Pierce Brown, Red Rising

Red Rising, Pierce Brown, 2014, ISBN 9780345539786

First of a trilogy, this book is all about revolution, and love.

Darrow has spent his entire life as a miner, living underground on Mars. Part of a colony whose job is to mine Helium, all of the miners have been told, for many years, that the surface is uninhabitable. They are helping to build a new human society on Mars. Doubts enter into Darrow's mind after his wife is murdered by the brutal, sadistic government. Recruited by a secret underground group, Darrow learns that, for the past couple of hundred years, the miners have been Really Lied To.

The usual revolt would be crushed within a couple of days, so Darrow is given a different assignment. Months are spent turning him into a member of the elite class, both physically and mentally. He is to infiltrate the elite class, and become one of them. After he has risen to a senior position in the regime, then he will bring it down from the inside.

Along with a couple of dozen other young people, Darrow becomes a student at an institute to decide the next member of the ruling class. Split into several groups, they are each assigned to a castle in a river valley, and told to go from there. What follows is a Hunger Games-style competition, with real casualties, to winnow down the field. Darrow shows real leadership, and plenty of guts. Another student, the son of one of the rulers, is "supposed" to win, but Darrow isn't going to follow along. Does Darrow pull off an unauthorized win? Does he even survive?

This one is a gem of a story. It has everything; a brutal government and dystopian society, growing revolution, young people and some possibilities for romance. It also has an easy to read story. This is very much worth reading.