Red Rising

by Pierce Brown

Other authorsCharles Brock (Cover designer), Caroline Cunningham (Designer)

Hardcover, 2014

Status

Available

Call number

PS3602.R7226 R43

Series

Red Rising Saga (1)

Genres

Publication

Del Rey (New York, 2014). 1st edition, 3rd printing. 382 pages. $25.00.

Description

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 spends his life willingly, knowing 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 sprawling parks 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.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member bibliovermis

The Hunger Games in Space (without much about space). This book was exciting enough, and had a decent plot, but was chock full of stupid, lazy, kind-of-gross tropes like:

Irish Stereotypes!

Darrow, the protagonist, is part of a society of "Reds", red-haired and red-eyed people who are on the bottom

of the societal totem pole, with "Golds" at the top. They are horribly mistreated and underfed, in order to keep them under control. "Reds" speak with a brogue, and marry really young. And are like, so good at dancing. And they have such wonderful folk songs. And fiery tempers. Too bad a lot of them are constantly drunk... Is anyone else beginning to feel uncomfortable here?

Lady Problems!

My dead wife makes me stronger:
Once Darrow's wife was introduced—I mean like, the second her name was mentioned—it was pretty clear she was going to die. I thought, "Okay, if this chick dies to give Darrow motivation, like every other wife or girlfriend at the beginning of a dude story, this book would have to do something really amazing to get more than three stars." Then she died, obviously, and the book did not do anything really amazing.

Damsel in distress:
Darrow's replacement love interest (you gotta have a replacement love interest) is someone he begins to have feelings for as they nurse each other back to health in a cave during a deadly war game between children (Hunger Games much?!). She seems pretty cool, except near the end she obviously gets kidnapped, in order to give Darrow the motivation to go all deus ex machina on the bad guys. Because, as we all know, women exist to motivate men!

When he has to break into the enemy stronghold to find and free her, this totally happens:

She groans. "I've become the maiden in distress, haven't I? Slag! I hate those girls."

Haha! Wow, dude! Lampshading this does not make it better!

The Chosen One/I Know Kung Fu!

I think maybe this book started out with good intentions. Like, maybe it had some kind of equality message, at first: Golds are engineered to be physically superhuman, but really all of humanity has things to offer, keeping Reds as basically slaves is wrong, yadda yadda. Except that message totally gets lost because not only is Darrow really super special and better than all other Reds, he is better than all the Golds, too, and he can learn super fast and is just the fastest and most intelligent and capable even before the modifications that give him the physical attributes of a Gold. It doesn't really get the message across that Reds and all lowColors deserve equality; instead the message seems to be "Darrow is the Messiah and deserves to be in charge of everyone else."

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LibraryThing member hrose2931

This, this is the book I have been looking for...the one that would break my reading slump. It's taken almost two months to get me out of it but this one , RED RISING, has me excited about reading again!
This is like The Hunger Games on steroids, in Space, with the Roman Gods and not the down

trodden, but the HAVES waging war on each other. This book was so unexpected, every plot twist had me clutching my stomach or getting sick to it or just not believing it. I sit here in the post after glow of reading a really great book and I just don't want to share with you. But I know you won't just believe me as I haven't written a real review in such a long time. So here goes....

Characters-
Let me just make a blanket statement and say that Darrow's point of view is the one the story is told from. He's young, 16, married and just full of energy and anger and rash. But he's also chained, by his station, he is a Red, the lowest class and he just does the same thing, day in and day out never questioning if there could be something more for himself, for his family and his clan. For the other Reds. Darrow is a constantly evolving and growing character and as time passes, Darrow holds onto the best of himself, and lets go of the rest. He plays so many different characters in the novel, husband, rebel, leader, follower, friend, foe, healer, all while keeping his eye on the prize. (Yes, I am being very secretive because I don't want to spoil anything for you.)

I don't even know what other characters to explain to you. There are so many others that are primary at times and then they fall away to be replaced by someone new. I will say that given the nature of the "game" (it's actually called school) that is being played and because it is told from Darrow's point of view, we only know the other characters as well as Darrow does. And in a cut throat game where there can be only one winner, loyalties will always shift and friends can stab you in the back in a heartbeat.

The World- This is the only minor fault I have with the novel, I don't get why the world is as it is. Why is everyone living on all the various planets and moons if Earth is still habitable? And it is, the novel says so. There is a very brief description about how the Golds got to be top dog and it had to do with them defeating Earth, but that's it. I would have liked a longer explanation. (I'm sure one is coming). But with the opening of the book, I can feel the sweat dripping down Darrows fry suit as he pushes himself in his drill, faster, harder, trying to mine more Helium 3 than any other crew. Brown doesn't overuse the word red to describe Darrow's world and yet it's the only color I see when I picture it, everything covered in a layer of red dust, people included. It's an underground desert to me. The other parts that are described (again not giving anything away) are rushed in some areas so that I don't get a clear grasp of what they look like and then other ares are fully developed so I know exactly what the landscape is like, I can picture it in my mind.

The Story- Yes, yes, yes!!! This was an amazing story for me. I'm sure it's been told before in some other way. But Brown puts the right character, Darrow, with the right amount of tragedy and heroism in him, and throws the impossible at him and because of the tragedy, not in spite of it, he is propelled to be heroic. He is the underdog, meant to be a rebel, a symbol for the Reds, but first he has to do something, become powerful so that he can be seen by them, martial their support. Because the Reds have no idea what he finds out about the planet. And with Darrow as a Gold, but the heart of a Red, he sees how difficult it is going to be to betray the Golds that he calls friends. But still, there is the one thing that started all of this, that one thing that broke him and made him reckless enough to risk everything. And it still drives him. I'm not sure if I have read a story where the hero is driven by this one particular thing for so long.

Thoughts- I kind of shared those in The Story. I think it is almost perfectly executed. Just a bit more depth into what happened to Earth and why the world had to expand so far out into the solar system. How did the adaptations happen to make the different colored people. I loved Darrow. I thought he was vulnerable and young, strong and smart, caring and kind, but also harsh when he needed to be. His kindness and friendliness were both a strength and a weakness. He was really my favorite part of the book, a great character can make a book and Darrow is a great character. I can't wait to see what Pierce Brown has in store for the next book. This one did not end on a cliffhanger but it ended on a very big- Oh WOW!

I will say that I thought this would be one of those seven book series. I think it would be a shame to squash this rich, vibrant, vast world with an array of peoples and variety of villains into too small of a page count. Just saying I wouldn't mind reading about Darrow and his merry band of howlers a little longer than a trilogy.

I would recommend this to older teens as there is a lot of violence, sexual themes and adult situations and language. This is Science Fiction but doesn't get gadgety or anything. It is set on Mars. I'm just trying to get across if you don't like Science Fiction don't let it stop you from reading this series. I have a feeling the next book will get more techie, but I am ready for it! It has a dystopian feeling to it so those of you that still don't have enough of that...you'll be happy with this. If you loved The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, this is your cup of Tea. I loved how the Roman as opposed to the Greek Gods were thrown in and you'll like how they meddle in things. So you like the gods, you'll love that. It doesn't have a Young Adult feel to it. At least I didn't think so. Maybe because the Golds all had to act like adults when they fought each other. In any case, I'd recommend even to those who don't read YA.

I received a copy of this novel for review from the publisher for review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book or my thoughts in my review. I was not compensated for my review.

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LibraryThing member Borrows-N-Wants

"Knowing nothing about this book and going solely on the book description printed on the back, one would think they were about to read an adult science fiction book. That's what I expected when these were handed out for book club, and I couldn't be more excited. Unfortunately, it is just another YA

dystopian novel. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy YA and dystopian, but only when they have something new to bring to the table (or at least new to me). This book is essentially Hunger Games + Ender's Game + Harry Potter.

The book was interesting for the first 100 pages or so, but then it quickly loses steam as you learn that the character is going to be going to a school for young adults where they are being split into houses and then they are being forced to fight to the death. Hmm... sounds familiar. After that, that is ALL the story is.

The main character is unlikable AND unbelievable which is just too much to handle. The story is told from the first person point of view, so we are stuck in his head having to listen to him drone on and on about how much stronger, smarter, and just overall better he is than everyone around him.

A bad habit the author has is bringing up stuff that happened several chapters ago that he kept the readers in the dark about. I don't know if he thinks he is being more suspenseful or what... but it comes off to me as lazy writing. For instance: during a battle scene, the main character automatically turns on his grav-boots and saves the day. We were never told he was wearing grav-boots or even that he HAS grav-boots. It is explained away as ""I turn on my grav-boots that I stole from this other dude several chapters ago during a fight I described but failed to describe me stealing his grav-boots."" Hmmm... Nope.

Anyway, it took me several months to finish this relatively thin book. It's just frustrating because the author had a reasonably interesting backbone of a story, but by choosing to copy other popular books in this genre and glaze over parts of the story, we were left with a substandard novel. Don't think I will be reading the sequels."

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LibraryThing member mattries37315

Beneath the surface of Mars human mine gases that will eventually lead to the terraforming and colonization of the red planet, but they have been lied to. Red Rising by Pierce Brown is a dystopian young adult novel following a member of the lowest caste in humanities future attempting to position

himself within the highest caste to lead a future rebellion for the betterment of all.

Darrow, a member of the lowly Reds, within days sees the end of his dreams of family and success in mining in his colonial town underneath the surface of Mars and is ready to die only to be dug up and shown the surface of Mars full of cities and vegetation that was said to be centuries away. Feeling betrayed by his society not only for the injustice against himself but his people as well, Darrow agrees to undergo numerous surgeries to appear as a member of the highest caste in society, the Golds. Through training and education he is able to pass the entrance exam of The Institute of Mars where young people of the caste compete to prove their potential as leaders so they can govern the Society in the future. Darrow makes friends only on the first night is forced to kill one or be killed himself in The Institute’s first test. What follows for the rest of the book is not only Darrow but every Gold at The Institute learning what it means to rule the Society that has lasted for centuries, but through he makes mistakes Darrow learns and is able to become a leader amongst the students and eventually is able to emerge as the competition’s victor in an unorthodox manner especially as outside forces attempt to have another student win for personal pride.

After waiting years to read this book, it was about 40% into the book that I realized that Red Rising was essentially “The Hunger Games in space” with elements of Divergent and other young adult dystopian series thrown in for good measure by the time I finished. I realize that authors borrow elements from other authors, but Brown rips off of The Hunger Games is so blatantly bad that it hurt. Frankly the mixture of so many things from other series could have worked if they were written well, but in this book it wasn’t. On top of that, what Darrow goes through to appear as a Gold seems to be stretching credibility especially since the Society’s “Quality Control” performs tests on him, including blood which has DNA that should show he wasn’t born a Gold. Though the action in the book was the best feature, the plot just didn’t live up to the hype especially after realizing how much is borrowed and not written in an interesting way from a new angle.

Red Rising might be enjoyed by numerous readers, but I’m not one of them and frankly while I got through the book I’m not interested in seeing what happens next. So I’m selling this book and the other two books in the first trilogy to a friend who is really into young adult dystopia and hope he enjoys it more than myself.

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LibraryThing member EinfachMich

Red Rising is the dystopia sci fi you've been waiting for!

Trigger Warning and Some Words on the Dystopia genre.

If you have issues with reading about rape, I would warn you to read with caution, but I would also reassure you that this story does not trivialize it. Instead, it provides a refreshing,

badly needed take on the effects and impact of sexual violence. One young readers can easily understand, and will counter a great deal of popular misinformation they see and hear about it.

While we do not see rape first hand in the narrative, it is portrayed in realistic and respectful manner. Red Rising shows how rape and sexual violence is used as tool of oppression, terror and war. Demonstrating the effects not only upon victims, but upon their peers and shows that there is no easily solution or resolution for trauma of this nature. Which, sadly, is rare among books in this genre, and is just one of many ways Red Rising brings a level of authenticity and relevance to the dystopian genre has been lacking since it’s recent resurgence.

I’ve struggled with books in the new young adult take on the dystopia genre, either due to a lack of detailed world building and/or believable political structure. These fundamental aspects of the genre, that define it as a dystopia. When a story is a simplistic fantasy that neither inspires self examination or encourages a greater awareness of the world around us, it is not only a disservice to the reader, but an insult to the genre that rose in popularity after World War II. When we saw first hand just how easily a perfectly planned society could go terribly wrong.

A dystopian story should not only demonstrate the fundamental flaws of a utopian society, but also show why it is such a seductive lie. They should demonstrate how social control can appear to be a simple solution to the complex issues of human conflict, how people on every level of a society can willingly believe the lie, and how hard it is for them to give it up. Red Rising does this in unparalleled ways, and consequentially leaves a majority of the new era dystopian novels in its dust.

In the future, society is divided into a rigid class system designated by colors. Your color defines your vocation, ability to rise in society and worth as a human being (if you’re even acknowledge as one). The highest class being Gold, the lowest being Red.
 Darrow, the protagonist, is a Red, a miner who lives and works deep in the heart of Mars. He is also a husband at age sixteen. His world is forever changed by the cruel actions of a powerful Gold. Grief-stricken and bent on revenge, he sets out on a journey that will challenge everything he believes about his world. In the end he will become something new and dangerous.

One of the things I love about Darrow is that despite the fact that his life is hard, and filled with very adult responsibilities, he is still a kid in a lot of very tangible ways. He makes a lot of mistakes, but he also learns from them. His motivations, especially in the beginning of the story, are very simple and emotional, but those change and mature as does he. Despite the fact that he is given a lot of mental and physical enhancements, it is Darrow himself - his love, loyalty, and stubborn refusal to give up no matter the odds - that ends up being his most valuable asset.

He is also not a lone hero, though this is his story. Darrow is surrounded by a fascinating and surprisingly diverse cast of characters (I do mean diverse), all who are whole, complex people in their own right. Each have something of value, or a lesson to teach Darrow along the way. A great deal of his success and failure is dependent on his relationships with others, both adult and fellow adolescents. Friendships and trust are two things that will either make or break him, that is something you rarely see in stories of any genre.

There are many stand outs characters, some who absolutely stole my heart (I’ll revel their names once the book is released), but I think it’s important to note that many are female. In fact, women are present and powerful on all sides of this conflict. They are part of the oppressive Gold elite, soldiers, prostitutes, servants and fellow rebels. But even more important is how Darrow views women. He treats them as equals, and often time as superiors. He listens to them, respects and fears them, all things rarely seen in a male protagonist in any genre.

One woman plays a fundamental role in Darrow’s journey, his wife Eo. While the blurb for the book makes her fate kind of obvious, how it is treated is surprising and sets an example for treatment of female characters. Eo is strong, much stronger than Darrow, as he says on many occasions and that strength plays a crucial part in the story. Without it, Darrow could never become the man he needs to be, the man Eo wants him to become and that turns what was could have been a sexist cliche on its ear.

Fans of the genre, and of science fiction and/or YA will not be disappointed. This is a perfect step up for existing fans of genre and a great introduction for new readers. Though I would hesitate to recommend this for middle grade readers, age 12 is the youngest I’d go and even then I would look at whether the reader has really ever seen or deal with the realities of violent content. This is most definitely a young adult book, heavy emphasis on the adult part. It is not for the faint of heart.

Red Rising is a real, raw exploration of very dark issues. Darrow’s world is filled with violence and death, even before he becomes a rebel. Brown does not shy away from showing the consequences of violence.

Good people die in horrible ways, needlessly and painfully, much as they do in real wars. Blood is shed and death has a very profound impact, even upon those who do the killing. Death is not beautiful or poetic. It is ugly, horrible, and sometimes necessary. Even in the moments when it is just, it does not feel “right.” Everyone has blood on their hands, even Darrow and in this way Red Rising is one of the most honest portrayals of violence in young adult fiction I have ever read.

Red Rising will challenge readers even as it entertains and inspires them. It will keep you turning the pages long past when you swore you’d stop reading and go to sleep. It will capture your imagination, steal your heart and maybe even teach you something about yourself, and your place in the world.

I highly recommend this book to fans of science fiction, dystopia, parents and teachers who wish to help young readers better understand sociopolitical issues, as well as world news that might seem far removed from their lives.

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LibraryThing member lostinalibrary

Darrow is a miner and a member of the Reds, the lowest caste in this society divided by colours. He is young and reckless and he has never seen the sun but he's content because he knows love. In a society with a very short lifespan, he is married, before his sixteenth year, to his childhood

sweetheart, Eo. She loves him too but she is not willing to accept the injustice of their position. When she is hanged for singing a subversive song in the presence of the Archgovernor, Darrow wants revenge. When he is offered the chance to gain it by entering the ranks of the Gold, the highest, most powerful, and most deadly rank, he jumps at it despite the very real risks. But he always was a risk taker so he thinks he can handle anything the Golds can send his way. He is so very wrong - the Golds care only for power, money, and their pride and, if sacrificing their children will help to maintain their position, so be it. One dead kid (or hundreds), even if they're Gold, is a price the powers-that-be are more than willing to pay to keep their place at the top of this brutal world.

It seems since Hunger Games that a new dystopian novel comes out every week. And, like the vampire and zombie tales of late, they were losing their ability to engage. it was all becoming a giant futuristic yawn. It just seemed like there was nothing new under that future sun...until now.

Red Rising is so fast paced, so violent, so in your face that it's impossible to put down. It's Lord of the Flies on steroids and it's a guaranteed night without sleep. It's also one of the best books I've read this year. So if you're a fan of dystopian but feel like it's all be done, take heart, author Pierce Brown has created one very wild, very disturbing foray into the future.

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LibraryThing member yahalomi65

Read on July 19, 2013
format Hardcover (edit)
review It is so refreshing to find a classic Sci-Fi this days. I really want to leak my fingers because it also a very quality one. I liked the philosophy behind- Greece culture Vs. Roman culture (especially when Darrow answer to Cicero with Plato and the

fact that they fight against the Olympus - oh! how much I enjoy this moment). In the book Mr. Brown question the idea of the "week" democratic society through replacing it with a very strict hierarchic society. He really make you go through many sociology science ideas.... and... in away one of the ideas inside do remind me GATTACA... read and understand.

He also made his hero (Darrow)going through hell and back, in a way that you can't be indifferent even for one sec.

Sevro is hands down my favorite in some weird way it remind me Yossarian from "Catch-22". In my eye he really represent the main idea of the book of things that don't look as they seem (same as his father).
Mustang is also awesome, and the smartest character in this book, and I think that putting her in Minerva (actually Athena)house fit her well.

Every thing happen on Mars - in allegory to house of Mars - god of war - but the true face of him actually belong to Ares (the less sophisticated Greece image of the god of war).... and those who will go and read the book will understand my statement.

The red people (the lowest in the food chain) live very short hard life (they married, get children and die early), but as compensation to this hardship they "believe" in the greater target of pioneers who will open the new frontier for the rest of humanity and they don't knew that this is a total lie as all their aspect of life controlled by the higher hierarchy from food to knowledge. They live simply and have their songs and dance to balance their dreary lives. From them grew the rebellion movement - Ares that will do everything to get out from this slavery.... And the Gold people..... is all the way on the opposite side of the scale.....Here I must stop because I am a strict believer that people should read and have their own impression and the feel of things.

All I can say that I am looking forward to anything that Pierce Brown is going to write and I really glade that he didn't study in Hogwart...and wonder which state he spent his life has he using the metric system which I understand better.

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LibraryThing member MaryJensen

HOLY. DEAR. GOD.

I am a dystopian junkie. Hunger Games, Battle Royale, A Brave New World, Life As We Knew It, Legend. I've read them all. Loved most of them. So I requested this book as a ARC, thinking it would be a fun read, a fun way to spend down time on a trip I had coming up.

This book BLEW MY

MIND. "Exciting new voice" is such a cliche, but I feel like I have to use it here. I hereby pledge to buy and read ANYTHING written by Pierce Brown for the rest of his career.

Darrow has a dangerous, adrenaline-fueled job underground on Mars, mining helium stores in order to make life on the surface livable for other pilgrims from Earth. He is a Red, the lowest class in society, but is content with his life, good at his job, and madly in love with his wife, Eo. Until she is executed by the ArchGovernor of Mars, and he goes in undercover as a Gold to exact his revenge.

So many characters to love. So much action to keep the plot moving. Truly, this is dystopian fiction in a way that I've never seen it done before. And I LOVED it!!!

No excuses. Everyone go buy this book. Pre-order it. Make sure you have it in your hand the day it comes out. Genius like this cries out to be rewarded.

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LibraryThing member dixielandcountry.com

****The best book I have read in a long time****
Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he digs all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of the planet livable for future generations. Darrow has

never seen the sky.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better future for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks 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 joins a resistance group in order to infiltrate the ruling class and destroy society from within. He will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Wow what a great read. This book is hands down the best novel set in a dystopian time that I have ever read. It grabs you right from the start and then you are off on some kind of ride. You can't even begin to understand how hard life is for our main character Darrow and his fellow Reds on Mars.

The book is dark and even a bit horrific but don't let that scare you away. You have to read this book! The main character Darrow is so badass and yet so loving at the same time, the girls are gonna love him and the guys want to be him. I am sure there will be a second book in the near future, and I would not be surprised if they didn't even have a movie in the works as well.

Do yourself a favor and pre order this book now. You will want to get your hands on this one as soon as you can.

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LibraryThing member bookappeal

In the large field of dystopian fiction, Red Rising stands out as one of the best. Pierce Brown employs a few too many divisions between them inhabitants of his world - groups are identified by colors such as Reds, Golds, etc., depending on their influence and roles in the community - but the

characters he creates are compelling and Darrow's mission is complex and sure to create conflict within him as the series progresses. The resolution was a bit hard to fathom but the survival adventures, shifting alliances, and clever schemes up to that point keep the plot moving.

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LibraryThing member revslick

Decent setup - dystopian society secretly keeping a class of slaves yet in reality harboring a maddening realm of brutal war and violence built upon an inhumane cast system. Unfortunately, it quickly turns into a cheap Hunger Games knockoff with shallow character. By the end, I was left yearning

for a character I cared about.
After chatting with my son who's reading it now, we agree this is a combination of Hunger Games meets Ender's Game, which goes up in the ratings in my book.

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LibraryThing member dpappas

My people sing, we dance, we love. That is our strength. But we also dig. And then we die. Seldom do we get to choose why. That choice is power. That choice has been our only weapon. But it is not enough.

So pretty much everyone and their mother, but me, loved this book. I came in not knowing what

to expect but what I got was a book filled with characters that I could not relate to and did not like, and a plot that alternated between boredom and excessive gore used to ramp up the shock and awe.

I should have known that I would end up not liking this book when I started it and hated the beginning. I was thrown off by the fact that the main character, Darrow, is only sixteen and already married. The love between Darrow and Eo felt like puppy love. I also didn't like how the events in the beginning only seem to be something to motivate Darrow to do something he would never have done. I was just a bit baffled how things ramped up out of nowhere.

When Darrow infiltrates the institute with the kids from Gold I really started to get bored with this book. Besides my boredom there were also moments in this book that seemed unnecessarily gory. I did start to become more interested in the book towards the end but then Darrow has to go and make his big decision at the end that I hated.

Even though I didn't like this book I wouldn't discourage anyone else from reading it. Plenty of people liked this and you might too. Needless to say I won't be continuing on with this trilogy.

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LibraryThing member ethel55

Darrow is a Helldiver, mining in the underground area of Mars for helium-3, which they have done for generations, in hopes of preparing Mars for a real colony. Quickly, we learn the 'Reds' have been working to maintain a society that is already flourishing aboveground. Everyone is ranked by

color/job. with Golds being the leaders. I saw this on a couple of best of lists for 2014, and with the second book out this month, I thought I better read it. So many, myself included, found the first part of this book to be slow and confusing. The world-building and growth of Darrow is a mix of Greek-Roman-Spartan-Hogwartish chaos and when he reaches the Institute, a much more violent (and less televised) HG take-off. The end, did I mention there's a lot of violence, does come through with a better story and I will tackle Golden Son when it arrives from the library. I think it's too bad the beginning was so tough to get into, I would imagine a lot of the target audience may give up on it.

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LibraryThing member GreatImaginations

DNF for now. I am not enjoying at all some of the themes I am reading. I will try to pick it up again at another time when I am in the mood for something more depressing.

LibraryThing member GSB68

The Entertainment weekly review was spot on Ender's Game meets Hunger Games. I felt like Darrow's motivation is clearer than Ender's and even Katniss'.

Can't wait to see where this leads. Great book.

LibraryThing member thehistorychic

Read/Listened for Fun (Library Book)
Overall Rating: 4.50
Story Rating: 4.75
Character Rating: 4.25

Audio Rating: 2.50 (not part of the overall rating)

First Thought when Finished: Red Rising by Pierce Brown was such a surprise to me. I LOVED IT!

Overall Thoughts: I am going to admit that when I read the

synopsis I wasn't sold. If it wasn't for Jessica from Rabid Reads and Lupdilup from Hot Listens I wouldn't have looked twice. It sounded like another typical YA Dystopian (which usually let me down on the final book) BUT this didn't read YA at all. Yes the characters are young in age but that is where it stops. What they do, how they do it, how they think, and how they live are all very adult. The violence is VERY adult rated. There is marriage, death, love, sex, jobs, and life happening to these young in age characters. They treat all these things more like adults than teenagers. Someone asked me how would I describe this: Think of it as a very violent Tale of Two Cities (caste system breeding disdain) with a bit of The North and The South (slowly watching a country being torn apart by a break in ideals but where in the beginning it is small pockets of people growing to larger numbers). It really is about war but in Red Rising it is more pre-war when all the maneuvering, spying, and ground work is laid. I think this is going to be a crazy wild ride.

Audio Thoughts:

Narrated By Tim Gerard Reynolds / Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins

Time Gerard Reynolds really did a good job but I had a hard time wrapping my head around the narration. This is a strong case where the audio didn't work for me book 1 but I am guessing it will book 2 (the characters are older and I am more familiar with them). We will see because I plan on giving it a shot.

Final Thoughts: Read this book! You will be surprised I think!

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LibraryThing member Nodosaurus

I have to say that this book is disappointing in many ways.

The setting is interesting and has a lot of potential, but this author could not carry it off. The writing is decent and at times good, but the storytelling and the characters are a problem.

The story takes place on Mars in a highly

stratified society where mobility isn’t possible, even when some believe it is. The protagonist, Daro, is just about perfect except for his anger and foul language, yet no one really faults him for this. He is chosen by the Sons of Ares to be transformed by genetic engineering and training into a gold, the top strata of society, stronger, smarter, faster reflexes, better in every way. He is not the type of person who would be likely to succeed at this, nor the type the Sons of Ares would select.

There are opportunities for strong symbolism usage which the author started but didn’t play with. One is dance. His people dance to celebrate life and to forget their problems. Dance was important in the early parts of the book, then almost forgotten. The other was the allusion to Roman mythology, sometimes Greek. The leaders have taken on the persona of Roman gods, the secret organization which helps him is the Sons of Ares, yet this isn’t really explored.

Whoever edited the book for continuity and content didn’t do his job, if there was anyone who tried. The author seems to write from the beginning to the end of the book without going back for edits, on several occasions the author writes himself into a corner then uses a plot device to write himself out when going back and adding a relevant scene or two could have handled the problem.

Another editing fault is that, after his transformation, Daro is constantly explaining his ability to leap or run due to Mars’ lower gravity, tell the author it is 38%, not 37%, having lived his entire life on Mars Daro would have nothing else to compare it to, that is all he knows. He should attribute any changes to his genetic engineering.

His female characters are either plot devices, such as his wife, who adores him, yet seems to withhold important information, specifically about his world being a lie, then reveals it all at a single event and pointlessly sacrifices herself to further the plot. He talks about women being fighters and leaders, but doesn’t demonstrate it through the story other than a single woman-on-woman battle.

I can go on, issues include: using conflict as a way to improve the species when they have genetic engineering, pacing of the book is too fast at important points, leaders not noticing that their game is fixed, leaders not using armies or other force when their Olympus is invaded, military tactics that just don’t make sense or were used in the middle ages and somehow forgotten, how Daro could possibly have learned what he needed – the Sons of Ares could not have known.

I don't think people should waste time on. this book when there are so many good ones out there.

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LibraryThing member Snowstorm14

This is how you write a dystopian novel. No stupid unnecessary love triangles. No inane quests. No silly dialogue thrown in to add to the word count and fill in the pages. In short, this is one of the best books I've read in a long time.

There are going to be inevitable comparisons with The Hunger

Games, but this novel stands on its own merit. I'm most amazed by the quality of the writing. The dialogue is spot on, the plot grabbed me within the first 50 pages and the pace is unrelenting. All the major characters are true to life and not just one-dimensional. And what a story! You'd be hard pressed to find a better tale from a veteran writer.

I won't spill the beans on the plot but I guarantee you it will appeal even to the most jaded of readers of this genre. There are revelations of many orders of magnitude and they never are forced or seem implausible. No doubt there are elements that have been done before, but rarely with such skill.

It's hard to believe that this is the author's first novel. You could have fooled me. Rarely do I go ape over a book but in this case I'm more than willing to make an exception. If you can read, pick this up. Yes the hype you heard is true, this book does kick ass. An emphatic 5 stars.

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LibraryThing member everfresh1

I loved it. The best of Ender's Games and Hunger Games - just even better. Non-stop action that is done in a very smart way. The setup is not terribly original but I didn't think about it while trying to finish this book as fast as possible. I was totally engrossed, which doesn't happen to me very

often.

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LibraryThing member UnrulySun

I'm a huge fan of dystopian books, both adult and YA, but I couldn't finish this one. The idea has been overplayed recently, and this is just another in the list. I found the writing style juvenile and self-indulgent.

LibraryThing member TeamDewey

If you liked the" Hunger Games" you will like this. It was in the adult section but the main characters are all teens.

LibraryThing member ehousewright

Hmmm-- think I've read this before? No, just something(s) very like it. Well done, keeps your interest and easy to read.

LibraryThing member amandacb

I feel alone in my critical corner over here, but I have to be honest -- I had such high hopes for Red Rising and I had to abandon it about halfway through. The action doesn't really begin until 30% into the book; until then, it's a lot of world-building without details. You are just kind of thrown

into a world (a fascinating world) with all of its slang and drama. I was confused for too much of the book, and then when the protagonist infiltrated the higher echelon, it just became too unbelievable, no matter how much I tried to suspend my reality.

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LibraryThing member sunqueen

This was a good read, that stared a little slowy for me but really picked up once the action started. It has shades of the "Gone" series, Hunger Games, and even a bit of Pretties. It left me wanting more, and waiting for the next book to come out.

LibraryThing member CinderH

The story is good, but I didn't care much for the writing though I got used to it. It felt just a bit clumsy and clunky to me. I felt there was to much telling what happened and not showing me. It made the characters feel wooden, though I guess Darrow would have to be a bit unfeeling and driven as

a character. It was very violent and by the end it wasn't shocking and the battles got a bit boring. I'd check out the next installment, but I hope there is more story and intrigue/politics in it.

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