Red Rising by Pierce Brown is an epic science fiction/fantasy. Red Rising is part of The Hunger Games meets Ender’s Game all based in a planetary society heavily influenced by ancient Rome. Red Rising is the first book in the Red Rising Saga which consists of an original trilogy and a second trilogy. The Red Rising Saga is comprised of 6 books so far. The book is about high and low society defined by the color of your skin, genetics, and a family house. The book is deep in philosophy and sociology. The book discusses what a society is, how it is run, and more importantly how it could be run. The world-building is very impressive we get a full new society that has a color-based hierarchy and a society that expands planets that have their history. Red Rising feels like 3 books in one that is part spy, part epic fantasy, and science fiction. This is one of the best debut novels that I have read, I can’t believe it was done by a first-time writer in terms of dialogue, description, and characters. This book is full of twists and turns, some you see coming, and some that are shocking betrayals. The novel is brutal at times showing society’s worst impulses such as rape, murder, depravity, and peeing on a defeated foe, the murder gets a little graphic but everything else is not graphic. The pace of the novel is very rapid, there are some slow moments but they are always interesting, and balanced by intense action. This book is bleak which will turn off some readers, sometimes it is a little too close to home in terms of being ruled by not the greatest people but the ones who have the most money and power. This book took me back to reading Ender’s Game for the first time as both were books that I connected to instantly. This is my second time reading Red Rising I loved it and appreciated it more this time. Red Rising by Pierce Brown was published on January 28, 2014.

Plot Summary: Darrow is a “red” known for having red hair and can withstand intense heat, he is 16 and works in the mines to terraform Mars for society, and he eventually lives on the surface with his wife Eo. Eo is a realist while Darrow is a dreamer and only sees the surface of what goes on. Darrow is a Helldriver a miner that operates one of the deepest drills. There’s a production contest that Darrow has just won for his clan, and while he’s ecstatic Eo is dour at this. When it comes to the big contest Darrow loses even though everyone knows he’s won. Eo tries to cheer him up by taking him to a forbidden place where they can see the stars. They make love and are caught as they come back to the village Darrow takes the lashes but Eo will not and sings a forbidden song that she knows she will be executed for and is, by a “gold” the blonde elites that built society. The last thing she tells Darrow is to break the chains that hold society back. Darrow can’t take his wife’s death and decides to die, the golds want her body to be left up but Darrow cuts it down and seals his fate to be put to death. Before he can get put to death he gets drugged to look dead and is reborn by a terrorist organization called Sons of Aires. Darrow learns that Mars has already been terraformed with a whole society living on its surface. Darrow has been lied to his whole life about resources. The Sons of Aries have a plan that will turn Darrow into a Gold by a genetic carver. The plan is fueled by Darrow’s anger, he must enroll at a Gold school but his son learns this school teaches Gold how to kill, survive, and rule.

What I Liked: The twists and turns in this story are great, you get a feeling early on that no supporting character is safe. I love the world-building of this book and how detailed and unique it is. The supporting characters are very memorable and I did not get confused about who was who. This book is heavy on characters. I will say that the wolf pack is hard to distinguish who’s who, but that is kind of by design. The story is your typical hero-rising story but brown sunk me in so deeply to these characters that I even felt connections to horrible characters. I liked the language and the meaning of the words. Even on a rereading I still felt every betrayal even though I knew it was coming. I liked the devices and advanced technology and how it was used in the story. The first killing at the school was so heartbreaking. There’s a clever Ender’s Game acknowledgement when talking about great leaders and Wiggen is mentioned which is Ender’s last name.

What I Disliked: I wanted more history on the Red’s banned song, and where it came from. I would have liked a better description of the individual members of the wolf pack before they turned into the wolf pack and acted as one.

Recommendations: This book is so great. It hooked me so easily and reminded me of when I was young and found Ender’s Game. This book is one of my favorites. The Red Rising original trilogy is in my top trilogy category. This book ends in a great place to lead into the next book Golden Son. I highly recommend this book.

Rating: I rated Red Rising by Pierce Brown 4.8 out of 5.