Red Rising by Pierce Brown

 

Summary (from the publisher): "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 spends his life willingly, knowing 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 already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks 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.

Review: Darrow is a member of the lowest caste in the futuristic world depicted in this novel. He works all day in the mines, believing that he is working to make the surface of Mars livable for future generations. But his wife believes that they are being lied to. And when she makes a desperate move, Darrow decides to sacrifice everything in an attempt to infiltrate the highest caste - the dominant Golds. 

This book has so many glowing reviews, but I just could not get into it. It is well written, and the science fiction plot sounded intriguing, but I found the character development lacking and the plot mostly dull. I do think the audiobook narration colored my impression greatly as well. Darrow is supposed to be a sixteen-year-old. Yet the narrator sounds like a much older, distinguished sounding man. It was hard to suspend my disbelief. 

I also had a hard time visualizing the world they were supposed to occupy. Some details of them living on Mars felt incomplete to me and I couldn't fully grasp the rules of the scenario the characters were in. This had lots of action and the arc of an underdog rising to prominence, with the greater mission of saving his people on his side. I am sad that I just could not enjoy it as much as many seemed to do. 

Stars: 2.5