Red Rising Trilogy

[Left he/him]

So yeah, I marathoned these books as quickly as I could a couple of months ago and absolutely loved them. The action, the suspense, the twists, AWWRRRMYYYYYGOSH. Easily the best books I've read this year. I can't wait for Iron Gold to come out( although I might be on my mission and have to wait for two years....sigh..)

Favorite character was probably Titus

Best relationship between characters was either Darrow/Cassius or Darrow/Sevro

Favorite reference in the books was to the Wiggin children.

What do you love?

[Who Sharded?]

Some of the best page turners I've read.  I'd recommend them to just about anyone unless you consider your tastes to be more highbrow.  These books are not high literature and it's best not to think too hard about the science aspects.  What these books excel at, is engaging your emotions and getting your blood pumping.  I always love a good fist pumping moment.

Favorite character is Sevro.

Favorite book is probably Morning Star, followed closely by Golden Son.  

Still perhaps the best fist pumping moment to me was in Red Rising.  

Spoiler

When Darrow activates his hoverboots and stabs the instructor, then tells everyone they're storming Olympus.  Few characters outside of Kaladin Stormblessed can make me stand up and cheer like that.

 

Edited October 24, 2016 by Who Sharded?

[StormingTexan he/him]

Really liked the books. In part I think because I had just finished the WoT series and wanted something "light" to read next and didn't really know what I was getting in to. After the first book i was presently hooked and devoured the next too.  I saw all the comparisons to Hunger Games (which I sorta get (especially the first book) but these books were way more complex and dark. 

Loved how the author pulled no punches throughout the series. He did a fantastic job creating emotionally connectable characters. The twist were great and I often found my self changing my mind on who the good guys were and were not. 

I won't give away any spoilers but I accidentally spoiled the major twist towards the end of Morning Star by reading the news about the new books before finishing Morning Star. So word of warming do not go searching about the upcoming books until you have finished Morning Star. 

I liked all three books but I think I liked the first the best. 

Sevro was my favorite character. 

[maxal she/her]

I love those books. Ever since I finished reading Words of Radiance, back in 2015  I have struggled at getting drawn into other stories. It isn't I haven't read, but nothing I picked up seemed to truly speak to me or to drag me in. 

I randomly picked up Red Rising merely because the name sounded familiar (I had heard people talking about it) and the book happened to be available at the local library while the other books I had on my list, weren't. I had no idea what it was about other than it was sci-fi more than fantasy.

I was drawn in when Darrow was told he was to be re-modeled as a Gold and enter the Institute. It got even better when I found out what the Institute truly was about: medieval game of flag under the eye of Big Brother. 

I love how the author played the various characters, their relationship with Darrow, their support, their betrayal: it was all rather fascinating and often unpredictable. My favorite relationship was Darrow/Cassius: they rocked through Red Rising and I was distressed at seeing them being drawn apart by Julian's death. I never gave up hope on Cassius. I knew from the start he was being lied to and manipulate by others. I love how Darrow opened up his eyes, but I wish I had to read it happening, still it made for an amazing climaxes in Morning Star as I truly though, for a few chapters, Cassius had really gone bad. 

Anyone who ever followed me on the Shard would guess my favorite character was Cassius... Obviously. He reminded me of Adolin, so huh  My one regret is I had hoped he would end up being "adopted" into the Howlers, finding a new family to replace the one he lost. It does happen, kinda of. Still, I was sad to see him go: I guess he couldn't stay, too many bad memories for him. Mustang and everything.

I had a love/hate relationship with Sevro: I liked him, then I hated him, but I started loving him when he hanged himself with Cassius to denounce the barbarisms of his followers ready to hang others on the basis they murdered while the same blood stains their hands.

I love seeing Mustang take up the throne: it was the right compromise and little Lysander  Cassius will be the perfect big brother/father figure to him.

Darrow didn't make me think of Kaladin, but of Dalinar... He is the Blackthorn: ready to strike, to kill, to reveal himself into warfare, all this to conquer, to make a better world. He was a true Gold, just one with different ties. I'm glad he didn't end up the Sovereign.

All this to say, great books. I rushed through them, I spoiled myself, but not everything: I still had several surprises down the road. I heard there was another trilogy coming up, Iron Gold, so I do hope it won't be too far out in the future so we can still follow our characters.

[Jondesu he/him]

I'm still finishing Morning Star (got started because of the Elimination game), but they're amazing. Absolutely believe the characters and while there's almost as much death as some GRRM books, it doesn't feel random or purposeless.

[Ammanas]

I listened to this series. Loved it! The narrator Tim Gerrard Reynolds also did a amazing job. Don't know if this was mentioned upthread, but Pierce Brown was inspired by Sanderson's White Sand Graphic Novel adaption and plans to release a prequel series with the first one next year (in addition to working on the Iron Gold sequel series).

[Xander Freud he/him]

I loved these books! I have to say though, I really differ on taste with you guys. I really only thought the first book was especially praiseworthy, and Titus only ever would have made it onto top ten least favorite characters. I loved the idea of the war game institute and I've always loved books that have that sci-fi personality/intelligence tests. 

[maxal she/her]

32 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

I'm still finishing Morning Star (got started because of the Elimination game), but they're amazing. Absolutely believe the characters and while there's almost as much death as some GRRM books, it doesn't feel random or purposeless.

Note of it is random and none is planted there merely to create artificial drama and/or to surprise the readers. Death happens because they are at war and at war, people die. I also love how no character tried to take the higher moral stand-point: Darrow knows he is doing awful stuff and it does prevent him from sleeping at night, but he has to break eggs if he is to make an omelet.

I find it rather ironic how the breaker of all chains alternatively turned being exactly what Golds have been tutored to become: a Conqueror. 

15 minutes ago, Xander Freud said:

I loved these books! I have to say though, I really differ on taste with you guys. I really only thought the first book was especially praiseworthy, and Titus only ever would have made it onto top ten least favorite characters. I loved the idea of the war game institute and I've always loved books that have that sci-fi personality/intelligence tests. 

Titus is just one reminder of how bad it could have all turned out being: he was Red. He turned vengeful. Too vengeful. Darrow ended up understanding the Gold aren't all evil and that he can't just destroy all order: he would only create chaos.

[Xander Freud he/him]

No, I get you. But what really makes me love a character is when I can relate/imagine myself as the character. Characters that are willing to be sarcastic, willing to kill, willing to do the right thing or the wrong thing for the right reasons. I can kind of see why someone would like Titus, but as a rapist/murderer, he's not someone I really relate to or would want to be. Does that make sense?

[Left he/him]

Awh, crem, I Titus was the other Red? I got my names mixed. *looks up appropriate character* 

Ahhhh, Ragnar  there we go, he was probably my favorite. Although Pax Fitchner were great too. 

I did really love how Darrow knew how terrible he was, how much it hurt him, but how he was also trying SO hard to make it work and make things better. 

[Jondesu he/him]

That makes more sense, @LeftVash! Ragnar is bloody awesome.

[maxal she/her]

Yeah I wondered how anyone could have Titus as a favorite character  His only redeemable quality was the fact he was a Red which gave a new perspective to his evil.

[Amanuensis he/him]

I'm a huge fan of the series (hence why I'm currently running the aforementioned mafia game in a slightly modified version of the setting, mostly to avoid spoilers).

Personally my favorite character was Roque, for a wide variety of reasons. Yes, the culminating event at the end of Golden Son and the inevitable confrontation in Morning Star were, in the context of the story, devastating / heartbreaking, but his character was one of the most consistent and human to me. Even if I disagreed with him on a philosophical level, his motives were both understandable and well articulated, and some of the most quotable scenes from the trilogy came from him, imo.

Overall these books were brilliant. Perfect? Maybe not. But I loved every moment of the adventure, and I've yet to introduce the series to someone who hasn't agreed with me afterwards, which generally reveals just how powerful it was. I too am very excited for the Iron Gold trilogy, as well am curious how these books will be handled as films, given the fact that most of it's greatness comes from Darrow's internal monologue.

Edited October 25, 2016 by Amanuensis

[Darkness Ascendant he/him]

took you long enough to reply Aman XD

[maxal she/her]

Apparently, Iron Gold will take place 10 years after Morning Star. It will be a multi-POV story so we won't just follow Darrow, but him and others (old and new characters alike). Most characters from the original trilogy will be back such as Darrow, Mustang and Sevro. Cassius and Lysander's story is not over, so yes they will have a role in the next trilogy (Cassius POV seems probable), but the author said Darrow would regret not having killed Cassius back in Morning Star... I for one do not believe Cassius will turn bad (just as I never believed he was bad to begin with), so it may merely be him ending up on the wrong side of the conflict, yet again. Or perhaps things do not happen as Darrow planned with the rebellion which puts him at odds with Cassius who merely wants a world where Julian isn't "expendable" or an "appendices which needs to be removed".

The Ash lord has apparently not said his last word and we can suspect the Rim will play a role into the future conflict.

I am also keen about the movie. As I was reading the book, I kept pestering my husband on how much this book would make a good movie, so I have faith they'll make it work even if a lot of it is internal to Darrow. There is ample action to carry on a movie and screen writers have ways to externalize inner conflicts. Casting Darrow is difficult though as he needs to be first portrayed as a Red and then as a Gold, but I guess special effect can be used to render Red Darrow. 

[StormingTexan he/him]

19 hours ago, Ammanas said:

I listened to this series. Loved it! The narrator Tim Gerrard Reynolds also did a amazing job. 

Me too. I really liked the narration. It was a pleasant surprise to hear his voice I also really liked his narration of the Riyria Revelations. 

[Xander Freud he/him]

9 hours ago, maxal said:

Apparently, Iron Gold will take place 10 years after Morning Star. It will be a multi-POV story so we won't just follow Darrow, but him and others (old and new characters alike). Most characters from the original trilogy will be back such as Darrow, Mustang and Sevro. Cassius and Lysander's story is not over, so yes they will have a role in the next trilogy (Cassius POV seems probable), but the author said Darrow would regret not having killed Cassius back in Morning Star... I for one do not believe Cassius will turn bad (just as I never believed he was bad to begin with), so it may merely be him ending up on the wrong side of the conflict, yet again. Or perhaps things do not happen as Darrow planned with the rebellion which puts him at odds with Cassius who merely wants a world where Julian isn't "expendable" or an "appendices which needs to be removed".

The Ash lord has apparently not said his last word and we can suspect the Rim will play a role into the future conflict.

I am also keen about the movie. As I was reading the book, I kept pestering my husband on how much this book would make a good movie, so I have faith they'll make it work even if a lot of it is internal to Darrow. There is ample action to carry on a movie and screen writers have ways to externalize inner conflicts. Casting Darrow is difficult though as he needs to be first portrayed as a Red and then as a Gold, but I guess special effect can be used to render Red Darrow. 

I disagree. I never liked Cassius, he was arrogant, selfish, and he had many chances to change and didn't take them. For the same reason I didn't like Roque. Roque was supposed to be the more progressive reformer that wanted a good world, and his reaction to Darrow being a red doesn't show that. However, the power of the series comes from the pure awesomeness of the conquering institute, reaping scythe, and pretty much whatever Darrow does. I was impressed with the feelings and thoughts that reading those scenes provoked.

[maxal she/her]

20 minutes ago, Xander Freud said:

I disagree. I never liked Cassius, he was arrogant, selfish, and he had many chances to change and didn't take them. For the same reason I didn't like Roque. Roque was supposed to be the more progressive reformer that wanted a good world, and his reaction to Darrow being a red doesn't show that. However, the power of the series comes from the pure awesomeness of the conquering institute, reaping scythe, and pretty much whatever Darrow does. I was impressed with the feelings and thoughts that reading those scenes provoked.

Cassius is loyal to those he perceived as his family and in this regards, he remained truthful to himself. His family happened to be in direct conflict with Darrow's adoptive one, hence the fact he ended up as an antagonist. Sure, he's the one who launched the blood feud, but Darrow is the one who deceived him by not telling him the truth about Julian. Also, the fact the betrayal came from a man Cassius genuinely named "brother" hurt even more. Darrow didn't decide whom he would have to kill at the Passage, but he decided how he was going to handle the aftermath and he decided to lie. 

Was Cassius arrogant and prideful? Of course, just as most Gold were (Mustang is both arrogant, manipulative and cold hearten, but she remains one of the "good guy"), but he wasn't selfish. He was willing to follow Darrow's lead at the institute, he had no intentions to betray him or to remove him from the leading position: it was only Darrow's lack of trust which led him to ask Sevro to steal the hollowgram which prompt Cassius to watch it. Cassius was happy to trust Darrow and to trust the hollow into a stream. 

After his family was slaughtered, he hung up to the only tangible thing in his life: his sense of honor which prompt him to obey the Sovereign up until Darrow shows him her honor has been compromised.

Also, he never truly had a chance to come back until the very end of Morning Star and even then, they never welcomed him into their extended family which will probably be why he might end up as an antagonist again, in support of his new family, Lysander.

For my part, the strength of the series is the fact nobody is the good guy: Darrow isn't a good guy. Cassius isn't a bad guy and neither is Rogue. They are just people trying to do their best in a changing world and each hold up to their own light: Eo/Mustang for Darrow, honor for Cassius and order for Rogue. Simply because those two opposed Darrow doesn't make them evil people.

[Magestar he/him]

20 minutes ago, maxal said:

For my part, the strength of the series is the fact nobody is the good guy: Darrow isn't a good guy. Cassius isn't a bad guy and neither is Rogue. They are just people trying to do their best in a changing world and each hold up to their own light: Eo/Mustang for Darrow, honor for Cassius and order for Rogue. Simply because those two opposed Darrow doesn't make them evil people.

While I disagree somewhat that nobody is the good/bad guy, I understand the sentiment, and entirely agree.  It's books like this that get me thinking, and I thoroughly enjoyed this series.  Just finished Morning Star today, and I had trouble putting it down.  It was excellent, of course, and I also have Aman to thank for suggesting it.  

[maxal she/her]

18 minutes ago, Magestar said:

While I disagree somewhat that nobody is the good/bad guy, I understand the sentiment, and entirely agree.  It's books like this that get me thinking, and I thoroughly enjoyed this series.  Just finished Morning Star today, and I had trouble putting it down.  It was excellent, of course, and I also have Aman to thank for suggesting it.  

From their perspective, they aren't good nor bad... Even Darrow's inner monologue indicates he understands he isn't a good guy, but he believes in the end result, so he kills thousand of the people he swore to protect. He is ruthless. Sevro isn't a good guy either: he is willing to kill innocent to further his cause. What makes him a "good guy" merely is the fact he ended up on the "winning team". Also what defines the winning team purely is based on our own modern sensitivities: we cannot withstand such injustice and slavery, but from the characters perspective those things are perfectly acceptable. The best example would be Augustus who admits he doesn't believe in the superiority of Gold, but he believes in order and this order has been provided by the existing system, hence he will fight to keep it intact. Rogue has similar thoughts and while Augustus admittedly is a cruel man, he does believe his actions are necessary for the greater good. Even Octavia comes across as wanting to preserve what she sees as essential. 

This being said, there are bad guys in the books: the Jackal, Lilath, Titus, Antonia and those who would kill just for their own personal shake or enjoyment, those who would torture just because they can. Those are the bad guys, not Cassius nor Rogue. I do not know if Rogue knew about the box, but Cassius only found out early in Morning Star and he was openly outraged by it. We must not forget how the story might have turned out had Darrow not been the one to kill Julian: he would have ended up lancer in house Bellona who might have been more sympathetic to the reformists as per the mother's endeavor to have her son listen to Red talking and treat them with respect. 

We must not forget Thistle and Tactus also betrayed Darrow for no other reason they didn't believe in his ideals, Well, Tactus not so much, he couldn't accept Darrow just wanted to be his friend without any condition. Thistle couldn't handle the truth. Neither are bad guys and they do much worst than Cassius.

I agree it was however, a very good book.

[Xander Freud he/him]

20 minutes ago, maxal said:

I agree it was however, a very good book.

Well, we can agree on that. I can see your point, I'd make a few rebuttals, but I don't actually own a copy of the books and it's been too long for me to accurately remember what I'm trying to say.

[Jondesu he/him]

Finally finished Morning Star.

Wow.

I'm gonna be feeling the loss for a while. That was one intense story.

Spoilers:

Spoiler

Cassius, man. Cassius. Ripped my heart out when he killed Sevro; shoved it back in while still pounding and bleeding when he revealed the ruse. So glad he stood by Darrow despite everything, once he saw the Sovereign's lies. He was right, too: Julian would have agreed with Darrow, with a world without Colors.

I definitely warmed up to Sevro too. Little [censored] was annoying for so long, I almost missed how loyal and sentimental he really was. I kept expecting a betrayal from him, although I'm glad it didn't happen.

And how in the world does he manage to make most of the deaths seem so callous yet heart wrenching for at least one person, despite having multiple instances of people who were thought to be dead coming back (though not as often as in a Marvel comic).

 

[maxal she/her]

4 minutes ago, Jondesu said:

Finally finished Morning Star.

Wow.

I'm gonna be feeling the loss for a while. That was one intense story.

Spoilers:

  Hide contents

Cassius, man. Cassius. Ripped my heart out when he killed Sevro; shoved it back in while still pounding and bleeding when he revealed the ruse. So glad he stood by Darrow despite everything, once he saw the Sovereign's lies. He was right, too: Julian would have agreed with Darrow, with a world without Colors.

I definitely warmed up to Sevro too. Little [censored] was annoying for so long, I almost missed how loyal and sentimental he really was. I kept expecting a betrayal from him, although I'm glad it didn't happen.

And how in the world does he manage to make most of the deaths seem so callous yet heart wrenching for at least one person, despite having multiple instances of people who were thought to be dead coming back (though not as often as in a Marvel comic).

 

Cassius came around as one great character on his own: it makes you wish for his POV in future books. He is one interesting archetype, one authors should explore more often.