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Cover of Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Red Rising

Pierce Brown

Book 1 of Red Rising Trilogy

  • 416 pages · about 7 hours
  • First published 2014
  • 26 editions
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1 About this book

"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "I live for you," I say sadly. Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more." 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 already 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.

  • Fantasy
  • Dystopian fiction
  • Adventure
  • Young Adult
  • Resistance to Government
  • Social classes

2 What to expect

The first Red Rising novel: on a future Mars ruled by a color-coded caste system, a young miner from the lowest caste is sent to infiltrate the ruling Golds through their brutal training school. Much of the book is a war game among teenagers, violent and tactical, driven by grief, rage and class hatred. It is fast and intense, told in a clipped first-person voice, and it opens a long series.

Good for readers who want: fast science fiction, a class uprising, and brutal school-of-war action.

3 About Pierce Brown

Born 1988

Pierce Brown (born January 28, 1988) is an American science fiction author who writes the Red Rising series, consisting of Red Rising (2014), Golden Son (2015), Morning Star (2016), Iron Gold (2018), Dark Age (2019), and Light Bringer (2023). He has also written a six-issue prequel comic book series, Red Rising: Sons of Ares, that was published in 2015.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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