Red Rising is a 2014 dystopian science fiction novel by American author Pierce Brown.

The novel, set in the future on Mars, follows lowborn miner Darrow as he infiltrates the ranks of the elite Golds.

Seven hundred years before the story's start, humankind colonized Luna, where the Society—a rigid social hierarchy of 14 Colors with specialized roles—was developed for efficiency and order.

The Society, harshly ruled by certain families of mentally and physically superior Golds, conquered Earth and colonized moons and small planets.

Darrow and his wife Eo are publicly whipped for visiting a restricted underground forest.

With Mars ArchGovernor Nero present and the event being filmed, Eo sings a song protesting the Reds' enslavement.

A grieving Darrow illegally buries Eo and is hanged too, but survives due to his uncle Narol drugging him.

SchoolHouse Pluto, led by Nero's son Adrius ("the Jackal"), resorts to cannibalism to survive.

Darrow manipulates SchoolHouse Minerva, led by "Mustang" (Virginia), into defeating Titus and retreating.

Brown said of writing Red Rising, "I started with the main character [Darrow] and shaped my world around him.

[2]Red Rising was well received by both readers and critics, and hit #20 on The New York Times Best Seller list in February 2014.

[3] Marc Snetiker of Entertainment Weekly gave the book an A−, writing, "Brown writes with cinematic grandeur, cleverly fusing Roman mythology with science fiction and pacing his action scenes for a slow-burn build to a hold-your-breath final act.

"[4] Brian Truitt of USA Today gave the book 3.5 out of 4 stars, proclaiming, "Red Rising ascends above a crowded dystopian field.

"[5] Writing for The Huffington Post, Britt Michaelian explained, "The morals and values that are explored through the characters in Red Rising have the potential to inspire a generation of readers to think intelligently about the impact of their decisions on themselves, their family and friends and on their world as a whole.

"[6] Niall Alexander wrote for Tor.com: On the surface, Red Rising resembles any number of other genre novels of note, but dig a little deeper ... to reveal real uniqueness: in Brown’s nearly seamless assemblage of several time-tested traditions, if not in a great many of his debut’s myriad threads independently ... Its final act ... is like a heart attack: a no-holds-barred bastard of a finale in which the author gathers a spread of elements together in much the same way George R. R. Martin’s does in the best and most brutal bits of his bestselling saga ... For once I would have loved more in the way of worldbuilding, and Brown could have made the most of a longer novel by exploring a few of his fiction’s most interesting figures further, but it bears remembering that Red Rising is only the beginning of a trilogy—which is to say there’s space and time for this impressive young author to work out its biggest kinks.

[8] However, Publishers Weekly said of the novel, "Pierce offers a Hollywood-ready story with plenty of action and thrills but painfully little originality or plausibility.

[13] GraphicAudio produced an audiobook of book one in two parts that include full cast, cinematic music and sound effects.