The Red Rising Trilogy By Pierce Brown – Spoiler Free Review
The Red Rising trilogy is one of those sagas that starts small and local, then keeps expanding into something that’s truly epic. Pierce Brown’s debut novel and its two sequels, Golden Son and Morning Star, form a complete, brutal, and exhilarating arc that blends science fiction with ancient Roman-style myth.
I highly recommend read them one after the other as I did. It builds well, if a little unevenly at first, and there are a huge amount of characters.
This review is of all three books, but I will try to ensure it is entirely spoiler free. The only bit of plot I’ll reveal is what’s included on the the blurb of Red Rising.
I first picked up Red Rising expecting a clever dystopian space opera thriller. Something like Total Recall, but a but with more stuff in space. What I got was something stranger and grander.
A World Built on Colour and Control
The premise and setup pulled me in straight away. Humanity has colonised the solar system and built a rigid hierarchy based on colour. At the bottom are the Reds, miners who believe they’re working to make Mars livable. At the top are the Golds, genetically engineered rulers who treat everyone else as lesser beings and are generally pretty full of themselves.
It’s a simple system, but it works really well. Every character’s identity, ambition, and conflict is tied to where they sit on the colour spectrum. There are entertainers, body sculptors, administrators, and warriors. That worldbuilding alone would make Red Rising memorable – it’s self-explanoatory, logical, and full of storytelling potential. I initially thought it would obviously suck to be born into something like an accountant class, but when you see how some of them live – including the Golds – maybe a bland job would be ok.
The first book introduces Darrow, a Red who discovers that Mars has long been inhabited and that his people have been enslaved by lies. What follows (and this is all in the blurb, so isn’t a spoiler) is his transformation and infiltration into the world of the Golds.
The first few chapters of Red Rising feel fresh and cinematic, full of purpose and promise. You want Darrow to literally stick it to the man. Pointy end first. When I finally learned what had been going on and about the truth of the society in general, I was excited. It was going to be space opera but done in a kind of violent Roman style.
Then, just over a third of the way in, the focus narrows and it went in a direction I didn’t quite expect. I kind of moment when I realised, ‘Oh, the rest of the book was going to be like this, is it?’
This isn’t to put you off, it just wasn’t quite what I expected. It didn’t matter though, as it was still fun and exciting and violent, although at times I had a slight suspicion this might be some kind of YA book. (It isn’t.) I was just getting mild Hunger Games or Divergent vibes.
I am not saying this to put you off – it is at least partly why I am reviewing this as a trilogy. Because books two and three went in exactly the direction I had thought and hoped. With bloody bells on. They aren’t YA teens trying to survive, they are violent warriors fighting a kind of clan and caste war in space.
From Small Struggles to Galactic Wars
Golden Son, the second book, switches from the narrow setting of the latter two-thirds of Red Rising and opens everything up again. It’s here that the series truly takes off. The scope widens to include space battles, political alliances, and betrayals that wouldn’t be out of place in a Shakespearean tragedy.
Brown’s Roman influences become more visible in this volume – the language of honour, empire, and vengeance running through every page. The stakes rise dramatically, and for the first time, we see the full complexity of the Gold society that Darrow has infiltrated.
The tone also matures. The first book was mostly about survival and deception and as I said, occasionally felt a bit YA. The second is about revolution and consequence. The characters become richer, the action more inventive, and the story’s direction less predictable. The world feels alive and is huge. It is also chaotic, dangerous, and beautifully structured.
A Satisfying and Explosive Conclusion
By the time we get to Morning Star, Brown has all his pieces in play. Without giving away specifics, it’s a high-energy, emotionally charged conclusion that pays off everything the first two books set up.
It’s a rare thing for a trilogy to build consistently – many stumble under the weight of their own ambition – but Morning Star lands it. At least in my opinion. The tone shifts slightly, but this time into a story of sacrifice and renewal, while still keeping the vibe of early book one, and all of book two. The action sequences are massive, but they never drown out the personal stakes.
By the end, it’s clear that Brown isn’t just writing about rebellion. He’s also writing about what happens after, about how power changes the people who seize it, and the compromises the characters have to make. It’s the most mature and emotionally satisfying part of the series. At least in my humble opinion.
Themes and Writing Style
One of the trilogy’s greatest strengths is how it combines familiar ingredients into something that feels new. There’s a bit of The Hunger Games in its class struggle, a touch of Dune in its politics, and a hint of Game of Thrones in its betrayals and casual violence. Yet it never really feels derivative.
The Roman flavour gives it a distinctive identity. The Golds quote Latin, duel for honour, and structure their society like a futuristic empire. It’s a smart way to connect the far future to the distant past – a reminder that technology might evolve, but power and hierarchy rarely do. Humanity is the same as it ever was, just over a much larger canvas.
Brown’s prose is direct and urgent. It is first person POV, which worked well, but might bother some. He writes action exceptionally well, using short, impactful sentences that keep the pace relentless. The fight scenes and action are awesome and brutal. The books move fast, sometimes too fast, but that energy is part of their appeal. They’re designed to be devoured. The large cast of characters also lends weight to advantage of a binge read. I would have forgotten who was who if I’d left a big gap.
Generally speaking, the main characters have decent arcs. Some of the minor ones are functional or archetypes, but often that is because they are killed before they get a chance to do much. The romance and sense of friendship and brotherhood are well done.
Final Thoughts
If you only read Red Rising, you might think it’s a well-made dystopian adventure that follows the classic hero’s tale and is a little YA. But once you get through Golden Son and Morning Star, it’s clear that Pierce Brown is aiming for something much larger and more mature. It’s a complete cycle of uprising, consequence, and transformation.
It’s gritty, fast-paced tale, and is full of memorable moments. And a few horrific ones. The colour caste system gives it a philosophical edge, the Roman-inspired setting gives it grandeur, and the characters give it heart. Combined, it’s action-packed sci-fi.
For anyone who likes science fiction that’s epic in scale but still driven by human emotion, the trilogy is well worth reading. I loved it. There are more books in the series, but the first trilogy is complete and everything wraps up nicely. Recommended.