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section, before back onto the genuinely interesting and exciting climatic third.
Darrow is changed to fit in with the
Golds, passes some tests and then
taken to the Institute, which is where
the map comes in. He is built by
those who would seek to overthrow
their masters. Now he has to forge
allegiances, battle enemies, discover
truths and win. Nothing else matters
other than the win.
When reading Red Rising I felt almost
like I was reading different books.
The first third was proper dystopic
science fiction. We see the struggles
of the under classes against the psychopathic leaders. We see warnings
about the path we currently tread.
Darrow is taken from his familiar
environment and told some hard
truths about his place in society.
I really enjoyed finding out about
how humanity had moved into the
solar system.
The third section returns more to
science fiction. We’re still in the
Institute, but the duplicities are revealed, which while not obvious, are
expected. Clearly a society this fragile, built upon a House of Cards, has
many weak points and many lies.
Darrow starts to rise.
The question is, of course, all about
Darrow. Is he the person he was in
the mines? He’s been the victim of
tragedy, driven by injustice, constructed by rebels, forged by battle.
He learns, adjusts, fails, rises, falls
and rises again. Is he a psychopath?
Surely he must be in order to lead?
Was it already within him? After
all, he started out as a thrill-seeking
Helldriver!
In the middle third, it felt like a
standard historical fantasy. The
Golds based their society on ancient
Greece. So I guess this is a deliberate
diversion. It does, for a while, feel
like the science fiction has gone. It
is a struggle for survival. Battling the
elements, hunger and the wolves.
A quest for fire. Allies become enemies. Tactics work and then fail.
Houses rise and fall. Death. And the
violence! There is no shirking of that
by Brown. He loves a whipping, or a
dismemberment or a swordfight.
Brown’s book is as frustrating as it
is enjoyable. I understand that Darrow and the other characters had to
be put through their ordeals, trials,
failures and more during the battles
in the Institute, but I found the middle third less interesting. The other
comment is that while this section
was full of these trials, you knew
Darrow would get through them, as
the book was announced as the first
of a trilogy. He faced no real peril.
Indeed, during the phase when he is
transformed from a Red to a Gold, it
seemed very easy. He sailed through
school with only a minor glitch. I
would have liked more of a struggle in the first section – as the miner
beats privileged and educated Golds
– and a quicker, less violent middle
All that said, Brown has created an
interesting, if not overly original science fiction world, with some great,
complex, protagonists. Brown’s
female characters are equal to the
males, which is good to see in science fiction, too. He writes very well
with an interesting voice, and when
Darrow expresses his pain – especially when referring to Eo – you do
go with it. I think that’s why this is
such a good book. You believe the
emotion and you believe the oppression and you believe the rage
and violence in equal measure, and )ѡ