A Review of the "Red Rising" Trilogy by Pierce Brown

 

Title: Red Rising, Golden Son, Morning Star
Author: Pierce Brown
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Year: 2013, 2015, 2016
400 pages, 442 pages, 518 pages

It won't be very often that I write about three books at once, but I could barely put these ones down so decided to finish the trilogy and then write my review.

While these books are categorized as science fiction, and thus possibly eliminating them from many readers' "to-read" lists, the only reason they are categorized as such is because they take place in space, mostly on Mars. The stories themselves are quite political in nature, exposing some of the darkest parts of human nature.

In Red Rising, we are introduced to the main character, Darrow, a miner working deep inside Mars. Humanity had to abandon Earth and find a new place to live. They divided into colours, each with a different task to make Mars a habitable planet. Darrow is part of the Red community, digging for much-needed resources. It turns out that the planet has been habitable for years but the Golds took power and hid the truth from the Reds. When the Society hangs his wife for voicing rebellious ideas, Darrow joins a revolutionary group called the Sons of Ares. The group physically transforms Darrow into a Gold and sends him to the Institute, a training school for Gold elite that turns teenagers into warriors, so that he can infiltrate the Society from the inside.

In Golden Son, Darrow is victorious at the Institute and earns himself a spot with the powerful ArchGovernor of Mars. During his training, Darrow made himself into a legend, killing anyone standing in his path to victory. However, unable to live up to that legend, Darrow fails at the Academy, where Golds train in ship-to-ship combat. In order to keep his position of privilege with the ArchGovernor, he starts a civil war between the Augustus and Bellona clans. Darrow throws the society into chaos, amassing a huge army along the way.

Morning Star is the conclusion of the story, where the reader finds out if Darrow is successful in collapsing the Society that made slaves of the Reds for years.

The entire story was full of excitement, drama, action, and politics. Even if you aren't a science fiction reader, I recommend these books because the story of power and hierarchy can be applied to many aspects of real life. And really the science fiction piece of it, the fact that it takes places in a post-apocalyptic world and on Mars, plays a background role to the underlying story. Pierce Brown writes in such a way that you can't help but keep moving through the pages. He captivates your imagination and keeps you wanting to read on. Brown has written another book in the series and I just might have to pick it up.