Red Rising Rises to the Top…Almost

An unsolicited review of Red Rising by Pierce Brown

If you enjoy a fast-moving story about rebelling against social injustice, you’ll love Red Rising by Pierce Brown. There’s a reason Red Rising hit #20 on New York Times’ Best Selling List ((February 16, 2014) and received an A- from Kirkus Reviews (January 29, 2014). Pierce Brown creates a likeable protagonist in Darrow, a man who steps out of his station in life to avenge the woman he loves and the clan he’s grown up with. Darrow exemplifies the theme of Red Rising, which focuses on how social change is instigated by individuals brave enough, not just to see, but to act, outside the box. Red Rising is set in a futurist world on Mars, with rigid social stratification, similar to Aldrous Huxley’s Brave New World. It’s coupled with ruthless invasions, comparable to the Roman Empire’s expansionism. In fact, Pierce Brown uses both the warrior attitude of conquest in ancient Rome and the mythology born out of it to create an exciting story of anguish and conquest. With these established tools Brown builds a world the reader wants to rebel against, so we cheer for the underdog, Darrow. What’s not to like in that scenario?

The tension begins immediately in the Prologue, when the narrator says, “I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war.”

The narrator is listening to a speaker proclaiming that, “The weak have deceived you. … You and I are Gold. We are the end of the evolutionary line. … Rule, dominion, empire purchased with blood. … Soon, we will teach you why Gold rules mankind.”

The Golds rule, much as the Alphas did in Brave New World. However, the Golds have no interest in placating the lower the ranks. There is no concept of a government which wants everyone to be happy with who they are and what they do. And there’s no substitute drug for “soma” to keep each color in its place. Slavery and servitude were dedicated by genetic manipulation generations ago and there is no crossing the color barrier that defines each class.

Then we learn that the narrator is not “Gold. I am a Red. … He thinks men like me weak. … He is wrong.” Hence the social divide is set: Reds, who live in the caverns under Mars and mine the helium-3 needed to Tera-form Mars; and the Golds, who enjoy the luxuries of life on the surface of Mars, as well as the conquest of other planets.

With the main plot defined, we are introduced to Darrow in the first chapter. We see Darrow’s stoicism when he doesn’t cry at his father’s trial or public hanging. He doesn’t even cry when he has to “pull the feet to break [his] neck” because of Mars’ low gravity. Then we see Darrow’s bravery as he works as a Helldiver, doing the dangerous work of gouging into the hard rock of Mars on a massive drill in heat “so thick and noxious it feels like I’m swaddled in a heavy quilt of hot piss” while dodging pitvipers that can bite through a frysuit. We admire this 16-year-old’s agility and audacious risk-taking right away, even though his Uncle Narol reminds him that “Patience is the better part of valor. And obedience the better part of humanity.” However, it is Darrow’s love for Eo, his wife, that captures our heart and helps us understand his personal motivation. The motivation Society uses for the mining colony, Lykos, is a little trickier.

The clans of Lykos are kept in poverty. Always slightly hunger. Always lacking in essential supplies. Only winning the Laurel gives them “more food than you can eat. It means more burners to smoke. Imported quilts from Earth.” Of the twenty-four clans in Lyros, only one can earn the Laurel each quarter. It’s usually the Gamma clan who earns the Laural, but Darrow wants to win it for his clan of Lambda so his wife won’t go without food. In this way, the clans of Lykos are kept in competition with one another for the basics. Their meager living forces rivalry for higher mining quotas, but it also fosters hatred for the Society that created it. That hatred it made more intense by rigid rules enforced by the Grays, Society’s garrison troops. When Darrow’s wife is punished for showing him a secret cavern with “a transparent bubble that peers at the sky,” revenge becomes a narrow concept for Darrow. But the fates have a larger mission in store for him.

A nameless group of revolutionaries wants Darrow to be their front man for revolution, so even though Darrow wants revenge, he must modify his own feelings for the greater good. Like any other noble quest, Darrow must go through many trials on the way to becoming a revolutionary leader. He must enter his enemy’s camp and infiltrate his ranks. He must learn what it means to be a Gold, which teachers Darrow that even being a Gold has its demands. Darrow must change physically, emotionally and intellectually. With each change there is built-in torment and challenge. Murder, war and battles of growing magnitude make Darrow’s journey a compelling read, even if the continuous action makes it more of an escapism than literature. Perhaps that’s why Publishers Weekly wasn’t as gracious with its review of the novel, calling it “Hollwood-ready … with plenty of action and thrills but painfully little originality or plausibility.” Indeed, Hollywood’s Universal Pictures has already taken the bid on the movie version of Red Rising, so PW was right on track about the novel’s direction.

Like so many of today’s other dystopian novels-made-movies, Red Rising is first book in a trilogy. It’s followed by Golden Son, then Morning Star. Red Rising is only the first step in Darrow’s long journey to conquer the enemy which “brought [him] war.” But regardless of whether you call Red Rising escapism or literature, it is still a fun and surprising book to add to your must-read list.

Add Your Comments

I look forward to reading your comments regarding Red Rising. Whether you agree or disagree with my review, I’d like to hear from you. I hope you’ll follow my blog, share it with your friends and join me in reading the next book on my list.

Read Along With Me

First Light by Scott Nicholson. First Light is the first book in the After Series and was hailed as a “read or regret it” novel.

I hope you’ll read this book with me and prepare your own comment on the quality. Let’s see if we can predict if this 2015 novel will be added to the contenders for the Nebula Award. If you’re interested in submitting a book review, read the review guidelines and we’ll share our thoughts.

“Among Others”: Growing Up One Page at a Time

Title: Among Others
Author: Jo Walton
Publisher: Tor Books
ISBN-10: 0765331721
ISBN-13: 978-0765331724
Format: hardback, paperback, Kindle & audio editions
Paperback: 304 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Coming of Age
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars

Distorting Time with Words

Have you ever noticed that when you’re young time oozes like syrup, but as you get older it runs like water? Psychologist Jeremy Dean confirms this observation in his article “10 Ways Our Mind Warp Time.” He says there are studies which show “people in their 20s are pretty accurate at guessing [time] … but people in their 60s systematically overestimate it, suggesting time is passing about 20% more quickly for them.” So how does an author create this illusion in a novel? Jo Walton seems to have found just how to capture it in her fantasy novel for young adults, Among Others.

Walton first captures our attention by opening with a pivotal moment in the young heroine’s life. Written as a journal entry for May 1^st 1975, we watch as 11-year-old Morganna, and her identical twin, Morwenna, approach the Phurnacite factory in Abercwmboi. Their goal is to destroy the factory with fairy magic because it “looked like something from the depths of hell, black and looming with chimneys of flame, reflected in a dark pool that killed any bird or animal that drank from it. The smell was beyond description.” Our heroines are challenged by the looming presence around the factory, which has “no vegetation here, not even dead trees. Cinders crunched underfoot, and clinker and slag threatened to turn our ankles.” And there is a sign warning about dangerous watch dogs. Though Morwenna is terrified of dogs, the brave sisters throw the magic flower they’ve brought into the black pool and the next day the factory announces its closing. Magic is real, though not the way we imagine it. A post script from the journal’s author says she write this first because “it’s compact and concise and it makes sense, and a lot of the rest of this isn’t that simple.” This statement entices us to read further.

Slowing Time with Daily Details

The story then jumps ahead four years to September 5^th 1979 and we learn that Morwenna died in a car accident and a seriously injured Morganna has been sent to live with her estranged father after running away from her insane mother. Using details about the mundane aspects of daily life and numerous references to science fiction and fantasy novels, the remaining scenes unfold slowly with only hints of magic, its unpredictable nature and the dangers of using it for self-interest. Morganna choses to be called Mor, connecting herself to her dead twin, yet in the first part of the story, she distances herself from her father by just calling him “he.” We meet “the aunts”, Anthea, Dorothy and Frederica, who control “him” by having him manage their estate. The aunts “get rid” of Mor by rushing her off to the boarding school, Arlinghurst. Walton sets the contrast between Mor’s life with her mother’s family and life at the aunts’ house, enhancing the distance from her poor side of the family and her father’s rich side. Mor’s only connection to her father is books. They share an interest in science fiction/fantasy which Mor reads with an OCD consumption. Since she is in constant pain from her injured leg and has nothing else to do, we can sympathize with Mor and understand her reading compulsion. However, continuing references to titles and authors slows the pacing and makes it a challenge to continued reading even in the face of the subtle threat of her mother’s magic.

We are almost half-way through the novel before the pacing speeds up with the introduction of Wim, a boy Mor meets at a SciFi/Fantasy book club. Like a lot of things in life, the joy of being in Wim’s presence carries Mor through the daily rituals of boarding school until the next time with meeting him. Wim adds flavor to the plot with his questionable reputation and his curiosity about magic until the final scene where Mor must confront her mother.

In order to improve my own writing, I read “Among Others” because it won the 2011 Nebula Award. Through the first half of the book, I kept asking why it won such a prestigious award when other novels held so much more interest. But after finishing the book, it makes sense, and so does the slow pacing of the first half. My kudos go to Jo Walton for using the technique of slowing time with Mor childhood and then speeding it up as she matures and for winning the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel. If you haven’t read this novel, be as patient as you would with any teenager, knowing the maturity at the end is worth it.

Coming to a Host Near You!

The Host by Stephenie Meyer is reputed to be a hybrid of science fiction and romance. As a fan of both genres, I found myself disappointed. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the novel and found many surprising qualities in it. It’s just that the strong attraction and sexual tension usually associated with romance isn’t one of them, and the fear of alien invaders taking control plus understanding of science associated with scifi isn’t the other. So what kept me reading this hybrid?

The novel opens during the “insertion” of an alien into a human host. What caught my attention immediately is that the process is not depicted as the scary, oh-my-god, violent act of pen etseeration that is considered norm for most body snatchers-type stories. Instead the alien occupation comes in the form of a gentle operation, with a Healer implanting a being called “a soul” into the human host. This “soul” is already respected and admired by others of her species because she has lived on more worlds than others of her kind. Hence they name her Wanderer. The conflict is spelled out directly by the Healer in the opening. This wonderful, gentle soul is being inserted into one of the most violent and irrational human host, Melanie Stryder, who threw herself down an elevator shaft trying to avoid capture and occupation by the aliens. The setup is beautiful. It puts the reader on the both sides of the proverbial coin. We admire and are curious about this well-traveled alien who awes her own kind at the same time we empathize and appreciate the strong-willed, rebellious human. Here is a different approach to the body snatching story.

The beauty of the story is the internal conflict which occurs between Melanie and Wanderer. Melanie is cunning, insinuating her own emotions into the Wanderer through dreams and selectively chosen memories about her brother, Jamie, and her lover, Jared, while at the same time keeping specific information about their whereabouts hidden. That information must be kept secret because the Seeker who is assigned to Wanderer follows her, constantly questioning the memories she is able to recover. It is the Seeker’s job to find the remaining rebel humans and bring them back to be occupied by souls. She is obnoxiously aggressive in these duties. In fact the distaste that both Melanie and Wanderer feel for the Seeker is the first thing they agree on. Melanie’s fear for Jamie and Jared’s safety and her desire to be with them is strong enough to eventually infiltrate the Wanderer’s body and mind, slowly making Melanie’s feelings dominant enough to manipulate Wanderer into searching for the concealed camp of Jebediah, Melanie’s survivalist uncle.

Additional conflicts arise when Wanderer is captured by Jeb and his band of human survivors. Wanderer is held hostage in an extensive cave system with humans who want to kill her, but Jeb’s curiosity is peeked by her. He seems to see something in Wanderer, aka Wanda, which the others don’t, so Jeb keeps her alive against popular opinion. Melanie’s beloved Jared hates Wanda even more than the other humans do. This amplifies the inner conflict between Melanie, who wants to touch Jared, and Wanda, who wants to avoid Jared’s violent reactions. The situation is complicated because Melanie is actually jealous of Wanda. Melanie doesn’t want Jared to touch Wanda! Under Jeb’s orders, Wanda participates in the daily chores of living in the community, planting crops, cooking food, etc. Wimpy Wanda is terrified to come out of the hole in which she’s been kept, but likes the thought of contributing to the common good, an idea that permeates the book. Wanderer reacts nonviolently to all the human violence while battling the inner conflict of Melanie’s desire to strike back or reach out. One by one, the humans begin to tolerate Wanda’s presence, then accept her. One human, Ian, even falls in love with Wanda…not Melanie. This creates a strange love square instead of a love triangle between Melanie, Jared, Ian and Wanda.

Wanda eventually wins the trust of the vehement humans with her unflinching nonviolence and desire to promote the common good. This dichotomy of violence-pacifism and egotism-altruism is the story’s strength and its weakness. Wanda acts with such perfect pacifism that she makes Gandhi look like a thug. Even Melanie becomes a compatriot, a friend, and then a sister to this alien intelligence possessing her body. When Wanda insists that she must forfeit her own life to give the body back to Melanie, Melanie rejects the idea. If this doesn’t test the limits of believability enough, the solution does. The humans hunt for and find another human body who is younger and hence more malleable than Melanie. They insert the parasitic soul into this body, which is frail and beautiful with long golden hair. Think of fairytale princess and you’ll have the general idea. Anyway, Jared gets Melanie back, Ian gets to keep Wanda, and all is right with the fracked up world.

This is apparently Ms. Meyer’s first attempt at writing for a mature audience, so we need to be tolerant of the simple sentence structure, vocabulary and happily-ever-after ending. Because, let’s face it, the ideas are fresh against the stale back-drop of body-snatcher mentality. However, as an adult reader I’d like to see a more creative approach to naming than calling doctors “Healer”, alien analgesics  “No Pain”, antibiotics called “Heal” and scar minimizers named “Smooth.” I’d also like to see more complexity in the alien personalities. After all, we expect an alien race that has taken control of at least nine different planets to be more sophisticated and to have a more mature attitude toward the multitude of life-styles presented by species that are Bats, Dolphins, Spiders and Flowers.

There is now a movie based on this book and I’m curious about how they will handle and change the story line of this would-be science fiction/romance. I’ll let you know my take on it after I’ve seen it. In the meantime, I still recommend reading this book.

Rhodes FitzWilliam

Digital Winter: A Book That Won’t Leave You Cold

Digital Winter by Mark Hitchcock & Alton Gansky (Harvest House Books, 2012) is an attention-getting, face-paced read that keeps you turning the page. What more could you ask from a piece of speculative fiction? Yet some people seem bothered by the fact that Mark Hitchcock is a Biblical prophecy expert. However if you enjoy reading dystopia fiction as I do, who better to write it? Couple Hitchcock’s frightening vision of the future with Alton Gansky’s award-winning skills as a novelist and you have a real winner.

I found Digital Winter to have a realistic present-day setting full of the probable military linguistics and security precautions that are appropriate in our digital world according to my readings in the Federation of American Scientist’s Secrecy Blog. There’s the initial discovery of an self-replicating computer virus, suspicions of terrorists, the rush of the President to a secure location and the crumbling infrastructure of a computer-dependent society post-computers.

The story begins with the introduction of Stanley Elton, a successful CEO for San Diego’s largest CPA firm, and his college professor wife, Royce. They are the parents of an elusive central character, Donny. Donny Elton is a 22-year old, monosyllabic computer savant who appears to be a silent central character throughout the novel. The story then moves in quick, short scenes that take us from the upper-class suburb of Coronado Island in San Diego to College Park, Maryland and introduces us to Dr. Roni Matisse and her husband, Colonel Jeremy Matisse, PhD, who is a major figure in the USCYBERCOM division of the NSA, who is by the way a Christian. Life through Jeremy’s eyes shows us the backstage story of the coming digital disaster. It includes enough description and brief history of the setting to give the reader a sense of place without becoming bogged down in excessive details. We follow these characters through standard dystopian events such as losing power, water and the general breakdown of civic order as officials try to stave off social disaster and restore some semblance of order.

Even though those of us familiar with the genre know the story line, we keep reading anyway because we are curious to see where the story will take us and how Shadow, a recurring symbol throughout the novel, plays into events. For instance, why is Donny suddenly making full sentences after years of saying only one word? It is Donny’s opening line of “Shadow, shadow on my right, / Shadow, shadow on my left, / Shadow, shadow everywhere, / Shadow has all the might,” that  reappears at critical points throughout the story, leaving us to wonder about its meaning and Donny’s relationship to it.

The only aspect of this novel that felt surrealistic to me are the main characters. Both the Eltons and the Matisses are professional couples with long-term marriages who are still deeply in love. Maybe it’s just my personal history of being raised in a single-parent home, becoming a single parent myself and not knowing many couples with a long-term love, but their relationships did make me question their character’s validity.

Other than that, I loved the novel enough to read the entire thing one Saturday morning. Though the battle between good and evil is not as flamboyantly obvious as Steven King’s The Stand, but I think that works in the Digital Winter’s favor. I definitely recommend it and look forward to reading the sequel.

Rhodes FitzWilliam