Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1) in Fantasy-Faction.com

Jun 05, 2018 David Zampa rated it really liked it

Shelves: space-opera, favorites

This book has a few weaknesses, but it’s still a strong beginning to an epic, unforgettable saga that eventually improves upon all this book’s strengths and fixes all its flaws.

I have some intense conflicting feelings about this review. On the one hand I can find a number of things to criticize about this book, but on the other hand I don’t want to do or say anything to keep people from reading it because the trilogy as a whole is an obsessively good reading experience I want to share with anyon ...more

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Dec 06, 2014 Paul rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-paperback

Video Review(8m): https://youtu.be/3JsqXOSlLjM

Borrowing many different ideas and tropes from other YA dystopian novels during the first half of Red Rising caused me to be quite skeptical that this was going to be more of the same. Sure, Pierce Brown writes Red Rising with an urgency and style that I might like more than authors like Marissa Meyer, James Dashner, or Suzanne Collins, nevertheless, it all seemed so familiar and unoriginal. It was a little less than halfway through when the story ma Video Review(8m): https://youtu.be/3JsqXOSlLjM

Borrowing many different ideas and tropes from other YA dystopian novels during the first half of Red Rising caused me to be quite skeptical that this was going to be more of the same. Sure, Pierce Brown writes Red Rising with an urgency and style that I might like more than authors like Marissa Meyer, James Dashner, or Suzanne Collins, nevertheless, it all seemed so familiar and unoriginal. It was a little less than halfway through when the story made me angry with Brown's choices when things changed for me. Soon, through the unpredictable and harrowing narrative, I saw that Brown built a narrative about trust and the many unstable possibilities that a young man faces when he tries to change.

Red Rising begins in the underground mines of Mars with our pov character Darrow, a Red, who is a part of the lowest social caste. Darrow is a miner helping make Mars inhabitable for future generations until Darrow finds out that everything is a lie. Mars is already inhabited and the society leaders, the Golds, keep the Reds in ignorance about the real world. With nothing left to live for, Darrow volunteers to join a terrorist group that wants to take down the system and create everyone as equals, but to do so Darrow must undergo strenuous surgery to become what he hates the most, a Gold. Disguised as a Gold, Darrow enters the Institute School and is thrown into a game of survival of the fittest where he must take control and lead, or die.

This book is written rather well because Brown is mimicking the pacing and style of most young adult dystopian novels on purpose but adds a cinematic flair during action scenes that grabs the reader. Each chapter ends with a revelation or tension that makes the reader want to continue. Because of the short chapters with hook endings, the book reads quickly. Instead on Earth, we are on Mars, a planet with less gravity, and instead of a traditional military school, the students play a real war game that mimics the harshness of the real world. The idea is that through this war game they will learn everything they need to learn to be the masters of their society, cruel, uncaring, but efficient and deadly Golds. The most powerful student at the end of the war game, that captures the other eleven houses' will have an easier time ascending to power in the real society, a position Darrow needs to destroy the society from within.

Where this book really succeeds for me is with the friendships between Darrow and his followers. Sevro, Roque, Pax, and Mustang are fantastic characters that Darrow ends up trusting even though they are Golds. They teach Darrow that people are more complicated than just the label that are given to them and that Golds can become good people too. This sets up the largest inner-conflict of the series, Darrow is hiding who he really is from his closest friends, but would they accept him if they knew the truth?

There are scenes within this war game that are a bit disturbing. Because this game is supposed to mature these students by many years relatively quickly, horrible things happen which include murder, rape, and atrocities committed by these students. This is the point in the book that angered me. I wasn't comfortable at all with this situation and really questioned if this was necessary. Even though the rapes weren't talked about in detail, a portion of the story had to deal with how things like this are punished by those that are leading these mini-societies in the game. Darrow, being a leader, has to punish a rapist and his decision on how to do this impacts how other people see him. This is going to be the major point of conflict for many people that read this book. Either readers will be completely sold on this idea of a war game, at a school, allowing these horrible things to happen in order to properly train these students in a real world situation of leadership, or they will just not want to read something like this at all. I felt that Brown's ability to keep me interested in the book and completely sell me on this idea with deep character growth and creating a culture within the book that was fascinating was the reason why I ended up enjoying the book.

This book is violent, surprisingly deep, action orientated, with great character relationships, and growth. The YA style of writing really worked and I can see this being one of the most popular series for younger male readers because of the theme of a boy learning how to become a man. It is not without flaws and it is definitely not for everyone. It is basically Ender's Game in a Game of Thrones world and if that sounds interesting to you, check it out.

A High 4/5
20/25 Possible Score
4 - Plot
4 - Characters
4 - World Building
4 - Writing Style
4 - Heart & Mind Aspect

...more

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Aug 24, 2014 Lynn Williams rated it it was amazing

http://lynnsbooks.wordpress.com/2014/...
Just finished reading Red rising by Pierce Brown – I confess that I went into this with maybe slightly negative feelings. I was feeling a little bit meh about another futuristic dystopian novel. Lets face it Collins was to dystopia what Meyers was to Vampires and frankly it became a little bit tedious to say the least. So, let’s just assume I was going to be a little bit of a tougher nut to crack on this novel than I sometimes feel when I start reading. Th http://lynnsbooks.wordpress.com/2014/...
Just finished reading Red rising by Pierce Brown – I confess that I went into this with maybe slightly negative feelings. I was feeling a little bit meh about another futuristic dystopian novel. Lets face it Collins was to dystopia what Meyers was to Vampires and frankly it became a little bit tedious to say the least. So, let’s just assume I was going to be a little bit of a tougher nut to crack on this novel than I sometimes feel when I start reading. This is the first thing that makes it so much more surprising that I totally enjoyed this book. Not only did Brown win me over but he gripped me and had the pages turning so fast that you could be forgiven for thinking I was Johnny 5 – need input!

Okay, the novel gets off to a fairly quick start. We’re introduced in short measure to the mining community and I’m talking about the mining community on Mars! These people work bloody hard – they have to make a quota in order to eat. The idea of luxuries is ridiculous beyond measure. These people have nothing – however, what they do have is love and passion in abundance. In that respect they are rich and their families bathe in the wealth of love that they all hold for each other. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of harsh competition between the different families, which is understandable given the benefits, but they all still have a fairly tight knit community. Now, all that, came across in fairly short measure. Brown has a wonderful eloquence with words that imparts knowledge without impeding the story. What happens next is eye opening for you the reader and for Darrow who is the main protagonist. Yes, we’ve both been taken for a ride here – by someone. There is some pretty deep shit going on here! And, I don’t want to give it away – however, this is a review so I have to write something and I’m going to move the story on without telling you exactly why. Suffice to say that Darrow finds himself in a situation where he is part of a team, warring against other teams for the prize of becoming the best. This is not a fight to the death – this is a game of survival and tactics, a game of politics and making friends where you least suspected. A game where you can rise to the very top.

So, onto a more critical analysis. The setting. Easy to visualise. Nothing too over the top in the way of future sophisticated scenery just a glimpse, not enough to date the story too quickly. Basically the people on earth have discovered ways of colonising other planets. They need a certain gas (found beneath the exterior of Mars – hence the miners) in order to do so.

The characters – we have a brief glimpse at the beginning of the miners and they really do have the pretty fuzzy end of the lollypop, which makes the reveal so much worse. Obviously the main character is Darrow – and he’s a dilemma. He starts off the story with a fire in his belly. He is on a mission which is not necessarily the one he wants but it’s the only chance he has. Having read the book I’m not sure about Darrow I don’t dislike him, in fact the opposite, however I think that Brown is clearly trying to get across how a person is influenced by their environment. Darrow is in a competition and he wants to win. Of course he wants to win for a purpose and yet reading the story does he also start to become a tiny little bit like the people he most hates – anyway, I move into other realms. There are plenty of characters, slimy two timers, hench-can’t-be-stopped-don’t-mess-with-me-mothers and straight-up-crazy-arsed-in-a good-way-runs-with-wolves-and-scares-the-shit-out-of-everyone-way types. Basically there are good guys and bad guys on every team, in fact there are right and wrong people in every strata – and that’s the way it is and it starts to come out as the story goes along.

Anyway, the whole dystopia boils down to the fact that society has become segregated. People are born and live into a colour that defines them for the rest of their lives. Reds are miners, Golds are the top echelon of society and then there are a whole variety of colours in-between. Looked at in that way and in the way that the book is written it seems almost an exaggerated take on the class system. There are more stratas than upper, middle and lower class but at the end of the day it boils down to the uppers and lowers which are basically the ones where the disparity are most likely to show issues in any society. As an example, you have people of the upper stratas poncing around on their hover boots chasing young girls to frolic away the afternoon whilst others of the lower factions are struggling to eat and stay alive.

What makes this book so readable and so intense is the competition that Darrow becomes a part of. It’s really tough. I don’t know whether this is YA, but I personally thought it was due to the age of the main protagonist and yet this gets down right dirty and ugly. This isn’t a simple game of survival – it gets much more tough than that. It’s a gritty read and also reads almost like a straight up fantasy given the setting which during the games is almost mediaeval.

Anyway, this is a very cryptic review because I don’t really want to give too much away. I enjoyed this. I thought the writer’s style was addictive. I found the whole competition intriguing and I’m perfectly sure that I’ve missed a lot of nuances that I’m sure everybody else will pick up on. So read it and tell me what I missed.

A book which I have no hesitation in recommending. ...more

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Jun 18, 2015 Kristen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, audiobooks

(Audiobook review!)
I'm not usually one to get emotional over books (or movies or anything else like that). My sister often gets sort of faux-angry at me when I don't cry at the parts that she cries at in movies. It happens, a few times, but not too often.

But, Jesus guys, the first part of this book fucking destroyed me. It was the bloodydamn destruction of all of the feels that I have. Fuck.

I listened to this book at work too. Becoming a weepy mess at work isn't cool. That's the risk I take, ...more

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