and see just how far the rabbit hole goes

If you don't like darker themes than I think you will probably not enjoy the rest of the series. If you are ok with that and didn't vibe with Iron Gold then I would suggest to continue reading. I struggled through Iron Gold, but absolutely loved both Dark Age and Light Bringer. The multiple POV do continue, but are implemented in a better way.

Close to finishing my re read of Morningstar and thinking of taking IG on holiday to give myself plenty of time to get into it. Have only read one sequel trilogy before and as much as I liked it certainly not as much as the primary trilogy. Still more stories in that world will be great I think

Absolutely thought book 4 was the weakest. It really seemed like PB couldn't get a grasp on the multiple perspectives (felt dizzy by the constant unsatisfying cliffhangers at the end of chapters) and the vibe he was laying down was just too depressing for me.      Luckily, book 5 got a little better, and book 6 was the best one in the series I thought. Worth continuing in my opinion!

I think PB sort of had to switch to the multiple perspectives because the story that is being told simply wouldn't be possible to tell from a single perspective. When you are telling a story that spans the entire solar system and you're telling the story from a first person perspective, it really limits the scope of your story. In order for the story to make sense, Darrow can't be involved in every single thing that happens. Also in both DA and LB you get to read from Mustangs perspective and hear her inner thoughts, and those are some of the best chapters in all the books IMO.

I do agree though that after Morning Star the books get much darker and if that's not your thing, that's fair. DA is by far the grimest of the books but it's also a really good book and wonderfully written.

I'm recently re-reading Morning Star and while I still absolutely love the original trilogy, I personally think that PB's writing has gotten MUCH better and the stories are more engaging in the sequels. Just my opinion.

It’d be like watching godfather I and then never watching godfather part 2. You could say you watched a really great piece of storytelling that wraps up nicely, but you can’t claim to have gotten the entire story, nor the entirety of the themes the author is trying to convey. Still, do what you wanna.

Sure it was different but no way was I stopping. After I started Dark Age, I could not put it down. I’m about 50% through and it’s so. damn. good. Pick it up, it’s the best book so far in the series and I’ve heard great things about lightbringer. Also snag this shirt

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I’ll be honest when I finished the 3rd book I loved the ending and most of the time I read the 4th I thought to myself, “Ughhh why didn’t I just stop at book 3 and let the story end there”.

I decided however by the end of book 4 that I wanted to read the remainder of the books but wasn’t super excited only to be absolutely engrossed in the 5th and 6th book! I cannot imagine stopping at 3 now because of how much amazing story telling you’d miss.

Sounds like you’re in a similar boat I was in with book 4 but if you continue to feel like I did reading book 5 and 6 are definitely worth it!

pixi

I did take a break after the OG trilogy, but have gone back to the series after a couple months. Iron Gold was a bit tough at first but loved the second half, and I’m love/hating Dark Age now. It’s so devastating.

Filthy casuals

Can’t relate not a pussy

Shut the fuck up you fucking pussy

IG definitely was a rough change since Pierce Brown didn’t do the multiple character perspective perfectly. He gets much better at it tho in DA and LB. MS wraps up nicely, so if that’s where you wanna end that’s no problem. You’re missing lots of amazing character moments that I think rival and surpass the original trilogy, but that’s totally fine. And yes if darker isn’t your thing stay away from the sequel series. Ragnar made me watery eyed but the end of LB made me BAWL my eyes out. DA alone I stopped counting character deaths because it was so many. The violence, gore, and horrible acts that occur, while not effecting me, I’ve seen people say made them sick. Dark Age is definitely a DARK age my god.

book 3 is a totally acceptable stopping point. the story getting more grim and i guess more mature also didn't resonate with me. i still read every book but the first 3 are undeniably more fun and energetic.

Fully respect whatever decision you choose. It's you're life anyway. Still gonna call you a pixie though

i dont know why people say its darker when GS had kids skulls getting bashed in, first if you love darrow and mustang then 100 read the next part of their journey, slight spoiler but DA alone is worth reading because we get mustang as a pov and its amazing.

To quote mustang " The key is having a long memory for the sweet, and a short one for the bitter.", Post MS is the story of how darrow and mustang try and make the rising dream come true with a nation but also all the failings of humanity, IG literally starts with darrow crushing the second to last planet from the society remnant, what happens from then two dark age start isnt dark but complicated and not as simple as the fight against octavia.

Thats what people dont understand RR, GS and MS are simple heros journey, tobble the two bbgs and win the day, IG forward is the ugly truth of governments, greed and how people ask to much from thier heros.

Side note what makes me sad and also angry is mustang talks how some people see pax as an abomination, not golds but other reds, how people make fun of darrow for giving mustang the scepter not understanding if he didnt do that the golds would have to butchered to the last and mustang was the only person who can make the republic work, how she was able to form a functioning goverment from the ashes of luna and war torn mars.

I’ve met a few people who read the first 3 and didnt like how book 4 was going so dropped it

It’s a whole series. Sure you can stop after the first 3, you can do whatever you want, but you can’t say you finished the series. It feels like two separate groups because of the distinct time jump.

Really don’t know why people need validation on a topic like this. Just read it or don’t.

Cannot relate. Only getting half the story ain't right.

I stopped only because I want to read the last four books all together. I will start up again closer to the release of Red God.

No

The series matures with Darrow. In the first three, he is young, optimistic, and often overconfident. In Iron Gold, he is weary after a decade of war. I loved Iron Gold and Dark Age, because they feel like the acknowledgement of war's ugliness that was missing from the first three.

Hey dude I know we get pissy with people on this sub for hating on IG, but you deserve respect for knowing what's for you and what isn't. Not a pixie for making up your own mind and sticking the fuck with that decision.

I personally hate the incessant "sHoUiLd I kEeP rEAdInG" posts, but you inherently know what you enjoy, and fantasy novels are for enjoyment, first and foremost. Power to you. The first 3 books are amazing, and I'm glad to share them with anybody.

To answer your question, my wife is like you: first 3 and probably no further. I'm a whole series kinda guy. I love all six and can hardly wait for the great conclusion.

Hail Reaper, and hail Libertas!

It's a war

War is dark

Pierce Brown himself has said that it isn’t really a separate trilogy. You should look at it as a 7 book series

First of all, yeah you are a pixie

Second of all, the second quadrilogy is better than the OT, iron gold is different than the rest of the series but that's because it needs to set up the new paradigm and new characters, so it's more political, but dark age has some of the best action of the series and lightbringer is the light at the end of the tunnel (hopefully)

It's 1000% worth it to read if you enjoyed the original 3.