Followed most of the dystopian rebellion cliches, but a few interesting twists made it worth while.
Summary:
In a futuristic universe, Earth's civilization has expanded to the other planets. Darrow is part of this expansion as him and his group of Reds mine Mars for resources to make the surface of the Red planet livable. Their society is far from just as the Reds act as basically slaves for the ruling Golds and all of the middle-class Colors in-between. But Darrow is content to live a simple life within the system with his wife and family... until the unthinkable happens. Now Darrow has taken up the mission of overthrowing the Golds, by becoming one of them. He must transform and enter their Institute, where only the best Golds are trained. However, the school is more like an arena as the students join tribes or Houses named after each of the Greek gods and fight to conquer the others. But even within the Gold, things are less than fair and this war game is more deadly than any expected. Darrow must blend in and fight to the death to win if he ever wants to get a rebellion to the starting line.
Verdict: 6/10
Not sure if it's because this genre of 'secretly-skilled teen from the dregs of society must overthrow the system and show they are more than they were told' has been overdone... but it's a little overused. The novel starts off using every cliche in the book (namely the book Hunger Games). Case and point:
The main character is the most skilled in their colony, hot-headed but extremely smart and daring. He is determined to do the best he can for his family but is constantly pushed down by the man and robbed of what he has rightfully worked for.
His love interest has high morals and tries to convince her beloved (16-year-old) husband that he should lead the charge as "people listen to you" and "you're the smartest and strongest of us even if they don't see it". She ultimately plays the martyr
The world is not all the upper class has led them to believe. They've been lying to keep the lower class oppressed.
A rebellious and secretive group of outliers takes this rash but brave teen under their wing and convinces him to be their mascot/leader.
Teen gets a makeover and aces all of the high society tests, proving that his mind and strength is equivalent to high society (making your main character flawless and unbeatable is seriously nauseating).
The main character must play the upper class' game in order to achieve a new high status and better prepare his rebellion. It is a game of survival and he must be the ultimate winner.
Ringing any bells? I could go one, but around this time, you're probably asking "why the high ranking then?" Despite the predictability and my mind was screaming "this has been done before". The writing was decent and it was at least an interesting world and system, so I kept reading.
It wasn't anything new UNTIL Darrow got into the Institute's tests. Once the games were off and running, I found it clever and gripping. Plus how can anyone turn down Greek mythology.
It's a small nod, naming the Proctors and their respective Houses after Greek deities, but it hooked me. And then the twists sunk me. The author did a fantastic job of showing inter-House conflicts, making you think they were doomed from the start. If Darrow can't even prove that he's the leader of House Mars, how will they ever defeat the other Houses? That's a dynamic that keeps coming back around and makes for some interesting wrenches in plans.
But the strategic warfare was what really got me. Even though Darrow is brash and his tribe is split against him, he sure can make a plan! The sieges on other Houses and how smartly they were played out had me curled up for hours with this novel. All the deceptions and obstacles and unexpected turns of events got me more invested than I would have thought possible at the beginning of Red Rising.
留言