Pierce Brown creates a dystopian future where mankind has populated the solar system and created a hierarchical caste system of colors. Strict rules and roles are assigned to each color, some of which are: Reds who provide the manual labor, Pinks who master the arts of pleasure, Blues who pilot the starships, Obsidians who fight the wars, Silvers who run the businesses, and Golds who rule society. Darrow is born into this society at the bottom of the totem pole as a Red who works in the mines of Mars. As a Helldiver he risks his life manning a drill in the dangerous helium-3 mines but he accepts his role without question. He knows that mankind has ruined the Earth and helium-3 is needed to terraform Mars to provide humanity with a new home. He is proud of his work and understands that the Reds are sacrificing themselves to save humanity. There is only one problem - it is all a lie....



Pierce Brown's tale of rebellion in a dystopian future is often compared to the Hunger Games and the parallels between the two are obvious; however, I would say that Red Rising is bigger in scale and darker in story. Darrow's coming of age is a wild ride and he goes through a brutal awakening as he learns the truth of the world he lives in. Darrow comes to hate the Gold ruling class because of the terrible things done to him and his people but it is not an inherent part of his nature. Thus he is conflicted as he becomes known as the Reaper and he wonders if he is any better than those he fights against.



Of course this is a Young Adult (YA) coming of age story so it does have some of the common weaker plot points contained in such novels. The one that bugged me the most is how easily certain powerful adults were overcome when the teenagers decided to push back against society's structure. Despite that fact I definitely enjoyed this more than the first book of the Hunger Games and I eagerly moved on to book 2: Golden Son. The third book, Morning Star, concludes the trilogy.



Tim Gerard Reynolds is an awesome audiobook narrator and he was one of the reasons I decided to give this book a listen in the first place. He did not disappoint and he really brought the characters to life by voicing them with his typical excellence.