A spoiler-filled review on the first book in the dystopian sci-fi “Red Rising” Saga
I’ve been wanting to read this series for a few years now. When I used to work at a bookstore I would walk by this eye-catching cover, yet my growing TBR list would stop me from picking it up. That changed this month!
This book is a solid 3.5 stars, but had the potential for a higher rating. I love how this book eventually progressed and ended, but the key word here is “eventually.”
The book starts out rather slow and continues that way until roughly about the 2/3 marker. I know this is a bigger series (I think it will technically be 6 books, but broken into 2 trilogies?) so the first book is the setup, but it took me some time to get through it. I know this is making it sound like I didn’t like this book, but I did very much!
Here’s a quick synopsis: “Red Rising” is the story of a young man named Darrow who lives as a Red in a dystopian future set on the planet Mars. For generations the Reds have been told they are Pioneers; the people who are working hard every day to make Mars habitable for the rest of the colors in the caste system; from the lowly Reds all the way up to the god-like Golds. After Darrow goes through a catastrophic incident, he finds out the truth about humanity of Mars and it ends up triggering a sequence of events that brings Darrow into the world of the Golds, which he infiltrates to help bring the system down from the inside. Will he succeed? Will he be found out? We shall see!
We can start with Darrow: I love this character. The author did an amazing job with the balance of this character. Darrow is a badass and a fighter, but his flaws are stark and it makes for a rich, deep character. While he keeps focused on his endgame and why he’s at the Institution in the first place, he doesn’t quite know how to get there, and he makes some choices that complicates things. He’s not some brainless soldier; he has humility and the author does a great job of showing us that Darrow is in way over his head, but he’s adapting and evolving when he needs to. There are moments where I’m so into the action and how Darrow progresses through the Institution that when the moments come where he shows his humility and emotions I go, “Oh yeah, he’s only a teenager!” It’s mentioned that Darrow believes he’s around 18 by the end of the book. He started all of this when he was around 16. He’s so young, and the author does a good job of having these little moments that show his age and how heartbreaking it is that the people involved in this are all just kids.
When Darrow infiltrates The Institution and finds out what must be done to not only rise through the ranks of the Golds, but to succeed in his mission, he can’t help but align himself with the Golds he is now a part of. It is the last thing he wants to do, but he must do what he can to progress, survive, and trigger the eventual revolution for his fellow Reds. He feels so heavily conflicted because he’s been raised to hate the Golds because of their role in the unjust caste system, but he is learning that not all Golds are the same as the ones who destroyed his life. It will be something he’ll struggle with throughout the course of this book, and the series, I’m sure.
I know this book is almost ten years old, but beware of spoilers below:
I feel the book ramped up when we found out Titus was a Red. That was a pivotal moment in Darrow’s journey – where Darrow cried for his fellow Red knowing he had to kill him because he was a wildcard. I don’t know too much about this series other than this first book I’ve read, but I’m sure this storyline (Reds disguised as Golds) will be more prominent in later books.
The other plot twist of Mustang being The Jackal’s twin sister felt forced, and there was no intrigue or conflict for it at the end. Sure there was the very short period of time where Darrow thought Mustang betrayed him because he found out she was The Jackal’s sister, but she captures her brother and dumps him in front of Darrow like, “Here ya go!” It felt kind of anti-climactic. Like there was no conflict in Mustang’s mind. Then there’s a throwaway line about how Mustang feels like The Jackal is her brother only in blood and that she disowned him long ago, it was just very short and almost shoved in there as a cheap way to justify her actions. Maybe there will be more intrigue and hesitation on Mustang’s end later in the series, but it feels like the hesitation will be on Darrow’s side (him bonding with the Golds that are on his side and his feelings for Mustang). Again, there are way more books to devour in the series, and I’m excited to see where they lead!
I’m excited to continue the series. I’m sure the other books won’t be as slow-going as this one. Overall I enjoyed it!
Have you read “Red Rising”? Loved it? Hated it? Let me know what you think!
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