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63-415: Iron Gold is a 2018 science fiction novel by American author Pierce Brown ; it is the first of a tetralogy which continues the story of his Red Rising trilogy (2014–2016). Iron Gold takes place ten years after the events of Morning Star (2016), with Darrow "The Reaper" of Lykos and Virginia "Mustang" au Augustus leading the new Solar Republic. It is followed by Dark Age (2019). Ten years after

126-502: A 50% decrease in price for books on the Best Seller List to beat its competition, Barnes & Noble . After a legal dispute between Amazon and The New York Times , Amazon was permitted to keep using the list on condition that it displayed it in alphabetical rather than numerical order. By 2010, this was no longer the case; Amazon now displays the best-seller list in order of best-selling titles first. In 2013, Forbes published

189-632: A bomb on Apollonius for his cooperation. Living as a vigilante in the Asteroid Belt , Lysander (with his mentor Cassius, and their pilot Pytha) rescues Seraphina from an Ascomanni attack on her ship. At her mother Dido's command, Seraphina has retrieved footage of Darrow and Victra's destruction of Ganymede's dockyards. Seraphina hides the video. Pursued by Ascomanni, Lysander follows Seraphina's coordinates, allowing her father Romulus' forces to rescue them to Io . Romulus orders Seraphina's imprisonment and Cassius and Lysander's execution. Dido thwarts this with

252-542: A coup of Romulus, whom their son Diomedes defends. Romulus surrenders. Lysander has himself and Cassius reject Pink Aurae's sexual services. Seraphina informs Dido of Cassius' identity despite his disguise. Dido demands Cassius open his safe for the video, but he refuses. House Raa swears revenge on Cassius for Revus and Thesalia's deaths, though Diomedes recuses. Cassius defeats Bellerephon, who chooses death. Dido orders more Raa to fight Cassius, who kills them until Seraphina defeats him. Lysander reveals his own identity and opens

315-494: A home in these books ... All these lost souls in my books have connected with people and I find it incredibly moving." Iron Gold was released on January 16, 2018, and debuted at #3 on The New York Times Best Seller list . It is the first novel of a planned tetralogy. Pierce Brown Pierce Brown grew up in seven different states. His mother, Colleen Birdnow Brown , was the President and CEO of Fisher Communications and

378-446: A life of its own. I feel like I'm not even creating as much as I'm revealing things, and that's a really lovely thing for me to have because it is so fun to get to explore my own world ... Anyone who writes books is at least mostly an introvert. It is amazing to be able to share that internalized part of myself, that little world that no one really knows about. I just wrote it down on a piece of paper just to be crazy, and people loving that

441-482: A senior book marketing executive who said the rankings were "smoke and mirrors"; while a report in Book History found that many professionals in the book industry "scoffed at the notion that the lists are accurate". Specific criticisms include: In 1983, author William Peter Blatty sued The New York Times for $ 6 million, claiming that his book, Legion (filmed as The Exorcist III ), had not been included in

504-476: A story titled "Can bestseller lists be bought?" It describes how author and pastor Mark Driscoll contracted the company ResultSource to place his book Real Marriage (2012) on The New York Times Best Seller list for a $ 200,000 fee. The contract was for ResultSource "to conduct a bestseller campaign for your book, Real Marriage on the week of January 2, 2012. The bestseller campaign is intended to place Real Marriage on The New York Times bestseller list for

567-415: A story titled "Here's How You Buy Your Way Onto The New York Times Bestsellers List." The article discusses how ResultSource , a San Diego–based marketing consultancy, specializes in ensuring books make a bestseller list, even guaranteeing a No. 1 spot for those willing to pay enough. The New York Times was informed of this practice and responded: " The New York Times comprehensively tracks and tabulates

630-770: A tonal quality where the reader creates the image for themselves. Brown also noted the popularity of his novels among the LGBT community, saying "It's amazing that they have found a home in these books ... All these lost souls in my books have connected with people and I find it incredibly moving." As of June 2021, the Red Rising saga had sold over 2 million copies in the US alone. Marc Snetiker of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Brown has packed his pages with an astonishing amount of cinematic action and twists", and Jason Sheehan of NPR agreed that "Brown writes layered, flawed characters ... but plot

693-534: Is an ideal that many of the former ruling class wish to bring back in their fight against the Rising." Brown also noted, "Several of the main characters in the next one will be gay. Darrow's heteronormative outlook has been changing after leaving the mines. He began embracing sexual fluidity and gay characters like Tactus." He discussed the popularity of his novels among the LGBT community, adding "It's amazing that they have found

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756-520: Is editorial content, not objective factual content, so the Times had the legal right to exclude the book from the list. In 1995, Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema, the authors of a book called The Discipline of Market Leaders , colluded to manipulate their book onto the best seller charts. The authors allegedly purchased over 10,000 copies of their own book in small and strategically placed orders at bookstores whose sales are reported to BookScan . Because of

819-539: Is his most breathtaking strength ... Every action seems to flow into the next." Kirkus Reviews called the third installment, Morning Star , "multilayered and seething with characters who exist in a shadow world between history and myth, much as in Frank Herbert 's Dune ... an ambitious and satisfying conclusion to a monumental saga". Brown is the recipient of the Goodreads 2014 Best New Novelist Award, as well as

882-465: Is published by GeekNation, an entertainment website based in Los Angeles. The book was originally written as a script, and was rewritten as a novel in an attempt to launch a film franchise. In August 2017, conservative publisher Regnery Publishing said it would no longer allow its writers to claim to be " New York Times best-selling authors" due to its belief that the Times favors liberal books on

945-461: Is so strange. The author has said that his writing has been "hugely" influenced by his readers' feedback, explaining: I was able to see which punches connected with the readers. It can teach you to be a better writer. I could see readers' perspectives of Darrow evolve and was able to mold him to evolve with that. I also don't want to take away from the reader's imagination. I don't talk too much about how most of my characters look, I want them to have

1008-515: The USA Today Best-Selling Books list. In February 2014, shortly after the release of Red Rising , Universal Pictures acquired the rights for a film adaptation in a seven -figure auction. Marc Forster is set to direct, with Brown writing the screenplay. Brown told Entertainment Weekly that after completing the original trilogy, "I took a meager little break, mostly to stretch my screenwriting muscles." As of February 2016,

1071-504: The New York Times . The Times stated it was not counted because it was published by a Canadian company. According to Random House Canada , the book was handled properly for the U.S. market. American conservative commentator Dennis Prager wrote an article for National Review titled " The Times Best-Seller List: Another Reason Americans Don't Trust the Media" in which he contends that

1134-412: The Times argued that the list is not mathematically objective but rather an editorial product, an argument that prevailed in the courts. In 2017, a Times representative said that the goal is that the lists reflect authentic best sellers. The list has been a source of controversy. When the Times believes a book has reached the list in a suspicious way—such as through bulk purchases—the book's entry on

1197-527: The 100,000 new, hardcover print books published each year, fewer than 500 make it on to The New York Times Best Seller list (0.5 percent). Many novels (26 percent) appear on the list for only one week. To make the list, it is estimated that novels sell from 1,000 to 10,000 copies per week, depending on competition. Median sales fluctuate between 4,000 and 8,000 in fiction, and 2,000–6,000 in nonfiction. The majority of New York Times bestselling books sell from 10,000 to 100,000 copies in their first year. During

1260-402: The 21st century, it has evolved into multiple lists, grouped by genre and format, including fiction and nonfiction, hardcover, paperback and electronic . The list is based on a proprietary method that uses sales figures, other data and internal guidelines that are unpublished—how the Times compiles the list is a trade secret . In 1983, during a legal case in which the Times was being sued,

1323-559: The Advice How-to list." To achieve this, the contract stated that "RSI will be purchasing at least 11,000 total orders in one week." This took place, and the book successfully reached No.1 on the hardcover advice bestseller list on January 22, 2014. In July 2015, Ted Cruz 's book A Time For Truth was excluded from the list because the "overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales [of Cruz's book] were limited to strategic bulk purchases" to artificially increase sales and entry onto

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1386-507: The Book Review itself, we don't know (the news surveys department's) precise methods." In 1992, the survey encompassed over 3,000 bookstores as well as "representative wholesalers with more than 28,000 other retail outlets, including variety stores and supermarkets." By 2004, the number was 4,000 bookstores as well as an unstated number of wholesalers. Data is adjusted to give more weight to independent book stores, which are underrepresented in

1449-728: The Chairman of American Apparel's Board of Directors. His father, Guy Brown, is a former local banker. Brown graduated from Pepperdine University , where he majored in political science and economics. After graduation, he worked a variety of jobs in politics and startup tech companies. Brown was working for the NBC Page Program in Burbank, California and living in his former political science professor's garage when he sold Red Rising in 2012. Brown wrote six novels and faced rejection from over 120 agents before selling Red Rising. He wrote

1512-699: The Duke, who has Cyra killed for disloyalty. Lyria escapes from the Duke and surrenders to the Republic. Niobe stops Victra from capturing Lyria. Virginia stops Niobe, Daxo, Theodora and Holiday from torturing Lyria, who helps identify Ephraim. Virginia has Volga kidnapped to coerce Ephraim. He takes the Duke hostage, freeing Pax and Electra. The Syndicate's Queen takes control of Ephraim, Pax and Electra's fleeing ship, so Ephraim bombs and crashes it. Victra has Lyria kidnapped. The Howlers infiltrate Venus ; Apollonius retakes House Valii-Rath from Tharsus, gaining 900 soldiers. They and

1575-726: The February 13, 2011, issue, the first tracks combined print and e-book sales, the second tracks e-book sales only (both lists are further sub-divided into Fiction and Nonfiction). In addition a third new list was published on the web only, which tracks combined print sales (hardcover and paperback) in fiction and nonfiction. On December 16, 2012, the children's chapter books list was divided into two new lists: middle-grade (ages 8–12) and young adult (age 12–18), both which include sales across all platforms (hard, paper and e-book). According to an EPJ Data Science study that used big data to analyze every New York Times bestselling book from 2008 to 2016, of

1638-559: The Goodreads Best Science Fiction Novel Award in 2015 for Golden Son and in 2016 for Morning Star. The New York Times Best Seller list This is an accepted version of this page The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. The New York Times Book Review has published the list weekly since October 12, 1931. In

1701-477: The Howlers attack Magnus' forces. Milia is killed and Apollonius saves Darrow. They find Magnus withered and bedridden. Apollonius reveals he had Magnus poisoned three years prior. Magnus reveals Atalantia's leadership of his forces, her imminent attack of Mercury, and Pax and Electra's kidnapping. Darrow, Sevro and Apollonius incinerate Magnus. Darrow deactivates Apollonius' bomb, but breaks his promise to give Apollonius

1764-541: The Red-turned-Gold protagonist of the first trilogy; Lysander, a Gold disenfranchised by the events of the previous novels; and two new characters with a grudge against Darrow and the Rebellion: Lyria, a Red freed from slavery in the mines, and Ephraim, a Gray whose husband was killed rescuing Darrow. Brown said, "I want to expand the universe and also see how others perceive Darrow." Besides introducing new characters,

1827-560: The Saud and Carthii hostages to control Venus. Instead, the Howlers use the hostages for safe passage from Venus. The Howlers split up; Sevro's group to Luna, Darrow's group to Mercury. Brown announced a sequel trilogy to Red Rising in February 2016. He later noted, "I didn't think I would write more but I started seeing so many plots, particularly with the Ash Lord and the chaos that happens when an empire falls." Brown said of his inspiration to write

1890-595: The Society. When Darrow returns to Luna , Dancer lets Julia reveal that Darrow secretly rejected Magnus' ceasefire offer. The Senate turns against Darrow, who conspires with the Howlers to escape and assassinate Magnus. Before Darrow leaves, Virginia has the Wardens arrest Darrow, but two Wardens free him. Darrow accidentally kills ArchWarden Wulfgar when Sevro interferes. Darrow escapes with the Howlers to Earth , where they jailbreak Apollonius with guard Tongueless' help. They implant

1953-453: The United States. The sales figures are widely believed to represent books that have actually been sold at retail, rather than wholesale, as the Times surveys booksellers in an attempt to better reflect what is purchased by individual buyers. Some books are flagged with a dagger indicating that a significant number of bulk orders had been received by retail bookstores. The New York Times reported in 2013 that "we [generally do not] track

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2016-510: The Whites and Olympic Knights charge Romulus with treason and he admits guilt, as the video was earlier offered to him and he had the video's brokers killed. Romulus commits ceremonial suicide, accepting death to unite the Dominion. Lysander proposes to negotiate an alliance between the Dominion and the Society against the Republic; Dido accepts. Harmony's Red Hand attacks Mars ' Gammas, killing most of

2079-605: The benefits of making The New York Times Best Seller list (speaking engagements, more book deals, and consulting) the authors felt that buying their own work was an investment that would pay for itself. The book climbed to No. 4 on the list where it sat for 15 weeks; it also peaked at No. 1 on the BusinessWeek best seller list. Since such lists hold the power of cumulative advantage , chart success often begets more chart success. Although such efforts are not illegal, publishers consider them unethical. In 1999, Amazon.com announced

2142-464: The best-selling status of titles to market the books and not just as a measure of sales, thus placing increased emphasis on the New York Times list for book readers and book sellers. The list is compiled by the editors of the "News Surveys" department, not by The New York Times Book Review department, where it is published. It is based on weekly sales reports obtained from selected samples of independent and chain bookstores and wholesalers throughout

2205-646: The early 1940s, fourteen city-lists were included. A national list was created on April 9, 1942, in the Sunday New York Times Book Review as a supplement to the Monday edition regular city lists. The national list was ranked according to how many times the book appeared in the city lists. Eventually the city lists were eliminated, leaving only the national ranking list, which was compiled according to "reports from leading booksellers in 22 cities". Ranking by bookseller sales figures continues today, although

2268-459: The events of Morning Star , the Republic's war against the Society continues. Virginia and Romulus are the respective Sovereigns of the Republic and Rim Dominion. Darrow leads the Republic's military as ArchImperator. Dancer becomes the opposition leader of the Republic's multi-Colour Senate. Magnus apparently leads the Society. Darrow disobeys the Senate by assaulting Mercury , liberating Mercury from

2331-480: The family of 18-year-old Lyria. Kavax mounts a defense and Lyria saves him from drowning; he employs her as a valet. Ephraim, Volga, Cyra and Dano are mercenary thieves. The Syndicate's Duke of Hands recruits Ephraim to kidnap Darrow's son Pax and Sevro's daughter Electra. Ephraim befriends Lyria and secretly plants on her a device that disables Kavax's ship. Kavax kills Dano. Ephraim tries to kill Lyria, then relents and takes her. Ephraim and Volga bring Pax and Electra to

2394-535: The film was still in development, with Brown having written the first two drafts. He said in March 2016, "I have written the first two drafts of the film and now we're on the third. Hopefully it will be greenlit this year. The vision from the film makers is ' Lawrence of Arabia in space', which is terribly exciting for me as it's my favorite film." The rights eventually reverted to Brown, and in January 2018, Brown said he

2457-427: The first trilogy followed Darrow's quest, the new series explores the consequences of Darrow's rebellion, asking "Have they unleashed dark ages or a renaissance? I think you can pretty much bet it'll be dark ages for a little while." He cited the primary theme as "What is better, rule and order or chaos and freedom?", and later explained, "What this new book is about ... is seeing the people that are affected negatively by

2520-543: The idea that the New York Times doesn't like it?" The Post compared the list to best seller lists from Publishers Weekly looking for bias but could not find anything convincing. In February 2018, the Toronto Star published a story by books editor Deborah Dundas who found that the best-selling book 12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson , who topped Publishers Weekly chart list, did not even chart on The New York Times bestsellers list, without reliable answers from

2583-400: The inconsistencies in the most recent reporting cycle, we decided that the sales for Handbook for Mortals did not meet our criteria for inclusion. We've issued an updated 'Young Adult Hardcover' list for September 3, 2017 which does not include that title." It was uncovered, by author Phil Stamper, that there had been unusual bulk ordering patterns which inflated the number of sales. The book

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2646-614: The issue with Peterson's book, as well his The Rational Bible: Exodus , is their conservative context and the lack of inclusion is the American mainstream media's manipulation. The Times denied any bias. In 2019, the release of Donald Trump Jr. 's book Triggered was shown to have only reached the best-seller list through approximately $ 100,000 in behind-the-scenes bulk purchases meant to pump up its sales numbers illegitimately. Vanity Fair reported in October 2020 that this sort of gaming of

2709-512: The list due to either negligence or intentional falsehood, saying it should have been included due to high sales. The Times countered that the list was not mathematically objective but rather was an editorial product and thus protected under the Constitution as free speech. Blatty appealed it to the Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. Thus, the lower court ruling stood that the list

2772-586: The list is marked with a dagger symbol (†). Although the first best seller list in America was published in 1895, in The Bookman , a best seller list was not published in The New York Times until October 12, 1931, 36 years later, with little fanfare. It listed five fiction and four nonfiction books for New York City only. The next month, the list was expanded to eight cities, each with its own list. By

2835-455: The list. In response, Cruz called the Times "a liar" and demanded an apology. The Times said it stood by its statement and evidence of manipulation. In August 2017, a young adult fiction book, Handbook for Mortals by previously unpublished author Lani Sarem was removed from the list, where it was in initially in the No. 1 spot. According to a statement issued by the Times , "after investigating

2898-416: The list. The Times responded that the political views of authors have no bearing on the list and noted conservative authors routinely rank highly on the list. The Associated Press noted the Times is a frequent target of conservatives and Republicans. The Washington Post called Regnery's ban a "stunt" designed to increase sales, "What better way to sell a book to a conservative audience than to promote

2961-481: The methodology on his blog; he posted: "If I could obtain bulk orders before Leapfrogging was released, ResultSource would purchase the books on my behalf using their tried-and-true formula. Three thousand books sold would get me on The Wall Street Journal bestseller list. Eleven thousand would secure a spot on the biggest prize of them all, The New York Times list." In 2014, the Los Angeles Times published

3024-517: The most copies in one year followed by the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson . The list has been criticized by authors, publishers, book industry executives, and others for not providing an accurate accounting of true best-seller status. These criticisms have been ongoing ever since the list originated. A book industry report in the 1940s found that best-seller lists were a poor indicator of sales, since they were based on misleading data and were only measuring fast sales. A 2004 report quoted

3087-399: The new trilogy will explore planets and elements only briefly touched on in the previous series. Brown called the scope of the new trilogy "huge" and "far more ambitious than Red Rising ", noting: "It spans the solar system, weaves in disparate cultures and moons and planets—most of which had to be created from scratch. It has been an exercise not only in world-building but in understanding how

3150-526: The nonfiction lists for the two preceding weeks. In July 2000, the "Children's Best Sellers" was created after the Harry Potter series had stayed in the top spots on the fiction list for an extended period of time. The children's list was printed monthly until February 13, 2011, when it was changed to once an issue (weekly). In September 2007, the paperback fiction list was divided into "trade" and "mass-market" sections, in order to give more visibility to

3213-630: The novel in two months above his parents' garage in Seattle, Washington. Red Rising , published in 2014, received widespread positive reviews, and hit #20 on The New York Times Best Seller list . The 2015 sequel, Golden Son , hit #6 on the same list and was equally praised by critics. In 2016, Morning Star reached #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list in Adult Hardcover, Digital Book and cumulative. It also reached #1 on

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3276-514: The period studied (August 6, 2008, to March 10, 2016), Dan Brown's book The Lost Symbol held the record with 3 million copies sold in one year followed by The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee which sold 1.6 million copies each. In nonfiction, more than half of the hardcover books that make the list are in the biography category. The autobiography of George W. Bush, Decision Points , sold

3339-420: The positive actions of Darrow, and seeing the negative repercussions of them." Before publication, Brown noted that both Darrow and Mustang would be "integral characters" in the novel, which would be told from four viewpoints: Darrow, another familiar character, and two new ones. Though Brown considered several characters, including Mustang and Sevro, he wanted a more even representation of colors, and chose Darrow,

3402-417: The process has remained proprietary. By the 1950s, The Times ' s list had become the leading best-seller list for book professionals to monitor, along with that of Publishers Weekly . In the 1960s and 1970s, shopping-mall chain bookstores B. Dalton , Crown Books , and Waldenbooks came to the forefront with a business model of selling newly published best-sellers with mass-market appeal. They used

3465-471: The safe, saving Cassius. Diomedes has Cassius medically treated. Dido plays the video; the Dominion declares war on the Republic. Diomedes has Aurae inform Lysander that Cassius died from his wounds. Gaia frees Lysander and Pytha, intending them to free Romulus. Lysander wounds Gaia's Obsidian Goroth and betrays Gaia to Dido. Intending to co-rule with Romulus, Dido puts him on trial regarding Ganymede's dockyards; he pleads guilty to negligence. To Dido's horror,

3528-411: The sales of classic literature," and thus, for example, new translations of Dante's Inferno would not be found on the bestseller list. The exact method for compiling the data obtained from the booksellers is classified as a trade secret . Book Review staff editor Gregory Cowles explained the method "is a secret both to protect our product and to make sure people can't try to rig the system. Even in

3591-493: The sample. The lists are divided among fiction and nonfiction , print and e-book, paperback and hardcover; each list contains 15 to 20 titles. The lists have been subdivided several times. "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous" debuted as a list of five on January 1, 1984. It was created because advice best-sellers were sometimes crowding the general nonfiction list. Its inaugural number one bestseller, The Body Principal by Victoria Principal , had been number 10 and number 12 on

3654-427: The sequel trilogy: To be honest, I was curious. Not just about what happens to an empire once it has been broken, but what rises from the ashes. What happens to rebels once they take on the mantle of rule. Authority is a pressure cooker of responsibility that twists and hardens. Darrow and Mustang will learn it was easier to throw proverbial Molotov cocktails than it is to govern ten billion souls. Brown said that while

3717-423: The system has been a common practice among American conservative political figures, and has also included the use of political campaign funds to purchase the books in bulk in order to boost their rank on the list. A Stanford Business School analysis suggests that the "majority of book buyers seem to use the Times ' list as a signal of what's worth reading". The study concluded that lesser-known writers get

3780-416: The trade paperbacks that were more often reviewed by the newspaper itself. In November 2010, The New York Times announced it would be tracking e-book best-seller lists in fiction and nonfiction starting in early 2011. "RoyaltyShare, a San Diego–based company that tracks data and aggregates sales information for publishers, will ... provide [e-book] data". The two new e-book lists were first published with

3843-512: The weekly unit sales of all titles reported by book retailers as their general interest bestsellers. We will not comment beyond our methodology on the other questions." The New York Times did not alert its readers to this, unlike The Wall Street Journal, which admitted that books had landed on its bestseller list due to ResultSource's campaign. Soren Kaplan, the source who admitted he had paid ResultSource to land his book, Leapfrogging , on The Wall Street Journal ' s bestseller list, revealed

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3906-496: The world would affect these diverse characters." Comparing the new trilogy to the previous, Brown said, "It has the firefights and midnight duels and blood feuds, but many of the characters are not wrecking balls like Darrow. They must use other means to achieve their goals." He explained that the novel's title "refers to the original Gold conquerors; the founders of Society who were infinitely tougher, smarter, and more brutal than their descendants would become after 700 years of rule. It

3969-566: Was developing Red Rising as a television series. Brown confirmed in October 2018 that the project had a director and a showrunner, and added that the film rights had also been resold to an unspecified studio. Brown announced a sequel trilogy in February 2016, to begin with the novel Iron Gold in August 2017. A prequel comic book series, Red Rising: Sons of Ares , debuted in May 2017. Brown said of his writing: It has been fun to have it take on

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