Second Opinions: Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Ah yes, War Games.
Day two, and I stand by what I said yesterday about the different Colors seeming like fantasy races to me, but for at least the duration of these War Games I see the Golds as they’re intended to be seen: gods and demigods. Yes, these kids are stronger, more cunning, more agile and alert than other Colors, than mere mortals; yet they cannot ascend to godhood without quests, tests, trials, proving. Before, Darrow was Edmond Dantes, becoming the Count; now, he is Hercules.
I love all the easter eggs—it’s like watching Oh Brother Where Art Thou? and getting to find all the Odyssey and Southern Gothic references. I caught that Trojan Horse maneuver! Darrow and Cassius are worthy heroes to carve out the narrative, and their banter has made me laugh out loud several times.
And yet.
We all know what lies beneath. Oddly, I feel like a Proctor myself as I read, safe from the bubble of reality. Darrow is here to learn from his mistakes, as he stated, but that doesn’t make the mistakes easier to watch happening in real time. I cringe from disappointment and cheer for victories, all while remaining quite nervous about this legendary Jackal.
But Darrow will prevail. I’m keeping a running tally of every time his experience as a husband and his undying love for his wife saves him. It undoubtedly makes him a better leader, if not necessarily more levelheaded. When he cut Sevro’s crude joke off, mostly for Quinn’s sake but also out of a pure sense of morality, of setting boundaries, I was deeply pleased. And then to let Mustang go, just to keep her from suffering Vixus’ cruelty? That is why people will follow him, despite what others will say or even truly believe. That is what makes him Red, as much as any love for dance or knowledge of suffering. It is what will save him, if anything can.
I have roughly 170 pages left. Plenty of time for me to eat my words, if I must.
