Red Rising

Roman Inspired Fantasy - A Must Read Series

Oooh boy what an interesting book to review. I read The Will Of the Many basically immediately before this, and it was very fun to successfully Google the inspiration from one author to another. I will say, it's definitely a book of its time. It has a bit of a mid-2010 fantasy feel, a bit of a written for boys who love the Roman Empire. That being said, I understand why it's a standout series in the genre. It is fantastic, and original. Brutal but political. The main character makes choices I didn't even know were an option, but in retrospect were often the best choice available to him at the time. It felt like a fantasy book written by men for men, that doesn't make it bad, or inaccessible to women/other readers, but it definitely had that flavour, which knocks it down a little for me. Every time I picked up the book, I spent the first 5 minutes thinking, "Is this really that good?" And then I couldn't put it down. So I guess it really was that good.

Loved it

Although it wears it's influences heavy on its sleeve, it turns out to be more than the sum of its parts and is overall a fun, brutal and wildly entertaining book.