Red Rising

By: Pierce Brown

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Length: 16 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

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

Grim Reaping

Seems like every other book I listen to is so highly derivative that my opinion hinges almost solely on whether it is a worthwhile step forward or a redundant rehash. Red Rising, after a promising start, slowly but inexorably proved itself to be a cynical exercise in cashing in on the popularity of The Hunger Games.

RR: hero is from the mines, HG: heroine is from the mines. RR: 12 tribes, HG: 12 districts. RR: kids go through a "draft" before being sent to a carefully designed course to compete in games against each other, with help from proctors, while being watched from afar by the privileged class. HG: ditto, ditto, ditto, except that they called them mentors instead of proctors and they call it a reaping instead of a draft. RR: young girl sings a song of rebellion before dying. HG: young girl sings a song before dying that becomes the theme of rebellion. RR has the Reaper, HG has the reaping.

This is not inadvertent similarity. This is either willful ignorance (especially on the part of the editor, who should have known better) or outright plagiarism. If you're going to do this, you have to add something. Especially in characterization, especially to the main character.

In that respect, Red Rising is retrograde. Katniss (like Harry Potter and Tris from Divergent) is never that sure of herself, is the last to recognize her power, is always the reluctant hero. Darrow/Reaper, from the very first scene, is the best ever, and he knows it. And yet as brilliant as he will tell you he is, he falls for four, five traps in a row, getting many of his friends killed in the process. And when faced with a choice between doing the right thing or getting revenge, the always self-righteous Darrow inevitable chooses bloody revenge.

Jeez, if you're going to rip off a beloved story, don't reverse all of its best qualities. To which you can add the central conceit of Red Rising: social, political and economic inequality is embodied in a facile color-coding system. Hunger Games presents the same issues in a far more nuanced way (even down to the subtleties of fashion and mannerism) without resorting to obvious gimmickry.

Other bones to pick: the level of violence is off the charts for a supposedly YA entry, and the internal logic of this world fails early and often, especially the technology. I for one will not be moving on to the ensuing episodes in this trilogy.

I don't understand the hype. Very obnoxious book.

The best way I can describe the plot is that it just felt childish. The main character is supremely intelligent to borderline supernatural levels and able to think six steps ahead of his enemies whenever the plot demands it, and then unfathomably stupid and repeatedly walking into obvious traps whenever the plot demands that.

I almost stopped listening by the third time that happened.

We are also just expected to believe that the main character is a prodigy at everything, he is perfectly skilled in combat and all things physical, despite minimal training compared to those who trained their whole lives.

I would have loved this book when I was 14 maybe, but I really don't understand where all the praise for this book comes from by adults.

Brutal and Violent

I tried for almost a year to listen to this book but gave up with only two hours to go. I could not enjoy or like this book, it is a bitter nasty book about vengeance in a dystopian society. There is forced natural selection and culling among students. “He didn’t score like I did on the tests, so he was a sacrificial lamb. 100 students and the bottom 50 are only here to be killed by the top fifty... I know they made me do it … what other choice was there? I do not understand how this series could have received so many positive reviews but I will return my book.

An Ayn Rand wet dream

Wow. Just wow. It’s rare to see a book so far up its own main characters ass. He is the chosen one. For the people. But is the best ever. He uses potions of intelligence that for some reasons no one else does. And it’s all his cleverness that’s brings him to victory... except for being saved by deus ex machine CONSTANTLY. stay away from this.

Wow, what a performance and what a story

I don't remember the last time I stayed up all night to read a book, but this one had too much intensity too much momentum to put down. I just had to finish. Darrow's story is rich with memorable characters and emotion and had plenty of suspense. It's one that I'll remember for a long time. I can't wait for the second novel.
Tim Gerard Reynolds makes it come alive. his accent brings the story a perfect edge and he does the wide variety of characters justice.
A must read.

this is awful

took hours to get just okay, but then went back to awful. don't buy it.

Go ahead and download the next two as well

Any additional comments?

What a tremendous series. This was one of my favorite listens in a long time. The first book starts off a little bit slow, but picks up the pace quickly and maintains it all the way through the end of the trilogy.

One of the biggest draws of this book, for me, was how deep and rich the character development was. Each character is so multidimensional. And the complexities of the characters' personalities are reflected very well in the dialogue and the plot.

The narration was one of the best I've heard. I loved hearing TGR's representation of Darrow mature with the character over the course of the trilogy.

I highly recommend this book. And the next two as well!

I couldn't get past chapter 3

Slow, monotone story that just didn't make me want to listen . Gave up by chapter 3 and returned the book.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

Total snore fest. Good if you want to while away your time in a total haze of nonsensical drivel.

These books will define this decade of writing.

The way these books captured my heart caught me completely off guard. I am not a Sci-Fi fanboy. I thought after the 1st few chapters that I knew how the whole book would play out. I was wrong. I am so elated with these books that I am crying. The only bad thing I cannot stop thinking about is that I heard they are going to make this book into a movie. A movie will in no way capture the heart of this book. A movie will ruin it. A TV series will be needed. Zero doubt in my mind.

just incredible!

I was listening to this book at 3am when I should have been sleeping instead.

Spartacus retold mixed with Red Faction

Many good reviews drew my attention to this book, it didn't really sound like my thing to be honest but because of the reviews I thought I'll give it a go.

I wondered were it was going at the beginning and it wasn't griping me, but out of nowhere it did! I grabbed by the throat and wouldn't let go.
once it started it didn't stop the was never a slow moment in the book. the story may not have been the most original but the way it was told and the characters were. I think it was a new take on the story of Spartacus.

I thought it was brilliant and if you are stuck for a new book to listen to I would recommend Red Rising.

hunger games x10

This has been one of the most enjoyable books ever ! I absolutely loved the story, which had so many memorable moments. strongly recommended !

Very good book

Would you listen to Red Rising again? Why?

No, but I generally just listen to books once. There are just too many good ones to get through 😏

Who was your favorite character and why?

Easy , has to be Darrow. Very likeable character that you are always rooting for and hoping that he doesn't get consumed by his anger

Which character – as performed by Tim Gerard Reynolds – was your favourite?

Fitchner - makes you laugh the way he does the character.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Make gold bleed red

Any additional comments?

If you like the hunger games this one is for you. It's more sci fi in a good way. I'm reading the next book already...

cracking

loved it. Read the book a while ago and thought I'd give it a listen. an excellent telling of the story.

Excellent discovery

Coming off the back of The Gentleman Bastards and First Law series I had big shoes to fill and this did just that. Only one book in but loved it and great narrative.

Here’s hoping the follow up books are as good!

Bloody dam good

Absolutely bloody mint, hooked from start to finish. Can't wait to listen to the rest of the series.

Best narration I have heard on audible.

One of the best stories I’ve ever read(heard)

This is one of the most compelling stories I’ve ever read(heard). Brown skilfully paints a living organism with “The Society” and the story of Darrow is compelling with twists right through to the very end.
Reynolds gives an amazing performance throughout bringing each character to life with their own individuality.
A MUST read for any science fiction fan.

Ender Wiggin meets Paul Atreides & Katniss

Firstly, I did enjoy this story. It is well written and the dialogue worked for me with a couple of pivot points where the narrative could turn one way or another. That said, there's an awful lot of Ender on Mars here (Ender even gets a hat-tip in a line of dialogue) with a good chunk of Paul Atreides and some obvious allusions to Katniss' story. So much so, that it really began to annoy me in the middle section of the book.

The narrator is decent and clear but having the poor underclass speaking with Oirish accents and the cruel elite in mock RP is crass and hackneyed. There's a lot of dialogue and thankfully, the narrator doesn't quite sustain the level of shrieking he delivers in the first third.

Gold Quality Writing

This is a brilliant, fast-paced and gripping book The voice acting by Tim Gerard Reynolds was exceptional! I look forward to reading the sequel to this series.