Pierce Brown

The Conservative Mask Slipped

This book broke me.

I adored Red Rising, looking past the sexism, homophobia, and downplay of the seriousness of sexual assault and torture. This love continued through Golden Son, which continued with alarm bells starting to ring, but the quality of writing and my emotional hook to the characters pulled me through.

I made the mistake of believing there might actually be something to this series and the message the author was trying to get across, but the mask show more slipped badly here. The sexism and homophobia continued throughout this series, hitting new highs with a confrontation that vaguely implied that noone is out as Queer in the Society without any kind of thought or discussion, the reversal of nostalgia into misogynistic denigration of Eo, and the 'pro-life' discussion of her pregnancy. Revealing a founding member of the Sons of Aeries as an 'ethical' capitalist who soliloquies about how capitalism is the only way for innovation and exploration, without any questioning or exploration is disgusting, false, and propaganda.

I long had concerns about the 'great man' approach of Darrow and authoritarian organisation of the resistance, but him as figurehead and those with the knowledge and skills to lead in the consuming war was one thing, but the utter callousness with which abhorrent decisions are made that effect hundreds of millions of innocent people and the 'acceptable' civilian casualties that are given no emotional weight in a series that has stood out because of the strength of inner conflict and emotion, especially when juxtaposed with the reverence with which a fascist former friend is lovingly laid to rest made me sick.

This book left me uncontrollably sobbing, but not for the right reasons. I cried because a series I had become so invested in and an author I thought I could have at least a little trust in their political message truly showed centre right, liberal conservative hand, disregard for human life, and a seeming lack of understanding of their own characters and their motivations. People and characters can do awful things, but when shown to have emotional intelligence and capability to wrestle with difficult emotions and situations, but when they don't seem to care and the author clearly doesn't care enough to discuss them, that's vile. There's also a difference between being unable to feel and discuss, and just not including it.

I tried to come back and push through that last quarter, but funeral for a fascist and not a thought for those left in bondage and needlessly murdered in what was never addressed to be a monumental atrocity of a war crime left me in tears of rage again.

I had no expectations of this series actually aligning with my anarchist communist leanings, but I didn't expect this to be the literature equivalent of 'soft boys' using progressive language to manipulate and abuse, but honestly that's what this is.

I'm beyond disappointed. show less

Love love love LOVED it!

(Full disclosure: I received a free ARC of this book for review through Library Thing’s Early Reviewer program. Also, trigger warning for rape.)

The first time I spotted a copy of Red Rising up for grabs on Library Thing, I dismissed it as yet another YA romance set against a gritty-yet-generic dystopian backdrop. The second time, I rolled my eyes at the seemingly endless comparisons to The Hunger Games – nowadays every young adult dystopia featuring a spunky show more heroine is THE NEXT THE HUNGER GAMES, it seems – but threw my hat in the ring anyway. (What can I say, my interest was piqued!) And when it arrived on my doorstep, I became convinced that no book could possibly live up to the hype generated in the press materials that came sandwiched in between the pages of the ARC.

I owe Pierce Brown a huge apology. I bloodydamn loved it, just as he promised I would!

In the distant future (we’re talking 700 years+, though Brown is light on the specifics), humanity has been divided into color-coded castes, each purposefully created to fulfill a different role in society: Yellows study medicine and science; Greens develop technology; Blues navigate the stars; Silvers count and manipulate currency; Coppers maintain the bureaucracy; Whites pass legislation and mete out justice; and Gray soldiers uphold the hierarchy. At the top of the pyramid stands the ruling class, the Golds. In the early days of space exploration, the wealthy Golds colonized Luna and, when it became the hub of space travel, they waged a war for independence against the countries and corporations of Earth (in a futuristic version of the American Rebellion). Luna triumphed over Earth in what became known as the Conquering, thus consolidating the Golds’ military and economic power.

“Every Color props up the Golds” – especially the Reds, whose responsibilities primarily include manual labor. At the bottom of the shitpile are the lowReds, who live and work under the surface of Mars, mining the planet for helium-3, a precious resource which is used to terraform other planets. These “pioneers” believe that they’re sacrificing their well-being, their happiness, their very lives, for the greater good: so that their children and grandchildren can one day live free on Mars. But they are slaves to a lie: Mars was settled some three hundred years previous. Rather than allow the lowReds to share in the fruits of their labor, the Golds and their allies decided to deep them in the dark, both literally and figuratively.

Darrow lives in Lykos, just one of hundreds of mining communities under Mars. At the tender age of 16, he’s already married, seen his father executed, and ascended to the celebrated role of Helldiver (though not necessarily in that order). It’s Darrow who drives the machine that digs into Mars’ surface in search of helium-3; his success which determines his clan’s food allotment for the quarter. (Though not really; the Laurel is not the only merit-based competition on Mars that’s fixed.) Content with his work and family, and too busy worrying about putting food on his wife’s plate to bother with politics, Darrow initially plays Katniss to his bride Eo’s Gale. “I live for the dream that my children will be free,” Eo proclaims in a much-quoted passage early in the book. Ultimately, she dies for this dream as well: while suffering a publicly televised lashing for sneaking into a surface Garden reserved for Golds, Eo sings the prohibited song, for which she is sentenced to die. With a few short verses, she’s transformed from Eo the lowRed into Persephone the martyr.

Overcome with grief, Darrow cuts Eo’s body from the gallows so that he can give her a proper burial – just one of many courtesies denied the lowRed miners. For this, he too is sentenced to hang. But with the help of his uncle Narol and the “terrorist” group the Sons of Ares, Darrow is rescued, resurrected, and recruited for the revolution. Through extensive plastic surgery, body modification, and alterations on the neural level, Darrow is remade (“carved”) into a Gold, complete with Golden hair, eyes, and skin; an impressively muscular physique; a skeleton of steel; and a Gold sigil on his hand. The High Golds are as lethal as they are beautiful. The changes are so profound that Darrow becomes a creature – both physically and sometimes even mentally – that he no longer recognizes. His mission: to gain admittance to The Institute, where the most prestigious and powerful of the Golds are educated. There he is to prove himself, with the goal of infiltrating Golden society; if he can become an apprentice to a Praetor or Imperator, Darrow – and the Sons of Ares – may one day have an entire fleet at their command.

Lest images of Hogwarts classrooms or Erudite scholars fill your head, this “school” is closer to The Hunger Games arena in form and function. Twelve hundred students, each drafted into one of twelve houses, compete on a real-world battleground for control of their house – and the other eleven houses as well. While outright murder is (mostly) discouraged, less than half of the students will survive the ordeal. Fittingly drafted into House Mars, Darrow quickly rises to a leadership role. However, he must navigate shifting alliances, deal with duplicitous classmates, and hold tight those secrets which threaten to undo him – all while outsmarting hostile Proctors and reconciling unexpected feelings of friendship and love for his sworn enemies, the Golden children.

Red Rising – the first in an expected trilogy – quickly became a new favorite. From the first few pages, I was captivated; by the time the war games began, I found Red Rising nearly impossible to put down.

Comparisons to Suzanne Collins’ masterpiece are not unwarranted; like The Hunger Games, Red Rising is a suspenseful and entertaining dystopia that also tackles some pretty hefty issues between scenes of bloodshed and violence. Lykos and District 12 are underdeveloped societies in a futuristic world: both are mining communities in which citizens mostly barter and trade for necessities like food and clothing. And yet advanced technology, particularly as it relates to industry, is not unheard of; the citizens are given the fancy tools to perform their jobs, but nothing more. Food is used as a means of controlling the population, and certain songs and dances are considered so subversive that to be caught referencing them is cause for death. Literary brothers Gale and Darrow both toil in the mines when they should be in school; mining accidents are common, and on Lykos, two clans are actually punished with reduced rations when they fail to meet their helium quotas due to an accident which claims the lives of many of their workers. Different classes/Districts/Colors are pitted against one another – through competition for food and resources, for example – by their real enemies, Panem/the Golds. Only when the slaves unite against their oppressors can freedom be won.

Violence as entertainment is also a shared characteristic of both trilogies. Just as all of Panem eagerly tunes in to The Hunger Games, the Proctors watch the battles at The Institute from their cozy perch on mount Olympus. Occasionally they float down in their gravBoots, picnics of quail eggs and other exploitative delicacies in tow, for a better view. Later, they edit the video down for the Drafters so that it reflects the narrative the Proctors wish to convey. Likewise, the adults interfere in what is supposed to be a fair fight, manipulating the game so that it results in a preferred outcome (though both Katniss and Darrow manage to disrupt the paradigm). Wealthy and powerful parents are able to buy success for their children – much as the children from favored Districts enter the arena with distinct advantages. Ultimately, both Proctors and Gamemakers become part of the “games” they created.

Red Rising even has a cave scene! (Thankfully it’s brief.)

This is in no way to imply that Red Rising is a Hunger Games clone. Pierce Brown has created a story that’s unique, exciting, and brims with masterful world building. The characters are multidimensional and utterly believably. Whereas Darrow at first sees the Golds as a homogenous entity, uniformly evil and comprised of interchangeable parts – he (and we) come to recognize them as individuals. Some are as cold and cruel as he imagined; others are unexpectedly kind, compassionate – even a little egalitarian, like dear Eo. Contrary to their leaders’ protestations, empathy isn’t just a “low color thing.” While all Golds benefit from unearned privilege, and to some degree harbor those prejudices passed down from generation to generation, they aren’t all enemies of equality. In the course of building his army, for example, Darrow discovers that the most effective way to earn allegiance isn’t by taking slaves, but by freeing them. The next generation of Golds are taught that “might makes right” – yet it’s clear that not all of them have fully internalized their parents’ messages.

The topic of rape comes up several times in the story, and I’m happy to say that it’s handled with care. Rape scenes are brief and non-graphic, yet Brown tackles rape culture head-on. On more than one occasion, the author stresses that rape isn’t about lust, but power: it can be used as a tool of war, a method of revenge, or a way of asserting control over another human being. Even while condemning rape in the games, Darrow acknowledges that his own, much idealized home is not blameless: men also rape women in Lykos, including the women they claim to love. Darrow’s strategy for punishing rape in his own rank and file is rather genius.

On the other hand, I find it odd that Reds are generally regarded as the lowest and most exploited class, even when compared to Pinks. Pinks serve the other classes – sometimes as masseurs or personal assistants, but most commonly as prostitutes (“pleasure slaves”). Because they’re given no more choice in the matter than members of other castes, Pinks are essentially sex slaves – their job is to acquiesce to rape on the daily. In some ways, one might argue that Reds have it better than some of the other “low” colors, particularly the Pinks. While it’s true that many of them will die in mining accidents or succumb to pitviper bites (and that the rapes of Red women mostly go unpunished; a Gold cannot even be said to have raped a Red), they’re allowed to live their lives in ways that Pinks are not (or don’t seem to be; we see very little of the Pinks in Red Rising): they can form families, have children, select their own sexual partners – all of which runs contrary to the duties of a Pink.

My only gripe – and it is a relatively minor one – is that Brown never fully explains how humanity came to be divided in such a way. The “forced Darwinism” involved in creating the different Colors is extensive, with fundamental differences manifesting at every level: physical, biological, psychological, neurological. While the Golds’ motivation is clear – creating a “perfect society” of which they are the pinnacle – it’s difficult to imagine how they forced billions of other humans to accept their vision. Perhaps this will be tackled in a later book?

Either way - and with the first book still several months away from release - I’m already dying to read the next installation in the series. THE ANTICIPATION.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2013/10/23/red-rising-by-pierce-brown/ show less

Morning Star by Pierce Brown is the conclusion to the Red Rising trilogy that began with Red Rising and followed with Golden Son. This trilogy got off to a terrific start with Red Rising and with Golden Son it actually developed into a far better story growing in epic scope and character development. So the expectations for Morning Star were very high indeed. To that all I can say is -

Gorydamn!
Gorydamn!
Gory...mother...@#$**&....DAMN!!!

Darrow is captured. Held prisoner and tortured by his show more friend, his surrogate brother, Adrius Augustus known as The Jackal. Isolated in a box, the size of a coffin, used by The Jackal as little more than a coffee table. A decoration. To show off to the rest of the empire the fall of the great Reaper. The Golden Son lies in ruins. Broken and shattered. Betrayed by the friends that he himself was deceiving. So begins Morning Star.

It is difficult to give background on this book without reaching back into the two prior novels and giving away spoilers. Something I detest doing because I do so believe in the enjoyment of reading the tale myself. So I will be concise and quick with the background and give as little away as possible.

The world of Red Rising tells the story of humanity, 700 years after it has ventured into space and colonized the galaxy. But little has changed for mankind. Men are separated into classes based on the color they are branded with. At the top of the hierarchy are the golds, physically and mentally superior, they rule with impunity and ruthlessness. At the bottom of the classes are the lowly Reds, who serve deep underground, mining and terraforming so that the other races who live on the surface can survive the inhospitable planet of Mars.

Darrow is one such Red. Living his life of poverty and darkness with his wife Eo and his family. Until the day Eo is accused of treason and hanged. But with the lack of gravity, it is up to a loved one to end her suffering on the noose by pulling her legs as she hangs and killing her. As Eo prepares takes the stand to be executed she sings out her song. A cry for freedom for all. As she dies, Darrow ends her suffering by pulling on her legs and strangling her as the whole community watches. In grief, Darrow cuts down his wife's body and buries her. An act for which he also is accused and hung. But Darrow is not allowed to die and wakes to find himself in the hands of a rebellion. The Sons of Ares are a group of rebels who have banded together to fight back against the oppression of the Golds. With the song sung by Eo as their battle cry and with the grief and desire for revenge in Darrow, they hatch an incredible plan. They will surgically change the lowly Red Darrow into a Gold. With such a disguise, Darrow will infiltrate the Golds and become one of them. But to do so he must pass a challenge that all young of Golds do. He must be trained in the art of warfare and kill off the weaker Golds, so only the strongest of the Gold survive. His reward for surviving this test will be to become part of the ruling families. His choice of family is none other than that of Mar's Governer, Nero Au Augustus, the man who ordered the death of Darrow's wife, Eo.

Darrow becomes one of the Gold's greatest young warriors and is called the Reaper. Ignorant and uncaring of the Red Rebellion below them, the Gold's are in a civil war of their own and Nero decides to rebel against the Empress Octavia Au Lune. The legend of the Reaper grows in the ensuing war and it is as he wins his greatest battle that he is betrayed and unmasked by his friend,
Adrius Au Augustus.

Which brings us to Morning Star and the conclusion of the Red Rising trilogy. Trapped in a box, his spirit broken and his body crushed, Darrow does not know if he is alive or dead. All of the Sons of Ares believe him perished except for the madman Sevro, his greatest friend and leader of the renegade Howlers. When Sevro comes into contact with a communication between The Jackal and the emissaries of the Empress Octavio, he becomes convinced that Darrow is alive and hatches a mad plan to free his friend. But how much of the Reaper still lives in Darrow. Can Sevro free him and can Darrow take his place back at the head of the rebellion and fight against the Golds?

Gorydamn!

With each tale, the story of Darrow changes as does the character of Darrow himself. He has gone from grieving and vengeful spouse, to powerful and terrifying warrior, to finally this last variation of Darrow. A warrior who has grown tired of war and a widow who does not even remember the love of his wife. All he has left is the cause and the need to finish his work. But with every move he makes, every life that is taken or forfeited, Darrow feels them. His betrayal of his friends and their betrayal of him are scars that are deeper and more painful than anything the Jackal has done to him in captivity.

Morning Star is epic. A finale that does not simply bring this terrific story to its conclusion, but rises it even higher in plot and subterfuge. Brown has done an incredible job with his characters. This is not the story of just one man but of a group of men and women who must battle not only that which is around them, but with their own inner selves.

Read Red Rising.
Read Golden Son.
Read Morning Star.

Read these books before the movie comes out, because it will.

This is Ender's Game, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones lever of epic and grand scale storytelling. It is intense and bloody. It is just a hell of a lot of fun! show less

HOLY. DEAR. GOD.

I am a dystopian junkie. Hunger Games, Divergent, Battle Royale, A Brave New World, Life As We Knew It, Legend. I've read them all. Loved most of them. So I requested this book as an ARC, thinking it would be a fun read, a good way to spend down time on a trip I had coming up.

This book BLEW MY MIND. "Exciting new voice" is such a cliche, but I feel like I have to use it here. I hereby pledge to buy and read ANYTHING written by Pierce Brown for the rest of his career.

Darrow show more has a dangerous, adrenaline-fueled job underground on Mars, mining helium stores in order to make life on the surface livable for other pilgrims from Earth. He is a Red, the lowest class in society, but is content with his life, good at his job, and madly in love with his wife, Eo. Until she is executed by the ArchGovernor of Mars, and he goes in undercover as a Gold to exact his revenge.

This is being spun as the new Hunger Games. It isn't. This is Brave New World plus Lord of the Flies plus Hunger Games meets Greek and Roman mythology with a dash of Hogwarts thrown in. With all of these comparisons, one might suspect that this book might be a bit derivative. But it isn't. It's new and fresh. And breathtaking. Absolutely. Breathtaking.

So many characters to love. So much action to keep the plot moving. Truly, this is dystopian fiction in a way that I've never seen it done before. And I LOVED it!!

Can I give this eight stars or something?

No excuses. Everyone go buy this book. Pre-order it. Make sure you have it in your hand the day it comes out. Genius like this cries out to be rewarded. show less