Red Rising: Book 1 of the Red Rising Saga Paperback – Illustrated, 15 July 2014

As a fan of dystopia series generally I am surprised that it took me so long to get round to this, but with the third book in the trilogy due out early next year, I thought I'd finally give it a go. I am very glad I did, and will no doubt be polishing off the second book pretty quickly in anticipation of the concluding instalment.It is true to say that the plot to Red Rising isn't going to win any prizes for originality. The first fifth of the book sets the tone, with the protagonist, Darrow, finding out that his arduous life as a 'Red' mining precious minerals to ensure the survival of the human race is not all it seems. Not by a long shot, actually, as it turns out that the 'Reds' are effectively slaves in a society run by 'Golds', who rule from a position of luxury and power at the expense of all others. Darrow finds himself in a position to infiltrate and challenge the 'Golds', and so the main part of the book charts his progress through a very Hunger Games esq artificial scenario whereby he is one of a group of teenagers that must work out not only how to lead their own group, but how to ultimately conquer and win over the other groups that have been placed in the same environment.If the actual blurb of Red Rising threatens to be lost in what is a very competitive genre, the writing ensures that it has the quality to very much stand out. Simply put, this book is written very well indeed, and is driven by the myriad of flawed characters that Brown manages to make both relevant and distinct. The narrative moves quickly but is engaging, with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader hooked. The fact that the 'arena' section involves groups of teenagers rather than just an 'every man for himself situation' results in the plot as a whole having a lot more depth then Hunger Games. It's also significantly more brutal, and whilst it's not quite up to Game of Thrones level in terms of violence, it's certainly a good notch above what you would expect in a YA novel. It's also worth noting that whilst there are sic-fi elements to this, they are very accessible and do not suffer from the over complicated technical language that I find is present in a lot of sci-fi novels.Ultimately as first books in a trilogy go it's difficult to find much better examples in this genre. It really is excellent and I found myself flying through it with little concept of the passage of time, which is always a good sign. Despite having bought numerous books in the Kindle sale whilst I was reading this, I have just bought and moved straight on to the second book in the series. I hope that the trilogy lives up to the standards of this first book, but until I find that out for myself I can only recommend Red Rising as an excellent sci-fi dystopia novel.

Written in quick snappy sentences that get through big scenes quickly and rattles through the story quickly- times I felt that this was a adolescents book - good plot - just not quite enough depth of charactersWill stick with the series

I absolutely loved this book! Red Rising is a YA dystopian novel, which was recommended to me and described as 'The Hunger Games in space' - I was obviously completely sold! Set in the future, society is separated into a colour-caste hierarchical system that dictates your whole life from how you live to how you die.“My people sing, we dance, we love. That is our strength. But we also dig. And then we die. Seldom do we get to choose why.”The protagonist male, Darrow, is a lowly Red, which means that he works as a Helldiver on Mars to ensure that it will be a livable planet for future generations. He is playing a huge part in changing the future of humanity... or so he believes.Red Rising has a whole host of fantastic, complex and vivid characters. There are few series that I can think of where I have enjoyed SO many different characters as I have in this book and trilogy. Darrow is a great protagonist. Even when things are at their worst, he does not wallow in self-pity (a character trait I cannot abide in a protagonist), he is intelligent, very human and bloodydamn well written!The plot of Red Rising is more complex than a lot of other YA dystopia. The opening is enjoyable and has a good pace despite it introducing you to so many different ideas at once. It lets you get to grips with the world, how things work and then throws you straight into the main story line. There is friendship, death, love, anger, betrayal... and most importantly, surprises! It certainly has a lot of familiar elements but the world is so much richer, the plot thicker and I personally found it to be less predictable than books in the same genre. The tone and pace of the book are also spot on!Red Rising is a great book, which I constantly recommend to people! It is frequently mentioned alongside The Hunger Games, although it is different and has the strength to stand alone but you have to forgive the comparison because if you like The Hunger Games, Divergent or are just a YA/dystopia fan you will love this.