Has anyone read this novel? I have and I've fallen into it. I can't stop thinking about it. The world building the author, Pierce Brown, has done is incredible.

I'm currently on the sequel Golden Son and so far it's even better than Red Rising. I just can't put it down.

The novel is about a guy named Darrow who is basically a mining slave on Mars. He's living in a Spartan type society and is at the very bottom. Some bad stuff happens and he ends up being executed. But end the end, he survives and is given the chance to change himself so he can infiltrate the higher parts of society and exact his revenge.

Love this series. Can't wait for Morning Star!

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I don't have to read it now.

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I didnt spoil it too much. A lot more happens after he survives his execution.

I thought these books were awesome. I didn't read them but listened to them so I can't speak to the fragments. The writing sounded amazing when read. Love the stories. I like the first more because of the second which is just amazing.

I know several people who like this book. I just can't get past the first 15-20 pages where I finish a book or stop reading.

It sounds awesome but I don't know why I can't start it. I stopped reading this book and read "the 5th wave" right after which I really liked.

I listened to the first book on audio. Excellent narrator.

Morning Star was released a couple days ago, anybody pick it up? I'm about 5 chapters in and it's still awesome

Read both books and looking forward to the final. This trilogy reminded me a lot of Dune and Hunger games if that makes any sense.

Hands down some of the best SciFi I've ever read.

Just finished Morning Star today- one of my favorite series of books that I have ever read.

Great series. Loved it!

Almost finished with book 3. I really enjoyed the first two.
Though, I have an issue with the audiobook narrator. I like his first-person-perspective voice for Darrow but I feel he could do worlds better with actually changing his voice for other characters. I mean, Sevro should not sound the same as Darrow.

I hope they make this into a TV mini series or a movie series.

Pierce Brown announced today that he's doing a follow-up trilogy in the same universe about the consequences of what happened in the Red Rising trilogy. I hope it doesn't suck

Bump since book 5, Dark Age just came out last week. anyone still reading? holy ****, might be the best one yet in the series. I honestly havent been this "into" a series since Sanderson's Stormlight Archive.

Haven't read the 2 new books yet but I'll get to them after I'm caught up on the Expanse. As a note the audiobooks are freakin awesome. The first book ended with Persephone's song the outlawed song that got his wife executed, and they played this right after he was adopted by the Augustus family. I still have goosebumps when I listen to the song.



I'll just say that the Reaper Darrow is the most badass sci-fi character since Darth Vader. So many epic scenes, trapping the jackal, taking over the school, starting a civil war, the howlers rescue, the Iron Rain, his leap of faith, the surprise attack with mining drills(while the reaper maniacally laughs), etc...

Besides some minor plot armor in the first trilogy I have highly enjoyed it. I look forward to the next trilogy!

There is a time jump between the two trilogies, which is a little disorienting at first, but once it gets going, it really gets going. i may like the 2nd trilogy better than the 1st, which is saying something. Iron Gold (book 4) really expands on the universe in such a great way.

I'm debating waiting for the third book before I start the new trilogy, every book so far has ended on a near cliffhanger(except book 3 of course) and I hate having to wait...

well maybe not a cliffhanger, but at least a "gosh darn it what happens next?!" scene.

Thanks for the reminder. Going to have to see if I can check it out from the library!

I really think this series gets better as it goes. I almost gave up on the first book but grinded it out.

Trying to decide if I can wait for the library to get Dark Age or if I need to go ahead and just buy it for Kindle.

I've caught up through book 4 but I think I'm going to just wait until book 6 is out to finish up the second trilogy.

Love the books though great story and world-building.

Somehow it slipped by that he had written more in the series beyong the original trilogy.. excellent

I mentioned it in another thread, but Anthony Ryan released another book this year continuing the Ravens Shadow story line.

bobinator said:

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I really think this series gets better as it goes. I almost gave up on the first book but grinded it out.

Trying to decide if I can wait for the library to get Dark Age or if I need to go ahead and just buy it for Kindle.

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I won't say I almost gave up after book 1 but I finished it and was like "meh, I got nothing else might as well continue". and gorydamn, am so glad I did It's crazy that Brown is only 31, so he wrote that first book in his early 20s roughly? Really damn Impressive considering. Yes, the first book is a really hunger games-ish but he grows both the world and the characters in the subsequent novels and I think does a better job exploring the characters motivations and growth.

HummingbirdSaltalamacchia said:

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bobinator said:

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I really think this series gets better as it goes. I almost gave up on the first book but grinded it out.

Trying to decide if I can wait for the library to get Dark Age or if I need to go ahead and just buy it for Kindle.

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I won't say I almost gave up after book 1 but I finished it and was like "meh, I got nothing else might as well continue". and gorydamn, am so glad I did It's crazy that Brown is only 31, so he wrote that first book in his early 20s roughly? Really damn Impressive considering. Yes, the first book is a really hunger games-ish but he grows both the world and the characters in the subsequent novels and I think does a better job exploring the characters motivations and growth.

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Red Rising is better than any debut novel has a right to be. A couple of days ago, I found myself wondering if we are experiencing the exact plot of the film Yesterday, but instead of losing the Beatles, we lost a world where Red Rising was the cultural phenomenon of a generation, and some kid with a laptop resurrected it for us.

DVC2010 said:

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I rate Golden Son as the best of the bunch, but really the whole first trilogy was such a well-told story.

I didn't enjoy Iron Gold nearly as much as the original books. It felt to me like he bit off a little bit more than he could chew by telling three different stories from four different perspectives. The story wasn't as tight, the tension wasn't as high, and I didn't have nearly as many audible reactions to surprises along the way.

I'm near the end of Part 1 of Dark Age now, and I think Brown is back. I'm still not ready to place it with the original books, but it's really great so far. I think it helps that he apparently tells one part of the story at a time rather than jumping back and forth between Mercury and Luna

Also, in Morning Star, Darrow should have killed Lysander. Always listen to Sevro!

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I think Iron Gold is a bit like A Feast for Crows, ironically also book 4 of ASOIAF. Just a massive expansion of scope and a little disorienting with all the new characters and new locations. I think Dark Age is the payoff that we all wish GRRM would get to. I don't want to call it closure yet, but new storylines he started are coming to fruition and delivering in a great way. For example, I am loving the Ephraim arc. I almost hated his character in book 4, but his development thru Dark Age is nothing short of awesome

I will probably wait to read the new set of books until they are all out since it is such a binge worthy series. I also want to reread the original trilogy I always forget how good they were since I blew through them so fast.

If he keeps it up he will definitely be one of my favorites with Sanderson and Butcher.

Speaking of Butcher , apparently he expects to finally release the next book in Dresden files soon. Might have to reread a lot of that to refresh.

I'm about 70% through Dark Age (Book 5). Lightbringer comes out July 25th, can't wait. I already have it on pre-order. These books are amazing.

Eta: I'm shocked this hasn't been made into a series. I think HBO would kill it, if they made this.

Special effects budget for book 2 would be insane, probably the biggest limiting factor.

Book 5 is pretty damn dark, haven't enjoyed 4/5 as much but want to see where it finishes.

I particularly thought the return of one villain is really really dumb.

Agreed, between the storming of Olympus Mons, the jackal, the iron rain, the howler rescue during a lightning storm, and the rebellion there is a ton or epic SFX opportunities that would be iconic.

Funny, I just started this series last week and finished book one pretty quickly and am halfway thru the second. My son finished all 5 books and highly recommended it to me. I was also wondering if it would translate to the big screen or television and then saw this thread, haha. Who would you get to play Reaper, though? Tough job for a young actor.

The SFX budget would probably be insane for this series, but if done right then I think it could be up there with game of thrones.

Books 1-3 are amazing, and it helps that it was all through the eyes of Darrow. 4 took quite an adjustment, but came together. 5 has been very dark, but I love it. The appearance of a previous villain was a little weird, but I just got through that part and thought it was done well.

I'm hooked, and love this series. I'm almost done with book 5, and I'm ready for 6.