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

Oct 16, 2014 Matthew rated it really liked it

I approached Red Rising with excitement and anticipation... and sweet mother of God was I not let down!

Red Rising tells the story of Darrow, a Helldiver on Mars. Darrow is a Red, one of a caste of people who are relegated to living deep in the bowels of Mars under the notion that they are working (by mining gas) to make the surface of Mars habitable for future generations. Except this is a lie. It turns out that Mars has been habitable for generations, and the Golds are maintaining the lie in o I approached Red Rising with excitement and anticipation... and sweet mother of God was I not let down!

Red Rising tells the story of Darrow, a Helldiver on Mars. Darrow is a Red, one of a caste of people who are relegated to living deep in the bowels of Mars under the notion that they are working (by mining gas) to make the surface of Mars habitable for future generations. Except this is a lie. It turns out that Mars has been habitable for generations, and the Golds are maintaining the lie in order to protect their system of slavery and castes.

Inevitably Red Rising will be compared to other dystopian books like the Hunger Games... with the poor protagonist rising up against the rulers, a competition, and the Institute... but trust me... Red Rising is better... oh so much better.

Red Rising starts slow, but quickly picks up and reaches amazing levels of darkness, depravity, and horror. I absolutely loved the world that Brown created. The descriptions of the futuristic society on Mars, with its varied cultures and peoples, blew my mind. I also found the early chapters, where Brown introduces Darrow and describes his job as a Helldiver, to be fascinating (albeit a little slow). What propels this book into awesome territory however is its narrative. The dialogue alone ripped my emotional state to shreds, and I felt gaping holes appear in my heart at Darrow's plight as events unfolded around him. There is a certain rawness and hardness to Red Rising that works horribly well as you work through the story. By the end of it I was an emotional wreck, trying to deal with all the chaos that was unleashed.

Red Rising also captures perfectly the lengths humans will go to to hurt each other and to maintain their power. I was shocked at how depraved and cruel some of the characters were, and it certainly added to the poignancy and keen sense of darkness that lingered all throughout the story.

I also loved reading about the rivalries between the Houses, and I adored how Brown took the reader to the frontline as the rival competitors attempted to best each other, and as Darrow's attempts to bring down the system that has caused him and his caste so much pain unfolded.

All in all Red Rising is one of those books that comes along and just slaps you in the face... gripping yet also terrible. I could not put it down, and I cannot wait to read the sequel Golden Son.

4 out of 5 stars! ...more

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Nov 05, 2015 Thomas Stacey rated it it was amazing

Reread Aug 2023: decided to reread all the Red Rising books in anticipation of reading Lightbringer (and hoping Red God will be almost out by the time i catch up!). Decided to listen to it this time - good narration. Still a great book, but easily the simplest of the series. Looking forward to listening to Golden Son!

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A great start to a truly exceptional trilogy. I tend to avoid Sci-Fi, as I find it usually sacrifices plot and character development f ...more

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Dec 27, 2020 Lianne Pheno rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.5/5
https://delivreenlivres.home.blog/202...

Ce premier tome reste bien marqué YA pour moi, mais il se lit bien et l’intrigue est fluide.

J’ai réussi assez facilement a ne pas me focaliser sur les points que j’aimais moins et j’ai trouvé l’ensemble prenant.

Alors de quoi ça parle?
Darrow est un Rouge et a 16 ans. Il fait parti des pionniers qui depuis quelques générations creusent le sous sol de Mars pour en extraire les matériaux qui permettent de terraformer la planète encore en cours.
Les caste s ...more

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Jan 11, 2015 Jeremy Szal rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-collection, books-in-my-collection, favourites, science-fiction

Listened to the Graphic Audiobook. Bloodydamn amazing. I hope they do the whole series.

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Jul 03, 2014 W.G. Saraband rated it liked it

I struggled with this book.

It is very well-written, and it is a page-turner. The story is good, but this is where the main problem lies: it is not original.

"Red Rising" is good, but frankly, it is hardly original. Darrow's thirst for revenge is a tale we have heard before, pitting young boys and girls against each other in a mortal conflict too. It may be executed differently and with a different purpose (we'll have to wait for the following books to be sure), but more than simple references, "R ...more

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