Why You Should Read: Red Rising by Pierce Brown (Spoiler-Free)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ส.ค. 2024
- Mike talks about his love for Pierce Brown's dystopian science-fiction saga Red Rising and why you should read it. No spoilers.
Purchase Red Rising here: amzn.to/2UR6m8M (physical) amzn.to/2Rn0Icb (audio)
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#MikesBookReviews #RedRising #PierceBrown
Lo' Howlers! I'm so excited to talk to you about one of my favorite series still going on today. I hope you'll consider giving it a go. Hail Libertas!
I am for sure going to pick it up.
You've sold me Mike, I'll crack into it when I finish First Law (still on Best Served Cold, slow going atm with 4 kids stuck at home).
Can I watch your First Law rankings video now or should I wait until I finish the series( don't want spoilers)?
Cheers stay safe 👍
@@hedski9542 he doesn't go into spoilers in that video.
@@thomaswootress-reidt101 Thanks Tom
@@hedski9542 The individual reviews for First Law have spoilers. But not the ranking video.
Your intros reading book quotes and showing art always feel so epic! I don’t know why other you tubers don’t do that!
I hope they don't! It gives me one thing they can't offer right now ha ha
@PC Gamer DttV They're so out of context it would be tough for them to spoil you as a new reader.
@PC Gamer DttV Yeah I haven't read this series and I have no idea what's going on just seems like an epic quote
yeah, it's a really great way to preview the book too, and get a taste of how the writing will be, It's one of the main reasons I keep coming back to these videos
I have loved this series since the prologue of Red Rising. I actually loved Red Rising and every book that follows. Then I found Hic Sun Leones and thought they were a great , smart group to be a part of. I have always said that it is my favorite series after Lord of the Rings!! Thanks for being a fan too!
Man, I really need to read this series again. The best way I’ve heard it described, for people who insist on the YA connection, is something like this: imagine Ender and Katniss did a lot of heroin, had a kid, and sold him into slavery on Mars. That’s Darrow, more or less.
Ha ha I think folks that came of age reading HG, this would be their next logical step if they were interested in exploring the dark.
No, the baby is Sevro. lol
@@ibishop5769 Truth!
The first book reads like YA, with the next two starting to evolve, and then 4 and 5 are just masterful. Eloquent and beautiful without being inaccessible. Truly an art, to be able to write like that.
Sold
"if you want a book that is a darker version of star wars meets enders game meets dune, you will like this". SHUT UP AND TAKE ALL MY MONEY
Ha ha I hope it lives up to the billing.
and that’s a great description
I have finished Dark Age but will happily sit through 36 minutes of Red Rising talk!
You know, when I started this I said I wanted to keep it around 20-25 minutes. Dammit.
That intro was pretty epic. Fits the tone of the series. Almost done with The Stand after that I'm immediately picking up Dark Age.
When I heard that music, Red Rising immediately came to mind.
I started reading it because I was like "Oh it's hunger games in space, good enough". Without expecting it I ended up really loving it.
It is criminally underrated.
Sold. Been wanting more sci fi to read and this will be first on my list. Thanks for the recommendation, our tastes are very similar!
I think you'll be happy with it.
Honestly, I love how well the Roman aesthetic is executed.
Golden Son’s ending had me screaming. I literally wanted to cry!!!
It was wild, wasn't it?
@@mikesbookreviews about to finish morning star 💫 can’t wait to start the sequels 😆😆😆
Seriously one of the best most fleshed out creepy villains I’ve ever had the joy of reading
Chapter 38: The Iron Rain
All I see is metal.
God damn, this line gets me every time. I have read this chapter more than any other, and this sentence puts me right there with Darrow in the spitTube. The thing is, you don't feel the weight of this chapter unless you understand what Darrow had to go through to get there. This is such an epic series
As a 30-year-old Special Education teacher, I concur with all of this. This review is so spot-on. Literally, almost verbatim how I've described this series to people.
Def not a story for meatheads. This is my favorite series I've read since Harry Potter (which came out when I was a child, and I'd go with my mom to the book store at midnight to get the new book every time). I've been giving the first book to everyone I know trying to get them to read it, and I just finished my second read-through of the entire series.
Also, it has so many Easter-egg salutes to other works of fantasy and science fiction. For example, I just read Dune - since the movie is coming out - and it was awesome to see the tiny little nods to Dune included in RR.
You're gonna have to start getting royalties from some of these authors - I bought The Shining and On Writing because of your videos.
Now I feel the need to read Red Rising and Dune, too.
Dont Forget First Law
Ha ha, I'd just happy knowing they ever took a second to listen to me gush about their books.
Yeah I got into First Law because of Him. I'm halfway through book 3. And On Writing is just incredible. Enjoy dude!
I've read the first law trilogy. I liked it without loving it. Still tossing up whether to dive right into the era two part of the series or whether to pick up the stand-alones at some point.
I started First Law because of Mike as well. I finished last week and I just can't bring myself to start another series after finishing the trilogy. I bought Powder Mage and Red Rising. I couldn't make it past 5 chapters in PowderMage and haven't even opened up RR yet because I want to continue with First Law but I can't find anything except the first trilogy in my area.
Just finished the first book and... HOLY. SHIT. In a word, visceral...
This book reads like an avalanche, gaining momentum and power and detritus as it goes along, the pages turn themselves, or should I say you do, compulsively...
Can’t thank you enough Mike!
While I’ve only read 3 of 5, I want to personally (via the magic intertubes) thank you for getting me into the Red Rising series
Amazing, gritty sci fi
I'm so glad you liked it!
It’s so hard to deny the spectacle of RR. It’s intoxicating storytelling. It’s not McCarthy or Steinbeck, and it’s not Tolkien or Herbert, either. But it’s wonderfully paced, and hard to put down.
I think the best description is A Song of Ice and Fire crossed with a little WH40k.
The idea of pierce and Joe collabing to complete ice and fire when the time eventually comes is a dream.
This is my favourite book series but it doesn’t get the love it deserves! Awesome review, thank you.
I really wish more people would give it a try.
WAY AHEAD OF YOU AND YES THESE ARE TRULY GREAT.
HAIL REAPER
@@mikesbookreviews hail libertas
Sold. Just finished The Stand reread I started with the outbreak, I'm hungry for that Grimdark.
By book 5 you'll be saying WHY ARE YOU DOING, PIERCE?!
Me: I thought this series was YA
Also me: I love the part where that one person hangs themselves by doing a backflip
😂 Omg this comment is Gold.
Kid - *tries a man as a murderer and hangs him*
The crowd: 😂
Kid - *talks about his war exploits and labels himself a murderer*
The crowd: 👁️👁️
👄
I can't believe they still label this book as YA. I don't know if there is a more brutal book then Dark Age. The grimmest of the grim dark in space.
Your reaction from Red Rising to Golden son was pretty much identical to my own. I downloaded Golden Son online to sample a few chapters to see where it is going. Ended up reading the whole book on my phone before my physical copy arrived.
Pierce recommended The first law and dune. And some other books. He really has good taste. Also he was into politics
I’m just stating what he told us at the signing. I think everyone is interested in politics up to some point. He just said he doesn’t give social commentary on those views in his stories.
Wow, what an intro!! Starting this book today!!
You won’t regret it.
I wanna know what you think now a year later
Holy smokes dude!! Finally read this on your recommendation. Fantastic! This has been my favorite read this year. I couldn't put it down. So good. Can't recommend this enough.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I read first book in a marathon session. Amazing series. Havent read sci fi with that much page turning verve since the expanse.
I feel like "page turner" is overused, but it really applies here.
Red Rising is my all time favorite series. I’m happy to see it getting some love! I felt the same as you after book one. I fell in love with the series after reading Golden Son. Now when I reread the first book, I have a new appreciation and love it just as much as the rest of the series.
I really think RR would be so good in a re-read now.
As usual you sold me. I'm picking up the first one now and will be adding it to my reading list.
Have fun. It's a ride.
Yeah, I don't understand how these books are labeled YA. It's super, super dark and violent for YA. Maybe because in Red Rising most of protagonists were in their teens? Then the label stuck even though in book 5 Darrow and the gangs were already in late twenties? Early thirties? Anyway, I love these books, read all of them, thanks to you... Keep up the good work!
Yeah, folks assume if it has teenagers it must be FOR teenagers. But using that logic, Stephen King's IT was for 11 year olds.
33 in Iron Gold, just saying. Favorite book series of all time, but I might be biased towards the audiobooks because of the great narration.
Yes it is violent but to me it still felt very YA. I put it aside around half way thru, I may try to give it an other go.
@@KkKk-xh8em Dude thats exactly how I felt about it. Mind you I'm only about halfway through the 2nd book but I'm gonna stop with this series. Not sure what makes it feel like its for young adults but I do get that vibe from it.
I've definitely seen this labeled as YA in places, which is probably why I've passed on it before.
September 2020: I have been reading for 6 months due to lockdowns from the virus which must not be named. I have been reading strictly non-fiction. After 6 months I decide I am becoming a legit reader and want a kindle. I stumble upon one of your kindle review videos. After that is over, this video is listed as a suggested video. As I watch this video it hits me my reading journey has taken a new route. I fell in love with this series and it was my first dabble, as an adult, into fiction and SFF. Since starting RR, I have read all of the First Law books, both Evan Winter books, 4 Dresden books, the Eye of the World, two Blake Crouch books, 3 Michael Crichton books, 5 Stephen King books, 3 Hunger Games books (not good), and a few other single SFF books.
All that to say, Mike, thank you for your passion and hard work on these videos because without it my last 15 months are not nearly as good.
I am totally with you! Fantastic series and while my first read of Dark Age left me numb, a couple rereads left me even more impressed with Pierce Brown
Your enthusiasm is contagious! Glad I found your channel
Jesse Emerson It is difficult to talk about this series without some passion 😁
I’m so hyped to try this series.
You have just got me interested in finally reading this series. I found the first book at a thrift store years ago for like $2, then found book 2 also at a similar price. Then I met the author last year at a comic con that I was attending, and they had a deal where you could buy his newest book at the time (Iron Age) and get a second one free, so I picked up the third book as well, got them all signed by him (because why not), and I have yet to get to them. If they deal with some greek/roman influences, that right there makes me intrigued. I also enjoy dark stories.
Hopefully you've read it. I alway describe the series as this meet that blah blah but always end with..... "meets ancient Rome"
Gosh, for real, your intros are so awesome! If books in the store would play something like this when you take a glance they would sell like hot cake to me
I'm waiting for AUdible or Barnes & Noble to give me a call.
I know this video is a year old, and I'm not sure if you'll even see this comment... but I was on the fence about beginning the Red Rising series for a while and your review is what finally pushed me over the edge to just give it a shot. I bought the first 2 in case I didn't end up liking it.... I was kinda meh about the first one but I just finished the second one last night and OH MY GOSH!!! wow what a fantastic book.... that ending kept me awake and thinking about it all night 😦😂 I'm eagerly awaiting the third book now!
I saw it. So happy to hear you enjoyed it!
@@mikesbookreviews thanks for the review!
Tim Gerard Reynolds who narrated Ride Rising for Audible, also narrated my books. When i found out Tim was gonna be the voice actor for my novels I got Red Rising and listened just to see who the guy was. I liked the book. I have the rest of the series on my shelf, just need to finish them.
He seems to get a lot of work within the industry. I believe he does the Riyria books, too?
Nice! You are in for a Treat Buddy
He did an excellent job narrating for audible. Fantastic performance.
To me this is one of the best if not the best series out there. It's just head and sholders above the rest completely peerless in its scale and awesomeness. Every page is dripping with absolute fury and fire. Tons of endlessly quotable lines. Tons of laugh out loud moments and others that are soul crushing.
I cannot understate how good this series is. All of this I've said isn't enough.
“Love is the stars .. and its light carries on long after death”…. amazing
I totally agree. This has become one of my favourite series. All first law and all red rising. I was kind slogging through the first half of the first book, got super hooked on the last 50 percent. Golden son was turned out to be one of the best books I've ever read period. And the rest are almost as good.
Have the book waiting on my shelf, maybe after I've finished Dune, Dune Messiah and the First Law trilogy.
Funnily enough, I bring up comparisons to Dune and First Law in this.
All great! Red Rising is worth skipping those and diving into first.
Wow I just got chills with that intro! Red rising is an awesome series :) I recently found your channel and I'm absolutely loving it - please keep up the amazing content! I've only started The Wheel of Time and can't wait to watch all your videos as I finish each book :D
One of my favorite series of all time. So glad to see it getting some love
Just finished the 1st book.. I have a new saying in my head when it comes to books. “If Mikey likey ? I’m gunna try it “ thank you sir, can’t wait to start Golden Son
You did what you sought out to do, and well. When this series is complete I will definitely be looking into it
Excellent! Hope you love it.
This is one of my absolute favourite book series’s. My hubby and I listened to it during morning commutes to work. It’s just outstanding. We can’t wait for book six!!
I am on pins and needles waiting for book 6.
@@mikesbookreviews we have spent many hours guessing where the story will go in book six. We are also hoping for a tv or movie series at some point. We debate who should play who!
I just finished book one. And if you’re saying book one is the worst of series I’m in for an amazingly fantastic ride through these! New to your channel, thank you for the recommendation.
You’re about to have one hell of an experience
I had the first book for ages, but was always hesitant to pick it up. Now I’m excited to read it and review for my channel. Great video!
Enjoy!
I'm currently on golden son (52 percent done) and man do I love this series. I loved hunger games and I love this even more. Definitely in my top 3
Rohan Sharma Golden Son is amazing.
Thanks for doing this man. I read book one a couple of months ago and thought it was decent but didn’t really have much motivation to continue on. After watching this I read book two and loved it. You are spot on when saying that it’s a completely different series from book 2 onwards!
Glad you kept going.
This video sold me into reading this series finally. I've been putting it off for a while
Enjoy!
Right on!! Amazon had a sale for this one for $2 for Kindle. Excited to hear what you think before I start it.
Excited to talk to you guys about it. I adore the series.
Great catch! I threw this in the live chat as well so hopefully that helps push some people over the line to get the book and start the series.
@@akhansar I have it in the links, but not sure how long that sale will last.
If you decide to read the books, do so with a drinking game, one shot for each intense Darrow speech and two shots for each war crime committed by the protagonist
PS: I am not responsible if you die from an alcoholic coma
Holy God that opener was way too epic!
It fits with the series. Epic AF.
@@mikesbookreviews Amazon has reasonable delivery dates again, so I'll be enjoying this book on Saturday. Very very excited.
Sigh... you've sold me - AGAIN haha. I am also a "along for the ride" kinda of person, so I'm excited!
Twists and turns galore.
Me: meh I probably won't read this
Mike: it read like Abercrombie sci fi
Also me: annnd purchased on the kindle.
My wife will be so happy with another book in my life 😂
Ha ha I almost have to keep it a secret from my wife when I get more books now due to the laser beam eye stare.
I just read book 5. I love this series, Mike did a great job of explaining it but let me tell you these books are incredible, better than hunger games imo, extremely competent writing, truly incredible, please if you like sci-fi give it a chance!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for doing this, just picked up the first book because of you
I think you'll be happy with the purchase.
I saw Pierce Brown post that Red Rising is on sale for $1.99 on kindle and kobo this week. Not sure when that expires, but it’s a great opportunity to add this book to your shelf. I’ve read through all 5 books in the series and have loved every word of all of them.
Folks can't afford NOT to get it for that price.
I’m definitely going to look for this book as soon as my local bookshops are open for business again. One thing I hate about most reviews is that they are polarized. They are either full of over the top praise or scorn. But I feel your reviews are grounded and honest. I can’t wait to pick up my first copy and delve into the series.
No one is paying me and I don’t pander so you’re always going to get the truth from me. I can find criticism in even the best books. It’s all constructive.
My list keeps growing because of you and I feel buried at this point! Looking forward to reading this one.
I'm both sorry and not sorry ha ha
This WYSR is so good. When I'm trying to convince people to read Red Rising, I'm just going to send them this video. I do think the 6th book will be the last one...at least for a long while. He's writing a fantasy book next. When I was at the Dark Age signing, he said that he may revisit the world of Red Rising later in the future but he wants to write other things first.
I'm glad I've convinced so many new folks to give the series a try. It's brilliant.
I fell into this series after many years of falling off of reading in general due to a coworker very energetically speaking about how great it was.
I’m now halfway through Light Bringer and the series is hands down my favorite series of all time. Absolutely incredible storytelling, twists, turns, and gut wrenching moments! Always and forever recommend this series to anyone with a love for sci-fi!!
Would you do a top 10 favorite series video? I've loved your channel and would just like to hear your tastes when it comes to what's your favorite.
I've thought about it and I want to finish a few series that I haven't yet that may be "on the bubble."
Alright! I'm sold! You do such a good job explaining why these books you love is worth our time! Thanks for all that you do!
Hey Mike, just wanted to let you know that I started Red Rising based on your recommendation from this video. I’ve already finished book 1, and am about to start book 2. Thanks for making this video 👍
No problem. Hope you're enjoying reading it!
Picked up the first five books a couple of weeks ago and I'm loving the bloodydamn things, currently on Iron Gold. Brown has this incredible ability to twist and turn without the narrative becoming confusing. I've never seen a writer create action scenes the way he does, you can really visualise everything going on. Fantastic stuff, great writer.
okay I am sold! This is going on my TBR for May!!!
SomeBunny Reads Enjoy!
Brown not putting his politics or an agenda of some kind into his writing is absolutely the right way to go.
Well I’m reading it because you recommended it. I started both Malazan and the Way of Kings because you recommended it and those series have been an experience of a lifetime so I’ll take your word on these too. Thanks so much for you vids
24:30 so true! One of the reasons this is my favourite book!!😱😊👍🏻
Just finished the 1st book. Amazing! It was like Blade Runner meets Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones
New viewer. Just bought using your affiliate link. Thanks for the video. Excited to check it out!
19:48 Totally, picked the first book up not knowing anything about the series and it sat on my shelf for awhile. Picked it up and couldn't set it down till I finished it. Now I'm just waiting to go pick up the second tomorrow!!
I just wanted to say thank you so much for making me read red rising!!!! it's now my favorite series of all time i'm so in love with it, it's just pure perfection!! 5/5 highly recommended to anyone! I only just finished the third book and just wanted to say thank youuuu
Honestly Red Rising is one of my favorite series I’ve ever read and I haven’t even finished it yetz the pacing, characters, world and action are all just to good and Brown writes in a way that is very accessible to a general audience. It’s just wonderful and I love it so much, I can’t believe how emotionally invested I am in this series
Alright I’m sold
Enjoy!
In defense of Darrow's never making mistakes and being the smartest person in the room: I think of it a lot like being a minority in space of more privileged people (via race, class, gender etc.) there's this whole expectation that you have to work twice as hard to get half as far. Darrow doesn't mess up because in the beginning he simply can't afford to at all. And even though he's a Gold for all intents and purposes, he still feels the same inferiority as a Red. So it makes sense as he gains alliances, and receives validation thus, greater confidence in himself, he makes more mistakes because he can. It stops being I have to stand out and becomes a of course I do. Im not sure that makes sense but anyways I read the series as part of the group that decided what books gets the state award when I was a senior in high school (2016). And I have reread the series 3-4 times since then. Which says a lot since I'm not typically a rereader, I just missed the characters so much. Im so glad there are people who love this book as much as I do and I subscribed today. :)
The characters really are some of the best.
Just "found" you, for a couple of days now and roaming your vids in a quest for what series to read on the fantasy genre. I, myself am a more of a sci fi fan but fantasy, once in a wile it sticks with me due to the great saga's like WoT, aspecialy the movie addptations. As a dislectic reader, far slower than average its hard to put myself to a book but when i do, i need to experiance it in a series. You are, luckely for me now my go to book reviewer, love your show. So, ... the way you brought Red Rising to me, convinsing me, ... man, i'm stoked to get my hands on this series. It is a pleasure meeting you and getting aquainted with your choices of read.
This series has some great quotable lines- your intro is proof.
I followed your recommendation (i'm a HUGE fan of the First Law saga) and i'm halfway through the first book. I'm very intrigued by the worldbuilding and i've a good feeling about it, despite the hunger games kind of situation.
Michele Grippo Keep going. It’ll change.
@@mikesbookreviews, i've just finished the first trilogy. So much fun, thanks for the recommendation!
That’s for the video Mike! I’ll definitely check it out
I have been dying to pick this book up! I need to finally do it!
It's worth the time, for sure.
Damn you Mike for recommending this series. Only got 3 hours of sleep last night because I couldn't put the first book down before finnishing it. Oh well onto Golden Son.
Yes! It only gets better.
I've been binging your channel for a week now and I like you more and more every video.
Another great sales pitch thanks for the great info!
For sure. Thanks for watching!
I love this series, thanks for the recommendation!
This video got me to try out red rising. I read the first book in a week(very fast for me). Thought it was incredible. Thanks for the recommendation!
I just finished golden son. Glad I can now watch some more of your videos as I move through the series.
sounds like its right up my ally. thank you well worth subscribing.
an831 Enjoy!
@@mikesbookreviews, honest question i know its not the title video but does the wheel of time drag, like will i read it and think here i go again or why isnt this moving along. i enjyed the mistborn trilogy but i feel like it could of been allot shorter and the ending wasn't worth three books. does the wheel of time do the same.
@@an831 WoT is good, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't drag many a time.
@@mikesbookreviews ok then thank you for your honesty. so tell me one last question. i am looking for an epic journey or story shall i read lord of the rings, wheel of time series or do you have something else for me thats sits inbetween. thank you again
this video showed up in my stream today, and if U insist, it must be good. so I bought the kindle book and audible narration It was dirt cheap 9$ total. Guess my next series will be Red Rising. Keep up the good work!
Hope you enjoy it!
Started the first book on audiobook this week after seeing this review about half way and it’s brilliant cant stop listening to it
Glad I seen this video 👍🏻
Great job on the sell. The red rising universe is one of the best out there
It really is. No idea how Brown isn’t a household name.
Mike's Book Reviews His names out there and a lot of my friends struggle with book one but once past they are hooked
When Mike confirms you choose good books. I will be starting this in September
This books changed my life. First books i ever tried in english and there was so many moments when i was in shock and dropped the book
Yeah, there are some real holy shit moments.
I just finished the first trilogy based off your recommendation. Would like to hear your spoiler discussions soon.
Had Red Rising on my Kindle for a while now. Enjoyed the video I'll check it out asap!
Hope you enjoy it!
YES! I love the first trilogy and I'm waiting until book 3 (or 6) is finished to start the 2nd trilogy. My only dispute would be regarding Grim Dark. I think far too many of the characters are good and decent, heroic to be Grim Dark. It lacks the nihilism that Grim Dark bathes in.
It's definitely DARK. But it's also quite hopeful, or hope-filled.
I promise you i will be trying this series some time in the future, i have not read much SciFi and want to start reading more.
It's a good entry point.
just finished red rising and ordered golden son hc. it was excellent. I usually read splatter punk and bizzaro. this was a great departure. i couldn't put it down. sevro is all!