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

Aug 16, 2014 Joel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobooks, top-30-favorite

Simply put: A gods damned masterpiece. One of my new favorite books of all time.

Red Rising is the story of Darrow, a "red", the lowest ranking caste in a color-coded society. He is essentially a slave/indentured servant, toiling away as a laborer with no real hope or aspirations. After the brutal death of his wife unfolds a chain of events that results in his rise to an artificial "gold", the ruling caste, Darrow enrolls in a school/competition which will weed out the best golds - the ones fit f Simply put: A gods damned masterpiece. One of my new favorite books of all time.

Red Rising is the story of Darrow, a "red", the lowest ranking caste in a color-coded society. He is essentially a slave/indentured servant, toiling away as a laborer with no real hope or aspirations. After the brutal death of his wife unfolds a chain of events that results in his rise to an artificial "gold", the ruling caste, Darrow enrolls in a school/competition which will weed out the best golds - the ones fit for rule.

While this seeps of "been there, done that", this book is so, so much more. One could say that it is a combination of Hunger Games, Ender's Game, Harry Potter and Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire series, all rolled into one. And by that, I mean the absolute best parts of all of those series, compiled into one near-perfect novel. And, in the way that all of those series/books grabbed me, held me and changed me, so Red Rising has shocked, awed and inspired me.

The book is a first-person narrative of a young man, albeit not a child or preteen as some similar books contain, fighting his way through a faction-oriented brutal test of strength and cunning to prove dominance - one that is riddled with corruption, interference, politics, sabotage and a whole lot of violence. Let me get this out of the way: I'd seen that his book is considered YA, or that some people classified it as that. THIS IS NOT A GODDAMNED YOUNG ADULT BOOK. Having a younger protagonist does not automatically make a book YA. This novel is chock full of violence, adult themes and some profanity, and is certainly not something most in the YA category should probably be reading. It feels like a very, very "adult" book, in a setting that is sometimes associated with the YA genre. This is a good thing.

Let me begin with the absolute #1 thing that grabbed me: Pierce Brown's staggering prose. The closest thing I can compare it to is Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire novels - which I have called my favorite prose of any author, ever, not just the SFF genre. It's succinct, lacking commas, and packed with short sentences that jump off the page. Quotable, edgy and marvelous. I can't say enough about Pierce's use of words, his style, his gumption. Much like Jorg Ancrath in the Broken Empire books, this style of prose is just PERFECT for Darrow, who as the novel progresses gains a ton of similarities to Jorg. Perhaps part of the reason I loved this book so much. This prose is what I would want if I had any talent at all and wanted to write. It's inspiring to me.

The details are fantastic, from the focus on language and appearances to the effects of injuries that don't just magically disappear. The way Brown makes the importance of these details apparent while keeping in line with his prose and story - not making it obvious he's going "LOOK AT THIS DETAIL!" all the time.

The characters are superb - they grow through the novel, endure trials, act fairly realistically, have excellent emotions, dialogue and shades of gray. There's no black and white evil empire; there's always a catch, always that next hitch, the next twist to keep you on your toes. Every time I thought Pierce was heading down a familiar road, he took a sharp left turn away from it. Aside from the protagonist, there was no feeling of plot armor, no characters who were impervious to either death, maiming, or of turning on someone. Brown captures the fear, anger, lust, anguish and excitement of every situation brilliantly.

Very rarely do I come across a book that I find nigh-on impossible to put down, almost physically difficult to cease the consumption of. This rivals any of the best books I've read in that category. I sincerely regret that the next book will not be out until next year, as I'm desperate for more. More of Darrow, more of the golds politics, more of that glorious prose.

As a side note: Tim Gerard Reynolds is SPECTACULAR narrating this audiobook - a signature performance that I would put up against ANY audiobook I've listened to thus far. Just a marvelous piece of reading on his part. ...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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Feb 27, 2015 Ian Marchant rated it it was amazing

Now...

I really liked this. To the point that I ended up reading it at pretty much every possible opportunity.

Very happy to discover that book three is due very soon. Gives me time to read book 2 i guess :-)

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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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Jul 19, 2015 Roland rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2015

4.25⭐️ for me on this one. Do not let reviews where they compare this to Hunger Games deter you! Yes there are similarities but there are also differences. Just as Hunger Games is a different version of Battle Royale. As opposed to "districts" there are colors. Gold=Capital, red=12 etc.. The story of a boy Darrow who is red is transformed to a gold to lead and begin a rebellion against the oppressive Golds. He is thrust into this strategic game of command and conquer. The battles that follow are ...more

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Apr 08, 2014 Jason McDonald rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015, 2016, 2019

2016 Edit:
I went back to reread this book after finishing Morning Star, just as a refresher. And dammit, it's still as good as it was when I read it a year ago. I typically don't reread books either, but these books are just so easy to fall back into. Their like old friends you haven't seen in a while, but can pick back up where you left off. I knew the plot, I knew the twists, but I still loved the fucking thing. Pierce Brown has done a great job, not only with this book, but with the trilogy a ...more

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