Red Rising is the first book in Pierce Brown's Red Rising trilogy. A bit of preface before we begin talking about the book, I hate Mars. I don't like anything to do with the red planet and I don't like science fiction about colonizing and terraforming Mars.
With that said Red Rising is set in the far off future where society has broken down and has been rebuilt where the strong and powerful control everything, and the rest of the population is segregated into colour groups that have specialized skills to serve the top. Reds are the lowest of them all, they toil in the mines gathering materials to complete the terraforming process. The gold are on top they take what they want and are viciously ruthless.
Darrow is a Red. He knows hard work, inequality and oppression from above. There are few happy moments in Darrow's life and as he is about to achieve a great accomplishment it is snatched from him with great consequences. Darrow ends up angry and demands justice, but the only way he will ever get it is by joining an underground revolution. Darrow infiltrates the elite academy where young golds are taught the bloody ways of conquest.
Red Rising is such an amazing read. It was so hard to put down. Darrow is everything you could hope for in a hero. He is smart strong and devoted to setting his people free. Though the school that young golds are sent to resembles the Hunger Games, Red Rising is so much better. This book is dark viseral and will leave you emotionally wrecked.