Red Rising - Pierce Brown

    2014; 383 pages.  Book 1 (out of 6) in the “Red Rising” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres: Dystopian Fiction; Military Action; Adventure Fantasy.  Overall Rating: 9½*/10.

 

    It’s a dirty job, but Darrow’s got to do it.  After all, he is one of the best Helldivers in underground Mars, tunneling deeply, and dangerously, into the rock to gather precious Helium-3.

 

    He may die doing his job, but Darrow is prepared to make that sacrifice.  Helium-3 is the key to eventually terraforming the Martian surface, something he would love to see someday.

 

    That’s years away, though.  And something a lowly “Red” like Darrow can only dream about.  But now, he’s learned that there’s a secret shaft that you can climb up and maybe glimpse the lifeless Martian surface.  What an opportunity!  That’ll be spectacular!

 

    You don’t know the half of it, Darrow.

 

What’s To Like...

    Although it is set on the planet Mars, Red Rising is first and foremost a Dystopian tale.  The story is told in the First Person POV, Darrow’s; and the book is divided into four Parts, namely:

    Part 1: “Slave”  (@ 1%)

    Part 2: “Reborn”  (@ 13%)

    Part 3: “Gold”  (@ 34%)

    Part 4: “Reaper”  (@ 65%)

 

    The central theme of the book is watching Darrow gradually learn to be a leader.  The culture on Mars is a strict caste society.  Gold is the highest, and Red is the lowest,  As the book’s title implies, Darrow is a lowly Red.  Becoming a leader will be an uphill challenge, and Darrow is going to make his share of mistakes along the way.

 

    The worldbuilding is fantastic.  The story is set in the considerable future since we learn that there are multiple underground Martian colonies and they’ve been there for generations.  Weaponry has advanced accordingly; arms such as scorchers, stunners, thumpers, slingBlades, ionSwords, and ionArrows are now standard issue.  I recall only one strange creature in the story—pitvipers, the bane of Helldivers.  But there are probably more.

 

    I enjoyed the details that Pierce Brown blends into the story.  Darrow learns to play a game called “BloodChess”, and since I’ve been a chessplayer all my life, I’m dying to learn this variant.  Darrow is taught a Kung-Fu-like martial art called “Kravat” and the correct spelling of a governmental system is now “Demokracy”.  On the other hand, youngsters still love to play a game called “Red Knuckles”, which was around when I was growing up.

 

    The book ends at a logical place, with a plot twist that I never saw coming.  Red Rising is part of a 6-book series, and I’m sure the sequel, Golden Son, will continue the timeline of Darrow’s adventure without interruption.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.6/5 based on 94,997 ratings and 6,826 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.27/5 based on 845,123 ratings and 93,395 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “I’ve hidden from everyone but you,” Mustang says.  “It keeps me alive and ticking.”

    “What’s your plan,” I ask.

    She laughs at herself.  “To be alive and ticking.”

    “You’re better at it than I am.”

    “How do you mean?”

    “No one in your House would have betrayed you.”

    “Because I didn’t rule like you,” she says.  “You have to remember, people don’t like being told what to do.  You can treat your friends like servants and they’ll love you, but you tell them they’re servants and they’ll kill you.”  (pg. 267)

 

    “Do you really eat your own Housemembers?”

    “After months in darkness, you eat whatever your mouth finds.  Even if it’s still moving.  It isn’t very impressive, really.  Less human than I would have liked, very much like animals.  And anyone would have done it.  But dredging up my foul memories no way to negotiate.”

    “We aren’t negotiating.”

    “Humans are always negotiating.  That’s what conversation is.”  (pg. 347)

 

Kindle Details…

    Red Rising currently is priced at $5.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the books in the series cost either $9.99 or $12.99.  You can save a couple of bucks by buying the first three books in this series as a bundle for $26.99.

 

“You’re about as pretty as a gargoyle’s wart.”  (pg. 292)

    There's a moderate amount of profanity in Red Rising; I counted 15 instances in the first 10% of the book.  Pierce Brown lessens the cussword-count by utilizing a couple of euphemistic words: “slag” and “gory”.  They are multifunctional; two examples are “slag that” and “bugger my goryballs”.  I’ll let you deduce their meanings.

 

    This is a work of Dystopian Fiction, so things like rape, dismemberment, and slavery are to be expected.  I also recall at least one “adult situation”.

 

    I can’t think of anything to grouse about in Red Rising.  True, the ending doesn’t really tie up any of the main plotlines, but, as mentioned above, it does pause things at an important moment, yet without degenerating into a cliffhanger.

 

    I find the high value of the Amazon and Goodreads ratings fully justified, and the incredible number of people who took the time to rate and/or review tells me this series is immensely popular right now.  Book Two resides on my Kindle, awaiting my attention.

 

    9½ Stars.  One last thing.  Is Red Rising a goryfine read?  You better slagging believe it!