Today I am recommending Red Rising by Pierce Brown. I missed the initial release of this book (the first of a planned trilogy) back in 2013. I found it while on vacation and visiting a book store, because where else would a librarian go on vacation. Red Rising is, at first blush, another sci-fi dystopian teen revolution novel, following many of the patterns and tropes that The Hunger Games helped revive. However, Red Rising feels a good bit deeper to me.
I’ve always enjoyed Roman and Greek mythology, and Brown weaves his tale of an authoritarian future with strong ties, both overt and subtle, to classic mythology. In this future society, mankind rules the solar system, but it does so as a caste system, golds at the top, and reds at the bottom. Darrow, the main character is born a Red of Mars and Brown expertly details Darrow’s meteoric rise up the caste/color hierarchy.
Through Darrow’s eyes, we see the inequality and excess of this future society, but the reader is also granted the opportunity to see the depth of the choices Darrow must make in order to bring about the revolution he’s tasked with starting. Through Darrow’s inner monologue, the reader is shown just how far individuals must bend in order to bring about a perceived good.
I’ve yet to read the second of the three planned books, Golden Son, but I'm definitely going to check it out soon.
Support for Check It Out comes from the Sioux City Public Library. For library hours, locations, and services go to siouxcitylibrary.org.
