"All ears yearn for a voice to lead them through the darkness."

It's been a while since I have posted a traditional book review but I have one that I just finished reading and I thought I'd share it with you.

The book was Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Depending on who you ask it can be classified as a Young Adult or a Contemporary Fiction. The themes are quite adult and there is some harsh language but I do not believe in censorship so if a teen wants to read it then good for them; there are a lot worse things they could be doing with their time.



Red Rising is the first book, in what is planed to be a trilogy, about Darrow, a Red, who has been instrumental in the colonization process on Mars. Humanity has overwhelmed the capacities of Earth and they have ventured out in a substantial way to prepare Mars for human habitation. The pioneers are divided into castes defined by color with each color providing a service to the new life on Mars. Reds, like Darrow, make up the lowest caste on the color scale with their principle job being to mine below the surface for the energy source that powers the settlement above. Teenage Darrow enjoys the mines and is a prodigy with a quick hand and a sharp attitude.

Darrow and all Reds like him are led to believe that their work below the surface is an honorable task and will one day lead to humanity colonizing the surface of Mars. But Darrow is soon shown the truth; people have been living on the surface for hundreds of years. The Reds have been enslaved with lies and political power and have toiling away in dangerous circumstances at poverty's threshold for an elitist civilization.

After learning the truth, combined with witnessing the brutal execution of his father for speaking out against the government years earlier and his wife, Eo, asking questions and challenging authority he begins to be swept up in a political chess match he wanted no part of. He was told he could be the change, he could make a difference for the people of all colors and be the start of a revolution to bring all colors to the surface.

Darrow is a strong male lead in the vain of Katniss and Ender, and even a bit of Harry Potter circa Order of the Phoenix days, who gets put through enormous transformation on the journey to playing his part in making the world a just place for all colors. He is strong, impulsive, likable, and feared. His transformation as a person both emotionally and physical will have you ensnared by his story. The action and violence of his trials and tribulations will, at times, make the Hunger Games seem like a children's nursery rhyme.

If you are still mourning the end of the Hunger Game series and you love a moderate amount of science fiction then there can be no better book for you. Red Rising took me by surprise and had me cringing, cheering, depressed, and angered along the way.

The second book of the trilogy is called Golden Son and was released earlier this month. If you want to be taken in by a series again and follow a characters journey, there is no one better to place your trust in than the Golden Son himself, Darrow.