Red Rising

Red Rising book cover

Book (2014)

by Pierce Brown

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pierce Brown’s relentlessly entertaining debut channels the excitement of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

Red Rising ascends above a crowded dys­topian field.”—USA Today

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—
Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Shelf Awareness

“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”
“I live for you,” I say sadly.
Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”


Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Praise for Red Rising

“[A] spectacular adventure . . . one heart-pounding ride . . . Pierce Brown’s dizzyingly good debut novel evokes The Hunger Games, Lord of the Flies, and Ender’s Game. . . . [Red Rising] has everything it needs to become meteoric.”Entertainment Weekly

“Ender, Katniss, and now Darrow.”—Scott Sigler

Red Rising is a sophisticated vision. . . . Brown will find a devoted audience.”Richmond Times-Dispatch

Don’t miss any of Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga:
RED RISING • GOLDEN SON • MORNING STAR • IRON GOLD • DARK AGE • LIGHT BRINGER
Fiction / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure
Fiction / Dystopian
Fiction / Action & Adventure
400 pages
Jump to family guidance

Family guidance

Ages 15+

Extreme violence runs throughout, featuring characters who are stabbed, impaled, whipped, hung, hacked with axes, electrocuted, and face offstage rape and enslavement. Rough language includes multiple standard profanities and setting-specific slang terms, alongside threats by characters to urinate on each other.

Every child is different. Use this guide alongside what you know about yours.

What to know before you start

Content details to help you decide what fits your child.

Sex & Nudity

Minimal sexual content features characters married at age 16, a later relationship with vague physical intimacy details, and sleeping together for warmth.

Violence & Gore

Extreme violence runs throughout, featuring characters who are stabbed, impaled, whipped, hung, hacked with axes, electrocuted, and face offstage rape and enslavement.

Profanity

Rough language includes multiple standard profanities and setting-specific slang terms, alongside threats by characters to urinate on each other.

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

Characters simulate intoxication in order to surprise opposing enemies.

Positives & learning

Positive messages

While it deals in revenge, cruelty, and deception, it may function as a cautionary tale regarding vengeance, though this theme might not be obvious to teens.

Role models

Readers root for Darrow in his quest against oppressors, though he must act cruelly to succeed, occasionally showing remorse for his actions.

Learning

The Martian society draws patterns from ancient Greece and Rome, incorporating mythological house names and quotes from ancient philosophers.

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