Red Rising
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Is this book better than The Hunger Games?
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Olivia
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Aug 14, 2017 11:35AM

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The Hunger Games was a good book series. But, it was almost boring after the first book. Katniss goes back into the arena, and will probably survive. I was also really upset with how much Katniss changed in the end of the series. Hunger Games actually got worse the longer I read it. Red Rising has consistently broken my opinions of trilogies (they always get worse).
They also have amazing plot twists (Hunger Games had a few but they weren't as big) and it's just honest. Hunger Games was toned down and, in my opinion, wasn't particularly detailed about their revolution or their society in general. It focused largely on Katniss's feeling/mental state and the love story (I'm sorry all the fans out there, but I didn't ship Katniss with anyone :(). Red Rising is the opposite. Pierce Brown focuses a lot on the society, it's history, and the revolution. Well, Darrow is obviously important. But his outlook on the society was clearer than Katniss's view of everything around her.
Hunger Games is not a bad book series. But I found it predictable and rather frustrating by the time I was halfway through the third book. The third book of Red Rising, though, was amazing. I mowed through that tome in a very short time. It took me a month to finish the third book of Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games was a good book series. But, it was almost boring after the first book. Katniss goes back into the arena, and will probably survive. I was also really upset with how ..."
Exactly. I liked the first book of the Hunger Games, the second was okay, and then the third, well, I saw the first part of "Mockingjay" in theaters, so spoiler there!!! Red Rising kept me in constant suspense until the very last book. Granted, I did guess the climax of the third book down to the last detail (and enjoyed every minute of it) and wondered at the magnificence of Pierce Brown's - I mean, Darrow's thought process.
The books were so amazing! I actually felt like I was experiencing a revolution with Darrow. I felt his pain. His sorrow. His dreams. His regrets. His wishes. His friendships. And every decision he made, from the first book to the third, was in keeping with what kind of character he truly was. I loved that!

It kept me 2 days reading 3 hours per day without moving my eyes from the book so I would recommend it by far.

It kept me 2 days reading 3 hour..."
I think the political depth of the book and the increased (however realistic) violence kept my interest. There was so much more depth with characters besides "this character is evil" and "this character is good." Each character had flaws; bad and good. I liked that about it. To a certain extent, even some of the bad, detestable characters had good things about them (for example, loyalty, friendship, commitment).

Yes I thought the same while I was reading the book, you dont know how each one is going to act.
That's the reason this book has lots of plot twists, I enjoyed it so much the way the characters personality its done.
So I think this saga is much more adult and deep than Hunger Games or Maze Runner or etc and more sci-fi focused, based on the huge and well done universe,environment,technologies,social hierarchy... The author is amazing in that way too.



I think the Hunger Games was good as a trilogy - there was just no ingenuity or description as the books progressed. We were limited to Katniss's point of view and - quite honestly - her dilemma over Gale and Peeta. Though Darrow had a romantic relationship with Mustang and a tiny attraction to Victra during the second installment, it did not overrun or halt the plot of the story-line but actually advanced it. I feel that the Hunger Games series would have been a lot better if the love triangle was not constantly at the forefront of thoughts and we'd had the chance to see Panem drawn out in a little more detail.
After all, both Katniss and Darrow were the symbols of rebellion for their countries (be it a galaxy or Panem) but Darrow actually had a grasp of how important it was and tried to be worthy of his position where Katniss didn't seem to know much of anything about the rebellion in her name or do anything besides a few lack-luster speeches to some districts.
Oh, and in the Hunger Games, where was the rest of the world while this was going on? Did Europe or Russia or China or Korea have anything to say about what was happening in Panem (North America)? Or was the rest of the world just - GONE?

That for the most part is what made me feel that the 2nd and 3rd book were lack luster in my opinion. with that being said the hunger game series was well written but compared to other books she has written such as Gregor the Overlander series it was not as consistent as I would have liked. But as I said the issue was how I saw the plot not with how she wrote it.

That would leave Hunger Games open for an expanded world, which, if done right, might be a much more interesting take than the hunger games themselves.

Exactly!

I think while the Hunger Games and Red Rising have similar settings, they are meant for different audiences. Hunger Games was most definitely meant for a younger audience, while Red Rising was definitely meant for adults, and so the writing reflects that. Hunger Games has good characters and a somewhat good story, but it's a much easier read and doesn't delve into the details of what's going on very much or flesh out the characters as well as Red Rising does.
With Red Rising, the author takes the time to let you get to know the characters, and he really goes into the world they're living in and what they have to deal with on a day to day basis and what they have to overcome. In The Hunger Games you only get a glimpse of that stuff.

Red Rising had more of a political aspect to it than the Hunger Games. Also, Hunger Games was a bit more predictable, in Catching Fire Katniss returns into the games and everything from there up to there escape seemed pretty repetitive to the first book. (It wasnt new and exciting seeing as we already experienced it all in the first book). Red Rising had more characters and more uncertainty amongst those characters, many times you'd be wondering who Darrow would choose to trust and who he would end up trusting with his secret, what a character may or may not do considering their political views and past relationships.
Overall, I would have to give Red Rising the edge over The Hunger Games. I look forward to the next trilogy by Pierce Brown; Iron Gold, which will be taking place 10 years after the end of Morning Star and showing how the society and everything re-adjusted after the fall of the Sovereign.

Red Rising had more of a..."
Yeah. I'm pre-ordering Iron Gold as soon as I get my next paycheck. It looks so awesome and I want to know more. I hope Brown sticks to his riveting story-line. Usually, in a series, the story starts to drag the longer it goes on. He managed to avoid that stereotype with his first three books of the series. I hope Iron Gold does not disappoint.
Either way, I'll be reading it!

I'm happy to see this discussion because I was also wondering who enjoyed red rising more than hunger games.
Before I read red rising I read critics on goodreads. And a lot of people were saying that it was almost a copy of hunger games (and divergent). But for me, it's really different: darker, more violent, deeper, with a better macro view of the world ...
Personally, I thought the love part with katniss boring (too long) contrary to Darrow where it's acceptable and may be useful to explain his personality and keep him going forward in the story for his own and everyone's good.
And the best parts of the red rising trilogy are certainly their plots and unpredictable moves and characters.
I'll be reading iron gold too, for sure ;)

Would love to see a high budget movie of red rising just imagine the battles!

Sorry for the mistakes and the bad English, The Frenck have never been good in English ^^

Would love to see a high b..."
That would be awesome if they made it a movie. But personally, I'm a little bit afraid of them doing so. Hollywood has a reputation for really screwing up the movie when it was based on the book. I don't want to see my favorite characters in Red Rising misplayed or utterly changed. I'd be alright if they never made a movie . . . I've already watched it in my head a half a million times or more.


Red Rising has more complex themes than Hunger Games. It involves more political and social manipulation, and book 2 seems somewhat influenced by Game of Thrones (which ironically, I don't particularly care for one way or another). Hunger Games easily fits into the YA genre, while Red Rising is more ambiguously placed.



To be quite honest, I actually dislike Darrow a lot. But I think that attests to how good RR really is. Even though the main character of the story doesn't appeal to me, the "side" characters make it so worth it. Sevro, Ragnar, Victra to name a few. Mainly Sevro. He's the freaking best. Ragnar made me ugly sob, but that's a different topic.
In HG, I hated Katniss. And I mean hated Katniss. But the other characters were just as superficial as she was. Peeta was too plain for me, and the relationship the two had together just didn't.. really.. do anything for me. I was more of a Gale person, but then they never really showcased him the way he should have been either so there's that.
I feel like HG had so much potential but the author catered to what her readers liked from the first book and never moved from that comfort zone. Because of that, her stories became redundant. Whereas RR, they ran with the idea of a revolt and built it up so well from the beginning. And before it could get close to being redundant, the second trilogy brings in the POV from other characters! I haven't read the second trilogy yet but I can already tell that the story is definitely not going to be redundant.
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