RED RISING by Pierce Brown

Darrow was born and raised below the surface of Mars. It is the only life he’s ever known, but it is one of honor. Darrow and his kin are Reds, the first people sent to Mars. The people responsible for mining the very elements that will save Earth and allow the red planet to support life. Their work is hard, but the reward is great. Or so Darrow has always been taught.

Darrow and his people have been kept in the dark for generations; Mars has already been terraformed and settled. The new life they were promised has been kept from them and the Reds are now enslaved to the constant demand for helium-3 as the rest of Society spreads further and further through the galaxy.

But one group knows the truth. That very group wants to enact change and they need Darrow’s help to do so.

This first in Brown’s new trilogy is a powerful debut. The world building alone is magnificent—a terraformed Mars inhabited by a whole world of people, all divided into castes by color based on their professions and power. The Reds are at the bottom and the Golds at the very top. And within those castes, there is even further delineation.

Red Rising is a pretty brutal read, to be quite honest, but one that will surely appeal to both teen and adult dystopian fans.

3/14 Becky Lejeune

RED RISING by Pierce Brown. Del Rey (January 28, 2014). ISBN 978-0345539786. 382p.

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