Rate: 5/5
Medium: Book – ARC
Overview (No Spoilers):
Just when I think a series can’t get any better Brown proved me wrong in spectacular fashion, with Dark Age, which is likely one of my favorite novels of this phenomenal literary world. To be completely up front, I had a lingering trepidation with regard to picking up Dark Age due to in large part to the title Brown had bestowed upon this fifth installment of the Red Rising series. As excited (which was exponentially proportional in comparison to any worries I was fostering) as I was for this read, I could not see how a book with the title Dark Age would be a feel good, happy-go-lucky read, and to be honest, I wouldn’t expect anything in this literary realm to fall under those categories. After completing this read, my heart is still in anguish over the devastation wrought by Brown’s blood soaked pen. As has becoming a regular occurrence, much to my delight, in the Red Rising series, I was surprised by key plot twists over and over again, though this time I was aware enough to recognize when a character’s schemes were going a bit too smoothly, thereby anticipating the ensuing chaos that didn’t disappoint. I realize I’m gushing in the post read glow of less than an hour ago, and perhaps toeing, if not crossing the line into fangirling, however it must be said that I struggled for the first 150 pages of this novel to acclimate and become engrossed. Specifically, I found I could easily put down Dark Age between these early chapters as the action, action, action was emotionally exhausting from the readers perspective. That being said, all the initial turmoil was critical for setting the stage for the remainder of this whirlwind read. And if I thought the beginning was draining, my poor heart didn’t have an inkling as to what Brown had in store within this hefty book. Ruthless as Atlas au Raa. Well that might be an over exaggeration, but keep in mind the post glow hangover I’m currently experiencing. Overall, Dark Age was a highly interwoven web of delicately balanced plots that flourish within Brown’s elegant writing style, leaving the reader on the edge of their seat throughout this dark read. With the foundation now established for the concluding book in the series, I find myself torn between eager anticipation of the brilliant twists Brown has waiting in the wings, and dread as to which of our favorites will be next is in line for the literary chopping block as no character is truly safe.
Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound): I’ve made the decision to postpone publishing my additional insight until the release date. The spoilers are far too juicy! Please see back tomorrow for my spoiler laden thoughts!
Vocabulary Builder: When reading it is common that I encounter words that I’m not privy to the exact definition, however it is easy to infer the meaning of the aforementioned word based on the context of the sentence and story. As such, relatively new to the Critiquing Chemist, you’ll find an additional section that includes vocabulary words that I encountered upon reading the book being reviewed that either had to look up the definition or a word I do not currently utilize on a regular basis in my everyday repertoire. I’ll be using the definitions from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. You’ll find that Brown must consist entirely on a strict diet of dictionaries and perhaps a thesaurus now and again for good measure. I would hate to play him in Scrabble, although I might take him in UpWords.
Torpor: a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility
Bedlam: a place, scene, or state of uproar and confusion
Jetsam: the part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is cast overboard to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore
Garrote: a method of execution by strangulation
Latifundia: a great landed estate with primitive agriculture and labor often in a state of partial servitude
Pedantic: narrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned
Screed: a lengthy discourse
Atavistic: recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination
Profligate: wildly extravagant
Gravitas: high seriousness (as in a person’s bearing or in the treatment of a subject)
Rejoinders: the defendant’s answer to the plaintiff’s replication
Immolated: to offer in sacrifice
Taciturn: temperamentally disinclined to talk
Mercurial: characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood
Precocious: exhibiting mature qualities at an unusually early age
Sybarites: voluptuary, sensualist
Deputation: a group of people appointed to represent others
Phalera: a metal boss or disk (as of bronze or silver) worn in ancient times on the heads or breasts of horses or sometimes by men as signs of military rank
Truculent: scathingly harsh
Catamite: a boy kept by a pederast
Unctuous: having, revealing, or marked by a smug, ingratiating, and false earnestness or spirituality
Specious: having a false look of truth or genuineness
Lupine: any of a genus (Lupinus) of leguminous herbs including some poisonous forms and others cultivated for their long showy racemes of usually blue, purple, white, or yellow flowers or for green manure, fodder, or their edible seeds
Imperium: supreme power or absolute dominion
Rectilinear: moving in or forming a straight line
Arroyo: a watercourse (such as a creek) in an arid region
Ephedra: any of a genus (Ephedra of the family Ephedraceae) of jointed nearly leafless shrubs of dry or desert regions with the leaves reduced to scales at the nodes
Accoutrements: an accessory item of clothing or equipment
Voluble: easily rolling or turning
Petrichor: a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odor that is associated with rainfall especially when following a warm, dry period and that arises from a combination of volatile plant oils and geosmin released from the soil into the air and by ozone carried by downdrafts
Reprobate: to condemn strongly as unworthy, unacceptable, or evil
Plenipotentiary: invested with full power
Hamartia: tragic flaw
Insouciant: lighthearted unconcern
Maudlin: drunk enough to be emotionally silly
Riposte: a retaliatory verbal sally
Atavistic: recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination
Opines: to express opinions
Aperitif:an alcoholic drink taken before a meal as an appetizer
Falchion: a broad-bladed slightly curved sword of medieval times
Ambulating: to move from place to place
Demarcations: the marking of the limits or boundaries of something
Omnicide: the destruction of all life or all human life
Buboes: an inflammatory swelling of a lymph gland especially in the groin
Petard: a case containing an explosive to break down a door or gate or breach a wall
Felicitations: made happy
Callow: lacking adult sophistication
Emesis: an act or instance of vomiting
Blithe: lacking due thought or consideration
Gestalt: something that is made of many parts and yet is somehow more than or different from the combination of its parts
Enfeebling: deprive of strength
The Critiquing Chemist 