Red Rising

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children. But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity 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 sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies...even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

©2013 Pierce Brown (P)2014 Recorded Books

Thrilling and powerful

This book got quite a bit of pre-release hype on some websites. I am happy to report that, at least for my tastes, it has fully lived up to that hype. I've read hundreds of books in the last few years and this one is in my top 5. I couldn't put it down. I hesitate to say too much about it for fear of spoiling the plot, but the comparison to Ender's Game and The Hunger Games is accurate. If you loved those books, you'll probably love this one, too.

Excellent start to new trilogy

While the themes of this book have been done before, that should not stop anyone from listening/reading this story. Let's face it, there are not that many original ideas, but Red Rising takes those familiar themes of dystopian societies, class division, revenge, war games, adolescence...among others, and mixes them together into an excellent, engaging sci-fi novel.

For the first third of the book I thought I was listening to a Sci-Fi version of Braveheart (especially with the narrator's accent), but then it moved into a Hunger Games/Lord of the Flies hybrid.

There are many characters to follow throughout, so it is a little difficult with the audiobook to get them all straight. However, the story moves at a quick pace and by the end I was wanting more.

Can't wait for the next installment.

Wow!!!

Best book I've read in a long time. Hunger games meets Uglies, meets Ender's game. Absolutely worth the read. A page turner if I've ever read one.

Absolutely worth the time

Red Rising is the story of love and the struggle to rise above the life that has been dealt out to one man. The love for his wife and the love for his people, Darrow is on a journey to free them from the caste system that has made them slaves to the Golden.
Darrow finds friends in the Golden along the way, as he continues to hate their way of life. He makes poor choices and good choices, but his goal remains the same. Free his people, The Reds.

I am in love...

I am almost positive there is not enough room for me to write my FULL opinion of this story. So the simplified version is that I am in love! Pierce Brown has a way of making this story come to life. The production company and narrator of this story has me on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE length of this feature. I have not been able to stop tweeting, texting, and sharing this book since I first heard it. The characters are easy to identify with, the background is so well written that I had a hard time separating myself, and the plot itself is something compared to many in it's genre....but it sets itself far beyond its predecessors reach. No spoilers here, because this is one book you NEED to read for yourself. Furthermore...after reading it, you need to listen to it. The production was stellar! It sounded and felt so...so RIGHT! I applaud the narrator for making the scenes and characters jump out of the book and come to life!