Saturday, 27 December 2014

Review - Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, #1) by Pierce Brown




Title: Red Rising (Red Rising Trilogy, #1)
Author: Pierce Brown
Pages: 352
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release date: 28th January 2014

Blurb from Goodreads:

Darrow is a Helldiver, one of a thousand men and women who live in the vast caves beneath the surface of Mars, generations of people who spend their lives toiling to mine the precious elements that will allow the planet to be terraformed. Just knowing that, one day, people will be able to walk the surface of the planet is enough to justify their sacrifice. The Earth is dying, and Darrow and his people are the only hope humanity has left.

Until the day Darrow learns that it is all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down at Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

Until the day Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside.

But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda.
  








My Review:

*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*

3/5 stars

Darrow is one of many people that live beneath the surface of Mars mining Helium-3 which will be used to terraform the surface. Knowing that their work will ensure the survival of the human race, the Red miners know that their sacrifice is worthwhile.
Then Darrow learns that people have been living on the surface of Mars for hundreds of years that his people have been tricked. He finds himself in the midst of a rebel group called the Sons of Ares who turn Darrow into a Gold and want him to attend Command School and take down the system from the inside.


Red Rising is set in a world where most of the planets in the solar system have been terraformed. There is a caste system where people have a colour, some of the lowest being the Reds, Whites, Grays, and some of the highest being the Golds and Pixies.
I found the setting interesting and would have liked to have heard more about the other planets.
The characters were diverse with some that I really liked. Darrow was an okay protagonist, and while I did feel for him, I didn't feel that I connected with him as well as I could have.
The book started off well but I did lose interest and the middle dragged for me.
I enjoyed the book overall and liked the setting but it didn't grip me.


Overall this was an enjoyable, unique read.



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