Iron Gold

Pierce Brown’s Red Rising and Iron Gold series are set across a futuristic, colonized version of the Solar system. Iron Gold explores various locations within the system, which is divided into three sections, each ruled by a different leader.

Venus and Mercury are the domain of the Ash Lord and the remnants of his Color-based, segregated Society. Venus is an inhospitable planet that was artificially rendered inhabitable and is now very similar to Earth. One of the novel’s significant plot points revolves around Darrow’s ruthless attack on Mercury, depicted in the first chapter, that eventually leads to his removal from power.

Earth and Mars are part of the Solar Republic, ruled by Virginia, the Sovereign, and Darrow, the ArchImperator. They are also referred to as the Core and are the most naturally hospitable planets. Earth and Mars’s moons, Luna and Phobos respectively, are also inhabited. Hyperion, the capital of Luna, is a densely urbanized city, home to the Republic’s Senate and main institutions. Mars was formerly home to mines worked by enslaved people living underground but was liberated by Darrow. It is now inhabited by former miners who live in camps on the planet’s surface, like Lyria and her family.