Authors Summary

Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he digs all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of the planet livable for future generations. Darrow has never seen the sky.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one-day result in a better future 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 joins a resistance group in order to infiltrate the ruling class and destroy society from within. He will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Analysis

Red Rising is the first in a three book sci-fi series. Its followed by Golden Son and Morning Star. I found Red Rising pretty soon after it came out, I enjoyed it and was one of the fans that waited breathlessly for the arrival of each new installment.

I have to say that it is refreshing to find a series that builds on itself with each new book better than the last one. There was a lot of hype for Morning Star and going in I was worried that it wouldn’t live up to the two books preceding it. I had no need to fear, Pierce Brown was able to live up to the expectations.

Like all my reviews there will be no major spoilers.

The plot of the story rests upon a color coded caste system. On the face, it seems like a pretty simple caste system, but Pierce Brown is able to use it to great effect. The story arc is gripping, with multiple characters that are beautifully written.

It’s hard to write about this series without giving up spoilers. I will say that it was awesome watching the main character’s transition from slavery to being a dangerous predator.

This isn’t hard sci-fi, though the science that is mentioned seems to be plausible. I never had any moments of serious disbelief and I can tell that Brown spent a considerable amount of time plotting beforehand.

Parts of the story can be pretty dark, I’m not aware of a GrimDark Sci-Fi genre, but if there was, then this series would probably fall into it. Brown has no problem killing characters off and is able to weave some serious oh shit moments into the story.

Conclusion

This is a series that I would recommend, otherwise I wouldn’t have written a review for it. You can buy Red Rising on Amazon.

This was a review of The Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown | Reviewed by Jake Parrick