Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Red Rising (Red Rising, #1)

by Pierce Brown

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, BUZZFEED, GOODREADS AND SHELF AWARENESS

Pierce Brown's heart-pounding debut is the first book in a spectacular series that combines the drama of Game of Thrones with the epic scope of Star Wars.

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'Pierce Brown's empire-crushing debut is a sprawling vision . . . Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow' - Scott Sigler, New York Times bestselling author of Pandemic

'[A] top-notch debut novel . . . Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field' - USA Today

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Darrow is a Helldiver, one of a thousand men and women who live in the vast caves beneath the surface of Mars, generations of people who spend their lives toiling to mine the precious elements that will allow the planet to be terraformed. Just knowing that, one day, people will be able to walk the surface of the planet is enough to justify their sacrifice. The Earth is dying, and Darrow and his people are the only hope humanity has left.

Until the day Darrow learns that it is all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down at Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

Until the day Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside.

But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda.

Reviewed by Kelly on

5 of 5 stars

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Reviewed by hubby
4½ Stars
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/01/professor-birdbrain-red-rising-review.html
This dystopian take on science fiction is a journey into the unknown, a fantastic blend of two worlds crashing into one another with utter devastation left in its wake. The story starts out with meager beginnings in Lycos a mining colony underneath the inhospitable surface of Mars. Darrow is what is known as a Hell Diver, a drill operator where he and his fellow miners are mining Helium 3, the life source of the civilization. Helium 3 is the life blood of terraforming technology and it is needed to transform the surface of Mars.

A tyrannical government is in power all people are divided by colour, Reds are the workers that toil away under the surface to transform their world they are the lowest of the low, pinks born into a life of slavery to the pleasures of the upper echelons of the society. The top of the pile are the Gold population and as their name suggests, who sport the arrogance of royals, and use brutality as their weapons against all other. They are monstrously over sized with the aid of genetic engineering and ugenics. The golds demeanor is quite evident that they are gods among men, and with their technology this is at least partly true.

After a tragic incident involving Darrow and his wife Eo, his world collapses around and nothing will ever be the same. Contacted by the terrorist group The Son's of Ares, Darrow undertakes a mission to change the face of the society for ever.

The reader will be fully immersed within the story. There are plot twists galore, but they are all done extraordinarily well. The immersion just keeps drawing you deeper and deeper into the story and before you know it, it's over, and will be left wanting more. The writing style is first person and very well done. The author has mastered the art of capturing the emotions of the characters and portraying them to the reader as if it were you in Darrow's shoes.

I liked the blend of science fiction and dystopian, all neatly set around a plausible near future technology and I applaud the author for doing his research into the field of future fuel sources and its uses. Some of the technology is still a bit far afield, however it still falls well within the realistic realm.

What I didn't like at the beginning, the story seemed to lack explanation. I found out later in the story that was required at the time for the flow of the story to make sense all the way through.

I would recommend reading this book to anybody who enjoys dystopian, but be warned this is not the Hunger Games or Divergent style of dystopian, this is a unique take from a science fiction fantasy take on a totally corrupt power system. But if you enjoyed that style of writing this is definitely your cup of tea. And let's face it, who doesn't enjoy seeing a government system collapse that was based on brutality and slavery.

My only complaint is that the ending seemed too rushed.

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  • Started reading
  • 3 January, 2015: Finished reading
  • 27 January, 2015: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • 27 January, 2015: Finished reading
  • 27 January, 2015: Reviewed