Review: RED RISING by Pierce Brown

 4.41 STARS from  626 GoodReaders

~ ADULT WORTHY~

RED RISING is possibly the "it" scifi/adventure book of 2014.  A epic, expansive novel, it builds a dystopian future of the first order. 

The story is about a young man. Darrow's a miner on Mars, one of the members of the lower rungs of society, a red. What he and his people don't understand is that their perceptions of the status quo are a nasty lie. They believe they are building a wonderful future for Mars. What's in fact the truth is that that future was met generations ago. And Mars and other parts of the solar system are being enjoyed by the elite, the Gold.

An elite, I should add, that is truly elite. They've been genetically modified so that they are superior über-humans. Taller, stronger, faster, smarter. I actually found descriptions of them depressing because it just seems impossible that this governing body could ever be overthrown.  But that's what's intended by a small group of 'terrorists'.

Book blub...

Darrow is a Helldiver, one of a thousand men and women who live in the vast caves beneath the surface of Mars. Generations of Helldivers have spent 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. Mars is habitable - and indeed has been inhabited for generations by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. The Golds regard Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

With the help of a mysterious group of rebels, Darrow 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...

The first 1/3 of the RED RISING establishes Darrow's background and the history and culture of his people. I found this slow, however, many of my reading friends like this portion of the book the best.  They really liked the detail of the world building, and the love Darrow has for his people, and for his young wife.  

These same people liked the last 1/3 of the book less. But it's what I loved. It's full of struggle, warfare and politics.  

Pierce Brown's wordsmithing is top-notch.  His world-building is excellent as is the pacing of book --although I found the first few chapters slow, but absolutely necessary to vest the reader in the story.

The bloody, ruthless warfare at the end amongst the Golds (as the elite are called) was brilliant.  I can't wait until book #2 is published.  Definitely Adult-Worthy.

Pam~


RED RISING
(Red Rising Trilogy #1)
by Pierce Brown

**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal

Reading Information:
Word Count: 124,749
Page Count: 400
Accelerated Reader: 4.6 / points: 18.0
AR quiz: 169169
--sample pages and reviews available

updated August 2015