Red Rising – Pierce Brown

BOOK REVIEW:

Red Rising

by Pierce Brown

(Red Rising Saga)

Red Rising – Pierce Brown

Red Rising – Pierce Brown

CORINA’S REVIEW

I’m rather late this to this series. I’ve seen the hype, and always have been tempted but never had the time to pick it up. But since I recently purchased the paperback on a whim, and after experiencing a small book slump it was finally the time to crack it open.

And WOW!!!! This is one of the books that deserves all the hype.

The beginning of the book was slow, but around 20% I was HOOKED!!! Not surprising that I’m totally and utterly consumed. Since reading Harry Potter I love anything related to academies, school and institutions that make the characters go through tests and trials. That was also one of the reasons why I absolutely adored Enders Game. Color me shocked when I read how Red Rising was marketed:

Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

Admittedly, right there I should have known that I would love it. The Hunger Games, especially the first book was my most favorite of all, and seeing it being mentioned next to Ender’s Game just confirmed my feelings – I’m in for an epic rollercoaster ride.

Also, I should mention that whenever I get so involved that I start researching characters on wikia, in this case red-rising.wikia.com, I’m beyond help. I went down the rabbit hole willingly and I don’t regret anything – lol.

Now, to the novel.

From 20% on until the very end I couldn’t put the book down.  The characters were intriguing, colorful, and fascinating. Darrow, a flawed and far from perfect character, that manages to be victorious but also still emphatic enough that set backs deeply hurt him, carried this story with outstanding dexterity. His struggles, development and growth were palpable and traceable. And most of all his journey wasn’t without failures – which made this book even more intriguing.

The social hierarchy of this epic series was complex, and the world building as original and fascinating as expected from such a hyped series. The twists and turns in Red Rising already took my breath away. Just a small warning, the author takes no care with his characters, very similar to George R.R. Martin sacrificing characters for the greater good of the arc is something these authors have in common. And maybe that’s a sign why both series have become such worshipped sagas.

Nevertheless I’m already on book 2 and will be finishing book three sometime this week. Afterwards I’ll be waiting to start the second trilogy starting with book 4 closer to the release date of book 5 in February.

In fact I can’t wait to see where this series is taking me.

Notably, Darrow’s mission is as epic as it seems to be impossible. With this in mind I just hope it all has a positive and hopeful outcome. Let’s cross fingers and hope for the best, because I’m on this train until it stops, hopefully without massive casualties.

Red Rising – Pierce Brown

BLURB

Magic Triumphs – Ilona Andrews

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.