Bingo Squares:
- School (Red Rising is set at the Institution, a school of sorts)
- Black (Golden Son but all of them have mostly black covers)
- Citizen (Morning Star but all of them deal with the idea of class and status and citizens’ rights/place in society)
I’m not generally a big re-reader though I have been doing so more over the years than I used to when I was trying to read all the books. Yet, somehow this is now my third time reading the original Red Rising trilogy. Actually, I think my first re-read was after I read Iron Gold, the 4th book of the saga (it was originally a trilogy) because there were a few too many character names I didn’t recognize and I couldn’t tell if they simply were new or I had forgotten. Except then, I didn’t reread Iron Gold. And I was hesitant to read books 5 &6 without reading Iron Gold.
So here we are go again – something about our current political state just has me wanting to read about rebellions against oppressive regimes so after reading the two Hunger Games prequels, I wanted to pick up the Red Rising Saga again. One thing is I had forgotten how comparatively tight these books are (the first is slightly less than 400 pages, the last slightly more than 500) when considering the amount of plot happening in them. And flaws and all, I still love these books.
While I am not going to get super specific, I am also going to have spoilers below because covering all 3 books.
The first novel starts with Darrow working as a hell diver in a mining community underneath a soon-to-be terraformed Mars, only to discover his whole life is a lie after watching his wife get executed and being hanged himself. Agents of the rebellion, Sons of Ares, saved Darrow from death and snuck him out of the mines, to the surface of Mars – which has been inhabited for centuries. From there, the novel proceeds to describe everything he does to prepare to infiltrate Gold society, including invasive and comprehensive surgeries, and finally chronicles his time at the institute which is basically like being dropped into a game of civilization and then asked to do war games for the brightest of society. It’s a brutal and harsh world, built on a color coded caste society. Reds, like Darrow, are at the bottom with the menial, hard jobs, Golds are the top in positions of leadership, and everyone else is also predetermined based on birth where they fit – gray for law enforcement type of jobs, blue for ship navigators, purple for creatives etc. The top, Gold, are themselves locked into strict rules of honor, and take inspiration from the Roman Empire. While the Golds might enjoy the most benefits, everyone is forced into their part of the system.
Golden Son, the second novel, takes place an about 2 years after Red Rising. After leaving the Institute, Darrow has continued to succeed and is posed to finish at the top of the academy, where the training of top golds goes beyond the institute and teaches them to lead fleets of space ships. Except, after one miscalculation, he finishes 2nd instead of 1st, and finds himself in disfavor with his Gold sponsor. Darrow is about to be out of time because he has rich enemies among the golds and is going to lose his protection; he also hasn’t heard from the Sons of Ares since he got placed at the Institute. With his back in the corner, Darrow finds one way to maintain his position and further the agenda of the Sons of Ares – make the Society destroy itself. In a system focused on honor, there are plenty of tensions between the participants and long standing feuds. It wouldn’t take too much to make it all erupt.
When Morning Star starts, it’s been a year since it all fell apart at the end for Darrow. After a daring rescue, Darrow finds himself getting caught up with a world at war. There are so many different factions and interests involved here. In ways, this novel slows down a bit compared to the others (while still being action packed and full of momentum), because it grapples with some of the themes of rebellion and society even more. Those questions have always been present as Golden Son showed the cracks within the Sons of Ares, the ones that just wanted to make the oppressors pay vs the ones that wanted to create a better society. While the Sons of Ares are definitely not in a strong position as this novel starts after the loss of key leadership leading to a more vengeance driven agenda, the fact that they are close to the end, whatever form that takes, means these questions are becoming more and more pressing.
Not only does Darrow need to figure out what kind of world he wants to build, but he is trying to figure out his own position in it. After being out of the game for a year and the mistakes he made, how does he fit back in? What is the future for a world that has divided its citizens into a color coded and skill based hereditary cast system, and how does one bring anything resembling justice, equality and equity? Who was a collaborator, who was simply a passive participant, and deserves retribution or punishment? How do you reconstruct the world in a way that leaves room for peace and a future?
While Morning Star isn’t my favorite of the original trilogy, it is impressive that Brown was able to pull this expansive world together and bring it to a conclusion that made sense. It was hard earned for the characters while also not perfect, reflecting real world politics. It also explains why he would have wanted to take up the daunting task of revisiting the world and see how the decisions have played out in a less than perfect world.