Chris's Reviews > Red Rising

Only the last quarter of the book and the writing made me give this book 3 stars. I have liked some of the newer dystopian novels like The Hunger Games and Divergent and I know they were really YA, this is definitely not. Although some scenes were right out of The Hunger Games, and there were parallels to both the previously mentioned books, this was more epic in nature, grittier, brutal, difficult. Violence and waging war in a battle for supremacy ala Game of Thrones, yet they were students in an Institute sorted into Houses (can you say Harry Potter?) set against each other for a a capture the flag type game. People will get hurt, but aren't supposed to be intentionally killed. There is cheating and favoritism. Sometimes the main motivation for the MC is lost in the Institute's game which is the bulk of the book.

Darrow is living in a universe and world that has a caste system, he is of the lowest caste the Reds, who mine and toil the planet Mars for ultimate colonization. He is "saved" by a mysterious organization who opens his eyes to the reality that a full civilization already exists and the Reds are utilized unknowingly as slaves. He has been chosen to try to infiltrate the top of the caste system, the GOLDS, and plant the seeds of rebellion or make ripe the opportunity for a rebellion. This is his story.

In the universe's vernacular, Too bloody & gorydamn for me. I didn't warm up to many of the characters until almost the end. Although I rooted for Darrow, he was not my favorite character nor did I really like him, I had sympathy for him. I'm not compelled to read on the rest of the series. The most interesting parts for me were the various strategies utilized in their battles/war and how Darrow reinvents his leadership style to gain and keep allies.