Red Rising Paperback – July 15, 2014

Holy Helldivers, that was a bloodydamn wild ride, and I can't wait for the rest of it.I've heard a lot of comparisons for this book, including the Hunger Games and the Six Million Dollar Man. But I'll let you be the judge of what's what in that regard.Let's talk synopsis first ... (minor spoilers included - I'm really trying hard to not ruin any of the big stuff.)Red Rising is written from the 1st person account of Darrow, who is a "Red" - the lowest caste which is responsible for mining Helium-3 on Mars and (they believe) laying the foundations to make Mars habitable for "softer Colors". Through a tragic series of events, he comes to realize that his life and place in society is a lie that serves to prop up the other colors in an elaborate caste system, which essentially enslaves his caste. A resistance network seeks to topple this heirarchy by making Darrow into that which has subjugated them, a Gold ... but not just ANY Gold. In order to make changes to this system of slavery, he will need to be the best of the best so that he can rise within the cutthroat caste of Golds. After a painful biological transition, Darrow tests into a school in which the leaders of the Golds are forged and taught painful lessons in the ideology of "might makes right". The question is will Darrow become the monster that he seeks to vanquish?WHAT I LOVED:Darrow is a relatable character from the beginning. He's a 16 year old kid with all the arrogance and impulsiveness you'd expect from a teenager who has been the best within his community. And though you experience the brashness and cynicism, you also see tenderness, wonder, and vulnerability. His evolution as a character is believable. Because he's not fighting for his *own* dream, it is understandable when he temporarily gets sidetracked from the bigger picture due to his rage against such an unfair system that has unfeelingly and unknowingly stolen everything from him. He has much to learn if he is going to overcome ... "I learn more when I make mistakes, so long as they don't kill me."The Supporting Characters. They're on point, y'all. The writing makes it clear that some of the worst of the characters have depth to them, whether it was in hinting at the reasons they did the terrible things they did or in showing that there was a possibility of redemption. And the journey of how Darrow acquires his allies is truly where you see his growth as a character.Honestly y'all, there's just so much that I could rave about ... but I'm an impatient sort and if you've stuck with me this far, you've probably already made up your mind about whether you want to read this. (and you really should read this.)OTHER THOUGHTS:There is a lot of worldbuilding going on here, especially in the beginning and the slang/terms used reflect that. Some readers seem to have been turned off by that, but I didn't feel it was excessive or overly cumbersome.I've seen several people question whether this should be categorized as a YA book. The themes (politics, hierarchical systems, racism, power dynamics, etc.) involved are weighty. There are allusions to rape and cannibalism, and the story is rife with violence and brutality. While the ages of the characters in this book are largely in their teens, but most teenagers in our world aren't confronted with these topics so blatantly in their day to day life. YET ... isn't the job of books and the characters in them to make us think critically about the world around us? To help us form our views about what is right and wrong, what is noble and what is dishonorable? To make us think about what we would do in their shoes? And, hopefully, to help us see the kind of people we want to be and encourage us in that that direction? While I don't think I would want my 14 year old read this unsupervised, I think stories like this one can powerfully shape the minds of young people and adults alike when we reflect on the lessons it contains, rather than just consuming it purely for our own entertainment.How many of us seriously consider where we might fall in such a hierarchy? Do we truly look for the ways that our comfort might blind us to the suffering of others that might serve to prop up that comfort? Do we care to do so? Do we see the hypocrisy in ourselves that we see rife in some of the characters of this book? And if we feel that twinge of discomfort, do you press into that to see why or do we move on, happy to be entertained by a story?"The measure of a man is what he does when he has power." -Plato ... a common theme in this book, but I might go a step further and say that the measure of a man is what he does with the power he has. We ALL have a measure of power. How are we using that power to elicit change in ourselves and in the world around us?

I have read a lot of books like this one lately. Smashing elements of the first two Hunger Games books together, for example, you'll get something rather like Red Rising. Present-tense, first person POV, someone from the lower echelons of society challenging (or attempting to challenge) the established social order. Naturally, the established social order is unjust -- extremely so. We're supposed to want it to be overturned. And so the protagonist has our immediate sympathy. (Essentially, people are identified by colors: Red, Brown, Obsidian, Gold, Gray, Silver, and several others. People of each color are assigned specific roles in society -- Golds rule, Reds are basically at the bottom of the ladder, Pinks are forced to work in brothels, Violets are artists, and so forth.)In this case, our protagonist is Darrow, a young (Red) man who mines helium-3 under the surface of Mars. This is his family trade; they've been doing it for years, eking out an existence on scraps thrown to them by their Gold masters (and the Golds' functionaries of "lower" color classes). Something happens (don't want to spoil it) and Darrow's life changes forever.I like Darrow as a character. I think part of this is the emotion the author is able to put into his writing. This is especially true for the first 20% of the book, but you remember that aspect of Darrow throughout the rest of the book. Sometimes he seems heartless, but you know why he does what he does (or why he *thinks* he needs to take certain actions). He's filled with anger and purpose but he also has doubts.Naturally, this being first person POV, the other characters are not as complex. But in a way, that's necessary. There are quite a few betrayals and double-crossings in this book. Alliances shift. And there'd be much less tension if you knew what every character was thinking, the whole time. There's something of a pattern to this book -- a series of defeats and/or humiliations for our hero and his allies, but these are followed by triumphs. What I do like is that you never know how big the defeat is going to be. Sometimes, you get nervous about something only for it to turn out to be minor. Sometimes, the problem is much bigger. And you never know which is going to be the case until it happens. So the book is predictable in its overall arc, but you are still surprised by the reading experience. So even though there are many parallel stories out there, told in many other books, somehow I still find this compelling to read. I suppose that's the author's skill involved there (pretty remarkable, as I think this is his first book).The setting is Mars, but this Mars has been terraformed. People live there, on the surface, in great cities. So even though a lot of this book involves low-tech warfare, you know things like space travel are possible. There are tablet computers and holographic video playback devices and boots that alter the workings of gravity. Thankfully, this is not explained in detail -- because many of these things are probably not scientifically possible. However, these elements generally just blend into the background. Usually objects are named such that you can kind of figure out what they do without being bogged down in the particulars. I prefer it that way.Pacing is pretty good. There is a period in the middle of the book where not much happens for months. But the author doesn't dwell on this; it takes only a few pages. We know what Darrow is doing, and there are a few tense moments and dropped bits of information that further the story. This is a good strategy -- this part builds the relationship between two important characters (not a traditional YA love story, thankfully) but also sets the stage for events later in the book. And it doesn't feel like it's taking too long. It may not be the high point in terms of action, but it works.There's a lot of violence in this book, so be prepared for that. Most of the swear words are made up, and there are references to sex and rape although nothing of that nature is described in explicit detail. I would hesitate to call this YA because of the level of violence and gore, but the characters are older teens and I think mature young people could handle it, most certainly. (However, you don't *have* to be young to enjoy the book -- I'm in my mid/late 30s!)In the end, although the type of story was familiar, this was something of an emotional roller coaster. Not many books have been able to make me feel that way lately. I read book 2 right after this and now I have to wait along with everyone else for book 3. I hope it's not too long in coming.