Red Rising - Pierce Brown

Published by Hodder & Stoughton/Hachette: London, Great Britain, 2014.
Book 1 of the 'Red Rising' series. Followed by 'Golden Son.'

I have heard of this book series for a while, and had been curious to check it out. The cover suggests that it is a Young-Adult series in the vein of The Hunger Games or Ender's Game, while being set on Mars. There seems to be a school of some sort which the hero is going to fight their way through in order to be accepted into a future role - so, The Will of the Many? Or even Harry Potter? So far, so Young-Adult cliche. And, yes... to some degree it is.

But, what was very unexpected (by me, at least) is how violent this book is! Our main character, Darrow, faces the execution of his wife in the first few chapters, before being executed himself (I didn't see that coming!). Then, after being saved at the last minute, he is enlisted by an underground network of saboteurs to be 'reborn' or 'upgraded' and sneak into the elite school for 'Golds', a genetic superior class of humans who basically rule the planet. In order to do this, Darrow undergoes extensive medical surgery (it reminds me of the terrible modern 'looksmaxxing' trend) and then is placed into the schooling system. 

However, 'schooling system' is a misnomer; Darrow and his classmates are basically fighting to the death! Characters are introduced only to be systematically slaughtered, often in violent ways. Characters assault, mutilate and rape other characters. Executions happen. Torture happens. Psychotic characters abound.

It's quite intense, though never gratuitous. The book 'grips' the reader, but part of the 'gripping' element is just how horrific everything is.

I don't know if I would say I enjoyed this novel - it is too intense for that. However, it was interesting, and I am invested 'enough' in the characters that I could see myself picking up the sequel at some point.

Not a rush to do so, though.

Completed 7 September 2026.

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