I'd heard some very good things about this series, so with the latest book in series about to be released, it was about time I dived into the first book in Pierce Brown's 'Red Rising' series, and I really enjoyed it!
Set on a future Mars where a rigid caste system based on a colour coded society - from red at the bottom, to gold at the top - is in place, keeping the population in check. The main protagonist of 'Red Rising' is Darrow, a young Red working in the mines, a 'Helldiver' extolling his blood and sweat in the belief that he and his caste are making the world a more habitable place by terraforming Mars. But after a heartbreaking catastrophic event changes his life forever, he soon discovers that all is not what it seems, they have been lied to and Mars has been liveable on the surface for generations. Fuelled by this sense of injustice, hatred of the ruling Gold caste and by the dream of a lost love, Darrow falls in with some Red rebels and is literally carved into a Gold - his body and mind are completely restructured and physically and mentally enhanced - so he can blend into Gold society, and exact the rebel's plan to take them down from within.
The first part of the story focuses on Darrow's life as a Red, working in the mines, the close knit community and you got a good feel as to who Darrow is. He's a hard worker who's content at where he is in life, despite being poor and with not a lot going for him, except his beautiful and strong willed wife, Eo. He is a likeable character in this part of the book, with very human flaws and characteristics. I did get a sense of '1984' with life as Red, the subliminal brainwashing keeping the lower masses subdued, the totalitarian authorities, all seemed reminiscent. The book even gets a namecheck too!
After Darrow becomes a Gold and is accepted into the Institute, the story takes a turn into 'Hunger Games' / 'Lord Of The Flies' / 'Ender's Game' territory with students divided up into teams named after the Greek pantheon and then pitted against each other to learn the techniques and strategies of survival and warfare in order to rise and become the overall leader of the class. I really liked the development of the main cast of characters here as we see the fresh faced students change over the course of their time in the Institute, and for some - the ones that made it out alive anyway, it isn't pretty at all. The swing in Darrow's personality and mentality, as well as some of the main cast - Cassius, Mustang, Roque, Sevro and the Jackal - is quite drastic but still quite believable. The horrors of war and all that!
It's a very dark and brutal book, but one that is a very engrossing read with compelling and interesting characters that push you through the story, wanting to see how they cope with the war games and who actually survives! A roller-coaster of a read with shades of '1984', 'Hunger Games', 'Ender's Game' and a bit of 'Game Of Thrones' style politicking, all set on a dystopian and authoritarian Mars, so if you like any of those, you'll enjoy 'Red Rising'. I can't wait to delve into the next book in the series!
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