Red Rising

Red Rising is the first book in a 6 novel sc-fi series written by Pierce Brown. On a visit to meet my girlfriend’s Grandma for the first time, I befriended her reader neighbor who ended up giving me handful of books he was planning to donate. In these stacks was this book and its successors. Thank goodness for that because what a start.

Red Risings main protagonist is Darrow. He is a part of the Reds. They believe they were sent to Mars to mine materials to eventually colonize for Earth. Their higher ups give spoils to whichever faction has the best harvest and the rationalization is that they can only bring so many items from earth each trip. Thus, the hardest works should get the best stuff. The kicker is that they always choose the same faction and this sews animosity between the reds. Instead of hating the higher ups, they hate each other.

Darrow and his newly made wife Eo discover a secret forest and are spotted there. They are publicly punished and Eo makes the decision to sing a forbidden song solidifying her and Darrows death. They’re both hung.

Darrow awakens to learn he survived through a drug he was slipped before his hanging. The revolutionary group Sons of Ares saved him and plan to use Darrow as the keystone for their plot. They first shatter his world by revealing that Mars is already inhabited and colonized with huge cityscapes. Everything Darrow knows is a lie.

Next step, genetically modify and transfigure Darrow into a Gold. Red Rising has a class system where color means everything. Humans are altered for their color with golds being the superior category. Incredibly strong bodies, beautiful features, and brains to match are all common features. Reds are at the bottom of the totem pole. The plan is to turn Darrow into a gold and then have him infiltrate and grow from the top till he is needed for the revolution.

The rest of the plot is where it gets exciting. The plan comes to fruition and Darrow is entered into entrance exams under the guise that he’s from a far off planet with dead parents. He excels in his exam and the next step is an unexpected 1v1 fight to the death with another applicant that the proctors orchestrate between every member. Then it’s onto a hunger games-esque competition that takes up the rest of book one.

There are twelve houses and each house is placed into different castles in a large valley. Each house is given a standard that they can use on other faction members to make them “slaves.” They must do whatever their masters tell them or be marked as shamed. There are med bots to heal those that are hurt and you’d think that a bunch of kids playing civilization would have oversight over things such as torture or unnecessary killings. However, it becomes quickly apparent that the proctors aren’t preventing such acts. While everyone in the game is a gold, part of the point is demonstrating how the other classes are formed. The strong golds are leaders while the weaker ones are treated as lower colors.

Darrow works his way up to a leader for house Mars, gets overthrown by formed friend Cassius after he learns that his brother was killed by Darrow in the 1v1, learns a lesson that people are more loyal when led by example (by whipping someone and then taking the whipping as well for failing as a leader), and chooses to make captured slaves free after they perform successful raids with him.

Another facet of the competition was that the archduke paid some of the proctors to guarantee that his son, the jackal, would win. These proctors were helping out by giving his house better weaponry, materials, and knowledge. Cassius learned of Darrow’s secret because of the proctors giving the jackal that information. Thus, Darrow and his squad ended up despising them as well.

Now for the badass part. The proctors were protected by energy fields, had gravboots to fly, and could turn invisible. However, when a proctor touches someone they have to turn off their shields to make contact. When Darrow is speaking with his Mars proctor they shake hands and Darrow knocks him out cold, locks him in a room, and steals his boots to wear. In a future situation proctor Apollo has had enough of Darrow and carries him high in the air to hit em with that fall damage. He’s holding him, so no energy shield. When he lets go Darrow surprises him by flying back up with his stolen boots and stabbing him repeatedly in his unarmored eye slit. Bye Apollo.

Darrow and his army use the grav boots to storm mount Olympus which is the floating island that all the proctors live and spectate on during the games. They manage to overwhelm and subdue all the proctors, then use their armory to clean up the rest of the houses and win the game before the delayed video feed reaches the board of quality control. GG.

All of the house leaders arrive including the archduke. You’d think Darrow and the others would be in grave danger after capturing all the proctors, but instead everyone was impressed. The archduke is mad that his son didn’t win, but ends up making a deal with Darrow that he will take him into his house in exchange for silence over the deal he had with the proctors.

Overall it was an exciting start and I can’t wait to read the next one. I devoured this over six days and it has been a while since a story has held my attention and taken priority over other hobbies. Hoping it continues.

Rating: 816/1000