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Red Rising

Book 1 in the series:Red Rising Saga

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In a dystopian future on Mars, the society is highly stratified, with the Reds working in deadly slavery while the Golds live in freedom and opulence. The story follows Darrow, a Red who infiltrates the elite Golds to bring about change and overthrow the caste system. Drawing from Greek and Roman philosophy, the book is fast-paced and innovative, filled with violence and revenge. The protagonist's journey is compared to a hero's journey, and the world-building is excellent, with a satisfying ending that sets up the next book in the trilogy.

Characters:

Darrow is a complex protagonist whose character evolves through personal loss and revenge, supported by a well-developed cast of nuanced characters.

Writing/Prose:

Pierce Brown's writing style is characterized by sharp, punchy prose that evokes strong emotions and engages readers through witty dialogue.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot follows Darrow, a Red in a color-coded caste system, who discovers the betrayal of his society and seeks revenge by infiltrating the elite Gold class.

Setting:

The setting of Red Rising is a future Mars with a rigid color-coded caste system that drives the narrative and the conflicts within the story.

Pacing:

The pacing of Red Rising varies, starting slowly for world-building but accelerating significantly during the action-driven second half.
The first thing you should know about me is I am my father’s son. And when they came for him, I did as he asked. I did not cry. Not when the Society televised the arrest. Not when the Golds tried him....

Notes:

Red Rising is set 700 years in the future on Mars, where humanity is divided into a color-coded caste system.
Darrow, the protagonist, is a Red miner who discovers that Mars is already habitable, contrary to what he was taught.
After his wife Eo is executed for rebellion, Darrow joins a resistance group called the Sons of Ares.
Darrow undergoes extensive surgery to disguise himself as a Gold, the ruling class.
The Institute, where Golds are trained, becomes a battleground for power and survival among students.
The book features elements of Roman and Greek mythology, with characters and factions inspired by these ancient cultures.
The narrative includes themes of revenge, rebellion, and the consequences of power and privilege.
The writing style is noted for being fast-paced and engaging, with graphic depictions of violence and brutality.
The series has been compared to other popular YA dystopian novels, but many readers find it more mature and complex.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings for Red Rising include graphic violence, death, killing of teenagers, and instances of sexual violence.

Has Romance?

There are romantic elements present between the main character, Darrow, and Mustang, as well as the memory of his deceased wife, Eo.

From The Publisher:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Pierce Brown's relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

"Red Rising ascends above a crowded dys-topian field."-USA Today

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, BUZZFEED, AND SHELF AWARENESS

"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."

"I live for you," I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow-and Reds like him-are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Praise for Red Rising

"[A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown's dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender's Game. . . . [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric."-Entertainment Weekly

"Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow."-Scott Sigler

"Red Rising is a sophisticated vision. . . . Brown will find a devoted audience."-Richmond Times-Dispatch

Ratings (529)

Incredible (123)
Loved It (188)
Liked It (113)
It Was OK (51)
Did Not Like (49)
Hated It (5)

Reader Stats (1168):

Read It (516)
Currently Reading (22)
Want To Read (451)
Did Not Finish (39)
Not Interested (140)

26 comment(s)

Did Not Like
8 minutes

I thought this would be much better but I just found it quite boring. A slog to get through and very hunger games like. Shame I wanted to love it.

 

Not forever. I'm just not in the mood right now.

 
Loved It
6 days

Ridiculously derivative, Brown pretty much just hodge-podges together parts from every young adult bestseller in the past 20 years. Despite that it's a fun series that I couldn't put down.

 
Incredible
1 week

Tender love? Check!

Political intrigue? Check!

Violence? Check!


Highlights: the love between Darrow and his wife. The fear of going too deep undercover and becoming the mask. The pacing is in the goldilocks zone, when it just begins to feel long winded it wraps up and proceeds.


More dystopian forward but the sci-f is there.


Interesting use of sci-fi vocabulary that reminds me of Shadow Run.


I only purchased the first and am immediately kicking myself for it.

 
Loved It
1 week

YA dystopian done right. I found this to exciting and entertaining all way through, sure some parts were a little slow but it was still enjoyable. I really like the world and the system with the blood, the world building and everything about it was just so interesting to learn about. Definitely a win for me, don't know what took me so long to read it!

 
Loved It
1 month

Haven't read the most recent books, but the first 3 are amazing.

 
Loved It
1 month

Note: I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads.

Perhaps the comments on the complementary copy of this book were a little overzealous--starting off by comparing this book to other books is not, in my opinion, a good way to sell a book on its own merits. Instead, it makes readers seek comparisons between the multiple series that it emulates. Demerit for that.

This book is rather exciting, however, and the pace is quick. The characters are relatable and the setting has a great potential. I did appreciate the nod to Ender's Game with a Wiggin reference, although Ender's Game > Red Rising.

EW gave this book accolades before it came out and now I see why. Ignoring the sentence fragments that at first seem a bit much, and the overuse of 'bloody damn', the book pulls you in. It has an intricate world building that demands more. This is a world built well enough that there are multiple stories just waiting to be told.

EDIT: I just wanted to add, upon a reread, that Darrow is so damn arrogant that it sometimes makes me want to grit my teeth. And parts of this book were difficult to read, perhaps due to attention problems or perhaps due to how dark this book is.

 
Loved It
1 month

Dune meets Hunger Games with a little Ender’s Game sprinkled in for good measure—it’s a fantastic blend, and it’s no wonder the series has sparked loads of fan art as well as an illustrated comic series spinoff.

I’ve read so many sci-fi novels and not one would I categorize as a “tear-jerker at times”, but Brown’s writing and storytelling styles resolved all that. Darrow’s (the protagonist) reminiscence of Eo (his wife) is one of the most beautifully crafted—if not poetically simplistic—themes throughout the novel (and series); this is where Brown’s style shines, in my opinion.

But aside from the most adolescent, angst-sodden (yet tender) love stories of our time, this book packs a lot of deep-space opera style sci-fi; it’s great *if* you like The Chosen One sort of plot theme.

Brown plops us smack-dab in the middle of this foreign world, he gives some explanation of various objets d’scène—from SlingBlades to Razors to ClawDrills—but often times opts for a seamless narrative, leaving the reader to deduce how each Martian idiom or object functions in the scheme of things. This authorial trick can either make for a rotten reading experience or truly build a believable world, and I think Brown shows us the latter.

If you’re at all mildly intrigued by the back-cover description, buy this book ($6 used on Amazon), you won’t regret it.

 
Hated It
2 months

2 stars if you include the narrator of the audiobook cause he was fantastic. However, he couldn't make this story interesting so 1 star for Red Rising. This may very well be a case of I read this at the wrong time, but I found this book predictable, the characters uninteresting, and the plot poorly paced.

 
It Was OK
3 months

3.5

I liked it less as it went on. It started a bit slow, with a lot of strange language and terms thrown at the reader. In spite of that it got really good (if implausible). The middle of this book was really riveting to be honest. In spite of the lingo. In spite of the main character being a bit of a Mary Sue. But then it trailed off. The last 1/4 to 1/3 was non-stop action but it was weirdly boring action. It had it’s moments, sure, but it was a bit of a slog. The story went to places that seemed contrived even for a story requiring some suspension of disbelief.

There is no way brilliant super soldier Darrow didn’t see Mustang being Jackal’s sister from a mile away. It was written in to be a red herring. Sorry. Didn’t buy it. Also didn’t buy that she was going to betray Darrow and join her brother. The death of Pax also bothered me. Not so much because I liked the character but because it seemed, again, contrived. Yet more sorrow for Darrow.

I didn’t care for the ending. But I will give the next one in the series a go.

 
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About the Author:

Pierce Brown is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of the Red Rising Saga. He spent his childhood building forts and setting traps for his cousins in the woods of six states and the deserts of two. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he scribbles tales of spaceships, wizards, ghouls, and most things old or bizarre.

 
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