Red Rising: enter the explosive first book in the globally bestselling dystopian space opera series

· Hachette UK
361 reviews
Ebook
400
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war.

The dazzling first book in the explosive global sensation from Sunday Times and #1 New York Times bestselling author Pierce Brown.

Darrow is a Red, a member of humanity's lowest caste, toiling beneath the surface of Mars to make the planet liveable for future generations. Believing that his sweat and blood will create a better world for his children.

But everything Darrow has been told is a lie. Humanity reached the surface long ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet, while Reds like Darrow suffer in the dirt.

Driven by revenge - and the memory of lost love - Darrow will sacrifice everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power.

There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies. Even if it means becoming one of them . . .

READERS LOVE RED RISING

'A ridiculously good book with complex world-building, riveting characters, and a crazy sci-fi space school. What more could you want in a story?' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'What an intense, visceral, twisty story. There's a lot more of Lord of the Flies here than Hunger Games or Ender and it just builds and builds to a heck of a conclusion' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

'This was such a clever beginning to this series!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war. The dazzling first book in the explosive global sensation from Sunday Times and #1 New York Times bestselling author Pierce Brown. Darrow is a Red, a member of humanity's lowest caste, toiling beneath the surface of Mars to make the pla...

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Ratings and reviews

361 reviews
Paul Large
October 8, 2025
Incomprehensible. The writing is soo woolly that I thought I must be coming down with early onset dementia. I was left guessing for much of the book about character motivation. The set pieces were poorly written. The upper-class characters - meant to be the elite, spoke a posh dialect that would be archaic in a modern book, not just one set 300 years ahead.
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Esme Holliday
February 20, 2019
If my favourite books are a 5, this is a 3. i liked it. Quite gripping, an easy page turner. VERY similar at times to The Hunger Games. I joked it was a mixture of The Hunger Games, RoboCop, Harry Potter (sorting of the houses), bit Lord of the Flies and various others. not a bad thing- they're all great to read (watch) and I enjoyed this. Going on to the next one now.
4 people found this review helpful
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Mike Eason
May 23, 2025
At the beginning of the book I couldn't see where the story was going, honest I don't think the author knew where it was going either. Eventually the story stumbles into Lord of the Flies/Hunger Games and from that point it is actually pretty good although the ending felt a bit anti-climactic.
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About the author

Pierce Brown is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of the Red Rising Saga. He spent his childhood building forts and setting traps for his cousins in the woods of six states and the deserts of two. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he scribbles tales of spaceships, wizards, ghouls, and most things old or bizarre.
www.PierceBrown.com

Pierce Brown is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of the Red Rising Saga. He spent his childhood building forts and setting traps for his cousins in the woods of six states and the deserts of two. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he scribbles tales of spaceships, wizards, ghouls, and mos...

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