Book Summary and Reviews of Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Red Rising

by Pierce Brown

  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • Oct 2014, 382 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Pierce Brown's relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.

"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them." "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 toils willingly, trusting 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 reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power.  He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies ... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

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What are your favorite 21st century science fiction or fantasy books?
My favorites are James S.A. Corey's The Expanse series and Pierce Brown's The Red Rising Saga . I also 5-starred Andy Weir's Project Hail Mary and The Martian , Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven , Tyrell Johnson's The Wolves of Winter , Daniel Suarez's Delta-V , William R. Forstchen's One Se...
-Luisa_H

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Reminiscent of ... Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games ... [Red Rising] will captivate readers and leave them wanting more." —Library Journal (starred review)

"A Hollywood-ready story with plenty of action and thrills." —Publishers Weekly

"A story of vengeance, warfare and the quest for power ... reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones." —Kirkus Reviews

"Very ambitious ... a natural for Hunger Games fans of all ages." —Booklist

"Fast-paced, gripping, well-written—the sort of book you cannot put down. I am already on the lookout for the next one." —Terry Brooks, New York Times bestselling author of The Sword of Shannara

This information about Red Rising was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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More Information

Pierce Brown is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising, Golden Son, Morning Star, Iron Gold, Dark Age, and Light Bringer. His work has been published in thirty-three languages and thirty-five territories. He lives in Los Angeles, where he is at work on his next novel.

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