Written by Pierce Brown, published in 2014. Summary and review.
As I left for vacation, I snagged this book to potentially read on the flight. Reviews online were positive and that was enough to get me on board. Right out the gate, you’ve likely heard that this is similar to The Hunger Games. And I’ll second that, it does have a lot of parallels; but, it does have plenty of differences, nuances, and overall better and more adult writing and characters. If you were a fan of The Hunger Games, you’ll definitely be a fan of Red Rising, book 1 in the Red Rising Saga.
I absolutely loved this book, and ended up reading this in three days.
Darrow, our main hero, is a BAMF. For being from a low born “Red” society, he has a solid head on his shoulders, and more importantly, the ability to read others and anticipate actions nearly flawlessly… though luckily (for the story’s sake) he does make some mistakes.
This world is fantastic. A wild universe that spans our real-life solar system with futuristic colonies across the moon, Mars, Jupiter’s moons and beyond. We have different factions of people, all assigned (or born into, re: bred) colors which translate to their respective responsibilities. Golds are the leaders, powerful, rich, and bred for superiority. Obsidian’s are soldiers, Pink’s are sex workers, Blue’s navigate space travel… and so on. And we have the Red’s, the slave race.
Darrow gets thrust into a rebellion and becomes the sneak intruder to infiltrate the gold society. The lengths he must go through are insane. The tests he is put through are insane. This book is insane.
Brown does a masterful job providing a gripping story from beginning to end. Hunger Games (a great book) can suck it. Darrow is the man. You care about these characters. You may even shed a tear… I’m not crying, you’re crying!
TLDR: A fantastic read, front to back. War games, love, betrayal, deception, friendship, loss, and so much more. Eloquently written, gripping, thrilling, and incredible. A near perfect book. Absolutely Recommend. 5/5 Stars.
