Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Book information
Book one in Red Rising Saga
Published first on the 28th of January 2014
Published first by Del Rey
3.5 stars out of 5
Imagine rebellion in outer space; imagine a cast system, a very unjust version of it too. Imagine that the stronger wins. This is the setting for this story which tries to use Roman mythology and history to define strength.
There is plenty of good things in this story and there are a few problematic (few people point out).
A few highlights
Rebellion; I will always dig a story about rebellion, especially when it fights an unjust system
If there is book that can represent in words what physical strength looks like, this is it
also, there are a few “survivor-like” scenes in this story that deserve a read.
The use of Roman mythology and history - the positive is that it’s being used yet I do not particularly like the way that is being used (we are a few centuries away from our time and the best representation of strength is the Roman Empire? I just do not understand it and it’s not explained in the book either)
also, there are plenty of people who comment about Roman mythology being a rip-off of the Greek mythology, only a lot more boring; the Greek had a much better take on drama, that’s for sure.
Tropes/themes
Male-centric story - in which fridging is a key element of this story (and this makes it more difficult to digest and it should be pointed out). This is the main reason this book is “stuck” at a 3-star rating.
Political power is equated to strength; with the second, you can determine the first and this makes the cast system particularly unjust
It also uses ignorance - as in people left in ignorance - to perpetrate the system
it also uses tools to instigate fights among the less fortunate to keep them down (and divided)
