Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)

by Pierce Brown

Without me, she would not eat. Without her, I would not live.

My mother’s smile is one of a woman who has seen what life has to offer and is, at best, bemused.

She hates the Society more than I do. But this is why I love my wife.

The sky above me is a frightening thing. If I stare too intently, I forget gravity’s pull and feel as though I am going to fall into it.

“Death isn’t empty like you say it is. Emptiness is life without freedom, Darrow. Emptiness is living chained by fear, fear of loss, of death. I say we break those chains.

“I live for you,” I say sadly. She kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

An empire cannot be destroyed from without till it is destroyed from within.