Red Rising (review)

Red Rising by Pierce Brown is one of those books that I heard mentioned by people, but it never quite made it to my radar. At some point I heard another person talk about it and that must have been critical mass for me to decide I should probably read it.

Revolution can be messy, but a little rebellion now and then is a good thing. In Red Rising, the population is divided into strict classes defined by colors. No one steps outside of their class boundary. Our hero, Darrow and his friends and family are “Reds,” the lowest class. They are little better than slaves working in the mines of Mars. They are lied to. They are horribly oppressed in ways that are at times hard to read. But you need to read about it. You need to see how bad it is, so it will be that much sweeter when he sets himself on a course to right the wrong. He will fight the good fight.

Darrow is recruited into a revolutionary group. His body in modified so he can pass for a “Gold,” the elite, the ruling class, who know they are better than everyone else. Yes, the Golds are easy to hate . . . at first. But Darrow gets to see the world through their eyes and has to team up with some of them in a grueling test of grit and leadership. The test lasts most of a year and takes on almost a Hunger Games vibe. The ultimate prize: to gain a position of power. For Darrow, this would mean he might have the means to change the system, to throw the bastards out.

It is a good story of revolution, or rather prerevolution. The events in this book are the things Darrow has to go through before he can have his revolution. That does not mean the events in this book are inconsequential or boring. There is nothing boring about Red Rising.

Once I actually started to read Red Rising, it was hard to put down.

Star liner

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