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Watched the non-spoiler section of this about... 3 or 4 days ago? Came back after only putting down the book to work, eat, and sleep... but only a little sleep. I feel so deeply Austin's excitement in every sentence throughout the rest that I'm now able to listen to. Thank you guys so much for convincing me to start this series. I'm a big Brando Sando Fando and have always been big on fantasy, but this was my first straight Sci-Fi book in 13ish years. Can't wait to read the rest! (After I lose the next two or three of my weeks to Starfield, that is) As an aside: you guys are great. Found your channel a month or two ago and I've done a significant amount of watching/listening to the backlog. We're similar ages, so it really feels like hearing my friends speak about these things. Most of my friends aren't big readers, so thank you both for filling that space.
This is my favorite episode yet. Austin's excitement through the entire episode is so funny when pitted against Richard who basically acts as Squidward, despite liking the book too
Difference between Darrow, Titus & Tau is that Darrow is more than just a pure raging ball of anger. To put it plainly, he's smarter than the other two. He's got some vision to along with all the grit. This allows him to contain his rage and channel it better than just letting it boil over and spill every which way. This is kinda confirmed when Mustang admits that she was wrong about Darrow later in book 1. So, the fact that his rage doesn't hurt him big time is no accident. It is meant to show that Darrow more than just that, even though it is one of his defining characteristics. It is not the only one. Additionally, having control over your rage(or other things) issues doesn't mean that it is not longer a problem. Because you're always fighting your first instinct and just one moment of weakness could push you over the edge. Like it's still a problem, but you're just disciplined enough to keep a lid on it for the most part.
Austin. I get you. I read stormlight and fell in love with reading last year. I stopped before RoW because I didn’t want it to end. I read other books and nothing came close to what Stormlight Archive make me feel. I watched your review of the RR trilogy and put it on my TBR. Start of this year by chance I started reading Red Rising and fell in love. Red Rising is on par with Stormlight Archive and I’ve only the first trilogy so far
First video I ever saw was you guys recommending this book awhile ago on tik tok and idk why I bought it but I did. I hadn’t read in like 5 years but wanted to get back into reading. Once I got to the betrayal chapter I couldn’t put it down and read till 4am. I’m a slow ass reader but it was insane. The most fun I’ve ever had reading a book. It made me fall in love with reading again and since it I’ve bought like 50 books most of them you guys have recommended. Met pierce at Phoenix comic con and told him he made me fall in love with reading again and he’s a very genuine guy. Appreciate you guys spreading the love of reading because it was so special reading for the first time.
There is always another mountain! Golden Son will blow Austin’s mind. It was great to hear you go into so much detail. Such a fab series. Lightbringer can’t come soon enough!
Just met Pierce Brown over the weekend at Phoenix comic con. Really awesome, down-to-earth guy. Super nice and doesn't at all seem like he'd be the type to traumatize you with his stories
There wasn’t a point where his rage negatively impacted Darrow to a point where the plot significantly shifts. But from the beginning when he mentions Eo quells his rage, I feel like it was already a pre-established character trait from an event before the story begins. So it being his internal dialogue is the same as someone who pushes through discomfort of getting up for an early morning run in the cold. I see the point, just doesn’t feel like it’s that big of a deal.
I just read the 5 books out in this series for the first time this year. It is an amazing ride. I'm so curious to follow your journey through them and relive the excitement through hearing you talk!
Helium-3 is not fictional, is an isotope of helium. It is also a potential energy source via nuclear fusion and energy, presumably what is used by the Society in RR. Is also much more common on Earth’s moon and Mars.
oh my gosh, just finished this book and almost done with the second!! absolutely obsessed and I have you guys to thank. Started watching you a bit ago and I have gotten back on my reading kick and now I can’t read books fast enough. I feel like I read three books a week at this rate haha but honestly you guys are the best and I am here to support!
I read Red Rising last summer and was trying to find a summary instead of rereading the first book. This was great and got me pumped to start the second book. Also, about to binge most of your other videos!
Darrow killed Julian in (sympathetic) rage, but rage none the less. Isn't the whole reason why Cassius leaves Darrow is because of HOW he killed Julian, not the fact that he killed him. His rage while killing Julian split him and Cassius apart, and turned enemies.
@@itsagoddam.pandamicthe manipulation def played a part obv, but Cassius himself tells Darrow that it was HOW he killed him that was the kicker, he brutalized him
Just recently found your channel and I'm glad someone shares my enthusiasm for Red Rising. Somehow, the books in the rest of the series get better and better. I finally convinced my husband to read them and he's obsessed. Howlers through and through.
It’s crazy to hear Richard be so wrong on this and Austin so right, but then switch over to Wheel of Time and hear Richard be so right, and Austin so wrong
Just finished the first book today, and it was incredible. I am new to reading in this genre but it was captivating. I am excited to read Golden Sun soon based on how everyone seems to be speaking highly of it. Thanks for having a long-form discussion on Red Rising! It doesn't seem like many others have done that (just quick book reviews).
rewatching this to get ready to read the Iron gold after 4 months since finishing morning star. Love it :) Austins excitement is so infectious. Can't wait to watch the rest or red rising content (again :D)
Hey guys, just found your podcast after finishing Red Rising today! Loved the discussion, you've got yourself a subscriber! Was really great to get an in depth discussion on this book after pouring over it the past couple of days. Quick question for ya: do you have any plans to read/cover The Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch? If not, I think you guys would love it based on this conversation and some of the other series you've mentioned. Would love to hear you guys chat about those novels. Anyways, keep up the good work. Cheers!
I used to read a lot as a kid and teenager, but in the last years I've lost this habit and the only content I read frequently was software documentation. A youtuber that I like (Dylan from Dylan is in trouble) mentioned Red Rising in one of his videos, and with little to no information about the saga, I decided to start reading. Currently, I'm in the fourth book and can't stop reading. I am so incredibly happy to feel excited like this because of a book again!! And as a consequence, while searching youtube for content about RR, I've found this amazing channel
Read all 5 books in a little over a month after I watched the first vid you put out on RR. I’m with Austin, I loved the first book and don’t really understand why people dislike it so much. I mean Pierce is both a genius and a mad man‼️
I’m almost half way through and I’m sort of struggling. Darrow doesn’t really have any real personality traits and it’s just another battle royale/hunger games in space.
Finally got through my tbr after watching this vid two months ago and just finished reading this book today and MAN, what a fun start to a series! I loved Darrow, Sevro and PAX AU TELEMANUS the most. The hierarchy system in this society is so interesting. This book would make such a great 8 episode , high budget season of a movie imo. I agree with Rich tho, the writing is a little clunky at times and cringe at others but i'd give the book a 7.5 personally.
I fell head over heels in love with this story in December-January. I was very hesitant to start book 1 since he reception is pretty mixed, I liked book 1 but noted it felt like a young writer’s first published book. But man, book 2 is a game changer. I rea book 3 alone in a day and half despite being 500 plus pages. Ended up reading all 5 in month, something I’ve never done in my decade plus of constantly reading. Curious to see if you guys get to the sequel series. They’re notably different, but incredibly well written.
Just picked this up per your suggestion after finishing stormlight, it was fantastic I'm very excited for the rest of the books. Thanks for the recommendation.
I don’t even think I’m a sci-fi fan but your enthusiasm is making me want to read these books. I love how unabashedly obsessed you guys are about something that is constantly seen as nerdy by other people
i absolutely love listening to you guys. i can relate to both of you in so many ways hahahahahaha keep it up. also just finished the last page of book one. was waiting to listen to this.
I absolutely love the main core of characters, but even with side characters like Pax, i hated reading his death and even more so because the Telemanus' are one of my favourite families in the series after reading the other books. The Howlers and how Darrow rallied them to take Olympus, and the slow chipping away at Darrow's heart from his interactions with Mustang was perfect, the fact their relationship grew over the trilogy made it feel more genuine.
Thanks for the review guys. Austin’s enthusiasm convinced me to start reading. On chp 14 and enjoying it so far. I’m not jumping for joy like Austin but it’s keeping me interested.
Darrow being conscious about his rage bringing him problems is his " traumatized Red-self ". The book is from his perspective so even as a Gold he fears and remembers the punishment toward reds when they don't behave, but now that he's a gold thats actually a positive because is seem as arrogant which is a good thing 😅 he just doesn't know it or is just really hard for him to get it.
I had this on my list since I found your channel. I just gave up on WoT (for now at least) on book 9. I went from empire of the vampire to red rising and it’s been a good month. We’ll be back when I finish it tomorrow! I have finished it! I couldn’t put it down for the solid chunk of the book. Onto number 2 Hannah Montana
The thing about his rage, is I think the point is that it is a positive for him to defeat his enemies. And while they say it will be his demise, it is the opposite.
So… I finally made it through Red Rising. I commented earlier that I had put it down at the beginning of Chapter 4 because I couldn't get into it. After reading several posts from others encouraging me to keep going I did. I have to say, Chapter 4 is where it got interesting for me and by Chapter 9 I was invested in the character. Although this will never be my favorite, I can see where people would enjoy it. I'll probably give book 2 a shot soon.
Here because my partner is excited about this book (and while I’m more a fantasy fan he’s a scifi fan,) I want to be able to talk with him about his new fav series! Thanks!!
I'm always behind on you guys lol. I think i agree with Richard a lot and some with Austin. I rated the book 7.46. The line that hooked me because of the crazy visual context is about his father being hanged. Darrow says " I just watched and thought it a shame that he died dancing but without his dancing shoe" I agree with Richard on Darrows rage needed a drawback. Darrow is constantly reward for his rage taking over. The siege on olympus is the prime example of this. He takes down all the proctors with less equipment and walks away with a few cuts.... Seems too easy to me... I think he should have suffered some small loss or defeat here but it was a straight up win with no concessions. Pacing was too fast. I agree with austin that this a good example of a well paced fast paced book, however, some of my other problems with the book would have been solved if it was slowed down. For instance i agree with Richard that most of the side characters are forgettable/not that great. This i believe would have been fixed with a slightly slower pace and exploring these characters more. Another 100 pages of character development would have been nice. There was another example where he time skips in the book by like a month then in that same time skip chapter says "oh yeah, earlier we did this thing that was important.." (I'm obviously paraphasing) i just didnt like that. If it was that noteworthy let me read it. I agree with both Austin that sanderson and brown are similar in terms mid-caliber of prose but i agree with Richard that it can be improved upon. Austin, i believe John Gwyene is way better with efficiency of words; there is absolutely no fat to his books and the prose and dialogue is way better in my opinion. I'm interested in your review of faithful and the fallen series. Either way great review still love y'all reviews
As a new fantasy and sci-fi reader(I usually read historical fiction), you guys have given me such a great list of recommendations so far. I’m currently reading the Powder Mage Trilogy but after that I have Stormlight, Red Rising, Sword of Kaigen, Hyperion, Suneater, Enders Game and eventually The Lord Of The Rings on my list so far. This is about to be a hell of a year of reading for me. No more Shogun ( my favourite book) style books for a while lmao.
I couldn’t agree more with Richard’s rating of a high 6, which makes me very excited to start reading Golden Son. Red Rising felt like a maybe slightly better than average “YA+” novel that has potential - very ready to see if Golden Son can live up to the expectations.
Red Rising only really took off for me when Darrow gets to the Institute. The first third in the mines and whilst being turned into a Gold didn't do it for me. Darrow is constantly telling us why we should care about these characters rather than showing, and so they felt like generic placeholders to set up what he really wanted to write about. As soon as the Institute got going it felt more original and the characters actually showed why we should root for them and i had genuine interest in Sevro, Mustang, etc in stark contrast to the likes of Eo. Cant wait to continue the series as I've heard it only gets better.
Commenting way later as I’ve recently found and loved y’alls channel, so much fun, and am watching a lot of your stuff. Anyone reading this can hate me lol, but I strongly disliked red rising and thought it awful, enough that it’s the only series I’ve started and haven’t finished. However, I’ve heard over the years how much better the series gets, and after hearing Austin always go crazy about it, I think I’m going to try finishing the series. So cheers and hope I finally understand it’s hype!
I found you and I’m with you! I didn’t know I wanted this book and I love this book so much! I love it and I love the second one more. It doesn’t mean I don’t love this one still! I read this in one sitting and I wanted to keep going.
I struggled with the first Red Rising book. It was okay mostly, but held up by Tim Gerard Reynolds's extremely impressive narration. I'm glad I pushed through to the Golden Sun and Morningstar. GS was great, loved it. Morningstar is one of my favorite books ever. Going to go into the second set of books after I finish the final Dandelion Dynasty book.
I'm in the "very good book" camp, but I can definitely see why so many people love it. Personally I felt the characters themselves were pretty weak and the first third of the book sets up an arc for the trilogy rather than this single book, so that was a bit rough to get through. But honestly once we get into the meat of it, there's a brilliant story that's told and it's just so dark. I love ot
I got this books years ago never was a reader, but it just happened to be on sale on kindle for like 3 dollars or something and fell in love. I think i had waitined till the original trilogy was finished to buy all the books physically. re-reading the ENTIRE saga again and can't wait for the next one "red god"
Two very different perspectives coming to the table to converse. Enjoyed it a lot! Good points from both but I'd have to say If given a choice, I'd rather have Richard as a DM in a campaign over Austin. All love! lol
I read this book because I love The Hunger Games and this seemed similar. I didn't love this one just cause some parts were confusing and slow for me, but after listening to you guys talk about the plot and characters, I feel like I have to continue with the trilogy cause it sounds SO good!!
I think the differences on this book boil down to whether you give Pierce Brown the benefit of the doubt. For me, darn near everything that happens in this book is told but not shown. Richard has issues with this, but Austin doesn't, and that's the fundamental difference. I side with Richard. I enjoyed the book, it was a really fun read. But everything happened so fast and the plot advanced so quickly that Brown just wants to reader to believe that the character development he's telling you about is actually happening off screen, instead of actually showing any of it.
So a little backstory, im currently reading stormlight (currently finished up to part 1 of Words of Radience), however due to the length of stormlight books, ill read another smaller book for a refreshing break. I picked up red rising on a whim, and it was a fun ride, i was kept on my toes and never saw what was coming next past part 1. If i had to score it, id put it at a solid 7.2, i certainly wanted to keep reading but couldnt stop feeling like the story wanted me to be more emotionally invested than i was most of the time until the very end. Very good read and now i might be binging the rest of the series before i get back to Words Of radiance 😂
So as for the argument you two had over Darrow’s rage and where there was a disconnect between Richard and Austin is simply that Richard is arguing that Pierce Brown did a lot of telling us how rageful Darrow was but not a lot of showing us how rageful Darrow was. Then Austin brings up some passages in the book and most are about telling and then the few that are showing (i.e. actions) Richard concedes those are better examples just simply not enough for how often it’s talked about. It’s always best in storytelling to try and show and explain your character through actions rather than just simply telling us about him or his feelings. Otherwise you run the risk of readers not believing a character is truly feeling said emotions, at least not realistically; you see someone who is rageful in real life, how do you know? They yell, they get violent, punching walls, breaking things, hurting people, they act on their rage and if they don’t how would you know how mad they really are? Richard is right, for how full of rage Darrow is described as being his actions don’t do enough to convince you of it. P.S. I love this book too.
Great episode! Great book! Austin is making me want to re-read it tho.. what did I miss? Golden Son definitely got me on board the hype train tho. On to Morning Star! Also, Hanah Montana.
I agree with the mental picture of the world, I had to use AI to give me pictorial views of some of the descriptions because I couldn’t clearly grasp it. I still relatively liked the first book. I am about to begin the second book now.
I’ve just finished the first book. 70 pages into the second. I remember the amazement I felt at the fulling the feet line. 2 paragraphs in I put the book down to talk to my GF about it. Amazing. And then “none of them will survive.” Page 1 is a BANGER
I’m so glad to finally be able to say “Hannah Montana” I got and read this book because of Austin’s pure excitement for it. Hopefully I’ll be commenting on the Golden Sun video in a few weeks
Finished the book a couple of days ago. Loved it but it’s still not Stormlight Archives. Currently on Golden Son, I hear it’s better so let’s see how that goes! Btw the reading of RR was difficult in the beginning
Austin, this book is precious to me as well. Even after re-reading the WHOLE bloodydamn series! Is it the worst in the series? Yes, but it is still a masterpiece in my eyes. This book made me fall in love with reading.
When I would look away from the book, or go to the bathroom reality would have to come back over me, because I felt like I was inside this book. I felt like I was walking next to these characters. I could not stop thinking about this book and all the underlying topics for 5 minutes. 10/10. Obsessed. I never want to leave these characters.
Great video and good book. I’m more on the side of Richard on this one at around 6.5/10. The first half of the book is brilliant but the second half seemed a little bit rushed with some cheesy dialogue. A lot of action in the second half particularly the last 100 pages. Worth a read, I believe the next book is better, I’ll definitely give it a go.
@@2ToRamble I’m reading it now, so far so good! Look forward to watching your spoiler review after I’ve read it 👍 A side note - I’m enjoying your videos and you have inspired me to read again. Last year I only read 3/4 of a book but this year I’m reading a book a month, thanks 👍 Mike from the UK 🇬🇧.
Finished this book a few hours ago. I absolutely loved every second of it! Austin you should definitely check out Shadow Slave. Its a Webnovel that I read before reading Red Rising. Definitely think you’ll like. Lots of people who’ve read Shadow Slave seem to enjoy Red Rising as well.
I’m in the presses of reading red rising right now and i am LOVING IT. now i’m not a reader but i’m doing everything i can to become one, it’s just with ADHD and dyslexia (why on gods green earth would they spell it like that) it can be pretty challenging at times 😅
There's always another mountain indeed, Golden son is sooo good. But also, i feel like the first book gets alot more "hate" than it deserves. Full agree with dude on the right (Austin?) that it was a crazy page turner, i blazed through it so fast, just couldn't put it down.
Red Rising - 8.7/10 Golden Son - 9.4/10 Morning Star - 9.8/10 Iron Gold - 9/10 Dark Age - 10/10 Lightbringer - 10+/10 (best novel I’ve read) This is my personal rating for the series, I love it so much. To be fair I haven’t read as much novels yet, plan to read more.
1:28:53 I’ve mostly agreed with Richard on his points of the book, but I disagree here. What he says about Gold’s recreating/emulating ancient Greco-Roman civilization as having a stunted effect on their culture/civilization is wrong in my opinion. I think the reason, a decent one in my opinion, the Gold society modeled themselves after this historical group is because they believe this was the height of culture for humanity. In their opinion anything after that period of time was below tier in terms of culture.
I love the first book. I knew nothing of it at all. I found the trilogy at a thrift store. I bought the books $2 a pop. Im six chapters into Golden Son. Loving it
If you have to "leave room" for future books in a series to have better ratings, every first book of any series is doomed to 3/10 and no one would pick it up. Sometimes authors put out banger after banger. Pierce Brown is one of those authors IMO
@@2ToRamble Light Bringer (that might be the recent tears speaking) Morning Star Dark Age Golden Son Red Rising (here it is toward the bottom of the list, but I just finished a re-read and it's still great. The bottom of a Pierce Brown list is still really high in my all-time reads) Iron Gold
About the rage dicuasion. I think a big part of it is not even about the consequences he'll face because of hia rage because like mentioned the Golds respect him often. I would say that it's more about he has to control his rage so that he doesn't just end up being like all the Golds in the end. If he continues being full of rage then he will end up no better than the golds rather than how the book ends by not enslaving people but by letting them free.
Okay, like the vid and looking forward to golden son review. ( I’m on chapter 12 now ) but let’s move on from the rage topic a lil faster lol I was in raged listening to you guys talk about it for so long
I felt the first half of this book was quite tough, as in a bit tropey, a bit clichéd quite predictable. The second half of this book has all the same problems, but it doesn't matter because it's awesome. All I would say to people who struggled like I did, press on because Golden Son in particular is an exceptional sequel and Morning Star again is great. For context I read both Golden Son and Morning Star via audiobook in like 3-4 days and I was findint excuses to do chores so I could listen more.
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There is another even greater narration of the audiobook.(and 1st trilogy) Bloody Bookmarker aka Sonny Burton. does a great job with the voices.
Austin’s about to have an out of body experience after Golden Son
Already happened. Im living in the 6th dimension now.
Literally finished this book yesterday. For months I've been trying to get out of a reading slump. This bloodydamn book got me out of it.
👆👆👆 My favorite comment so far. I (austin) am biased but this book is IT!
Gorydamn ruster whelp.
Watched the non-spoiler section of this about... 3 or 4 days ago? Came back after only putting down the book to work, eat, and sleep... but only a little sleep. I feel so deeply Austin's excitement in every sentence throughout the rest that I'm now able to listen to. Thank you guys so much for convincing me to start this series. I'm a big Brando Sando Fando and have always been big on fantasy, but this was my first straight Sci-Fi book in 13ish years. Can't wait to read the rest! (After I lose the next two or three of my weeks to Starfield, that is)
As an aside: you guys are great. Found your channel a month or two ago and I've done a significant amount of watching/listening to the backlog. We're similar ages, so it really feels like hearing my friends speak about these things. Most of my friends aren't big readers, so thank you both for filling that space.
Thanks for watching and glad you found us + share that love for Red Rising. WHAT A BOOK!!!
This is my favorite episode yet. Austin's excitement through the entire episode is so funny when pitted against Richard who basically acts as Squidward, despite liking the book too
😂
Difference between Darrow, Titus & Tau is that Darrow is more than just a pure raging ball of anger. To put it plainly, he's smarter than the other two. He's got some vision to along with all the grit. This allows him to contain his rage and channel it better than just letting it boil over and spill every which way. This is kinda confirmed when Mustang admits that she was wrong about Darrow later in book 1. So, the fact that his rage doesn't hurt him big time is no accident. It is meant to show that Darrow more than just that, even though it is one of his defining characteristics. It is not the only one.
Additionally, having control over your rage(or other things) issues doesn't mean that it is not longer a problem. Because you're always fighting your first instinct and just one moment of weakness could push you over the edge. Like it's still a problem, but you're just disciplined enough to keep a lid on it for the most part.
exactly
Austin. I get you. I read stormlight and fell in love with reading last year. I stopped before RoW because I didn’t want it to end. I read other books and nothing came close to what Stormlight Archive make me feel. I watched your review of the RR trilogy and put it on my TBR. Start of this year by chance I started reading Red Rising and fell in love. Red Rising is on par with Stormlight Archive and I’ve only the first trilogy so far
Hell yea!
To me, the carving section of the book was effing fantastic, the prose, the emotional vulnerability of it all. Was fantastic.
Seriously amazing. Youre spot on!
Creating FRANKENSTEIN.
First video I ever saw was you guys recommending this book awhile ago on tik tok and idk why I bought it but I did. I hadn’t read in like 5 years but wanted to get back into reading. Once I got to the betrayal chapter I couldn’t put it down and read till 4am. I’m a slow ass reader but it was insane. The most fun I’ve ever had reading a book. It made me fall in love with reading again and since it I’ve bought like 50 books most of them you guys have recommended. Met pierce at Phoenix comic con and told him he made me fall in love with reading again and he’s a very genuine guy. Appreciate you guys spreading the love of reading because it was so special reading for the first time.
Amazing comment. Thank you and so happy you got back into reading!
There is always another mountain! Golden Son will blow Austin’s mind.
It was great to hear you go into so much detail. Such a fab series. Lightbringer can’t come soon enough!
Just met Pierce Brown over the weekend at Phoenix comic con. Really awesome, down-to-earth guy. Super nice and doesn't at all seem like he'd be the type to traumatize you with his stories
There wasn’t a point where his rage negatively impacted Darrow to a point where the plot significantly shifts. But from the beginning when he mentions Eo quells his rage, I feel like it was already a pre-established character trait from an event before the story begins. So it being his internal dialogue is the same as someone who pushes through discomfort of getting up for an early morning run in the cold. I see the point, just doesn’t feel like it’s that big of a deal.
Austin your passionate rant convinced me to read it and it’s bloody damn great, the audiobook is on another level with Persephones Song
Hell yea!!!
I just read the 5 books out in this series for the first time this year. It is an amazing ride. I'm so curious to follow your journey through them and relive the excitement through hearing you talk!
Helium-3 is not fictional, is an isotope of helium. It is also a potential energy source via nuclear fusion and energy, presumably what is used by the Society in RR. Is also much more common on Earth’s moon and Mars.
oh my gosh, just finished this book and almost done with the second!! absolutely obsessed and I have you guys to thank. Started watching you a bit ago and I have gotten back on my reading kick and now I can’t read books fast enough. I feel like I read three books a week at this rate haha but honestly you guys are the best and I am here to support!
I read Red Rising last summer and was trying to find a summary instead of rereading the first book. This was great and got me pumped to start the second book. Also, about to binge most of your other videos!
Darrow killed Julian in (sympathetic) rage, but rage none the less. Isn't the whole reason why Cassius leaves Darrow is because of HOW he killed Julian, not the fact that he killed him. His rage while killing Julian split him and Cassius apart, and turned enemies.
No? It's because he lied and put Cassius onto other people while pretending to be his friend.
@@itsagoddam.pandamic its sort of both
Came to say this. He literally said as much.
@@itsagoddam.pandamicthe manipulation def played a part obv, but Cassius himself tells Darrow that it was HOW he killed him that was the kicker, he brutalized him
@@itsagoddam.pandamicread it again lil bro
Just recently found your channel and I'm glad someone shares my enthusiasm for Red Rising. Somehow, the books in the rest of the series get better and better. I finally convinced my husband to read them and he's obsessed. Howlers through and through.
Howlers unite!
It’s crazy to hear Richard be so wrong on this and Austin so right, but then switch over to Wheel of Time and hear Richard be so right, and Austin so wrong
Honestly I agree with Richard on this one
Yessss! This series was made for me! Love that you guys are getting to it!
Just finished the first book today, and it was incredible. I am new to reading in this genre but it was captivating. I am excited to read Golden Sun soon based on how everyone seems to be speaking highly of it.
Thanks for having a long-form discussion on Red Rising! It doesn't seem like many others have done that (just quick book reviews).
rewatching this to get ready to read the Iron gold after 4 months since finishing morning star. Love it :) Austins excitement is so infectious. Can't wait to watch the rest or red rising content (again :D)
😁😁
Hey guys, just found your podcast after finishing Red Rising today! Loved the discussion, you've got yourself a subscriber! Was really great to get an in depth discussion on this book after pouring over it the past couple of days.
Quick question for ya: do you have any plans to read/cover The Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch? If not, I think you guys would love it based on this conversation and some of the other series you've mentioned. Would love to hear you guys chat about those novels.
Anyways, keep up the good work. Cheers!
We’ll absolutely cover it after I (austin) get to reading them! Appreciate you watching and subbing 👊👊
I used to read a lot as a kid and teenager, but in the last years I've lost this habit and the only content I read frequently was software documentation.
A youtuber that I like (Dylan from Dylan is in trouble) mentioned Red Rising in one of his videos, and with little to no information about the saga, I decided to start reading.
Currently, I'm in the fourth book and can't stop reading. I am so incredibly happy to feel excited like this because of a book again!!
And as a consequence, while searching youtube for content about RR, I've found this amazing channel
Welcome aboard!! Thanks for joining us on Booktube 😁😁
Just finished this book, love the different perspectives here, hard to imagine the next book gets better.
Read all 5 books in a little over a month after I watched the first vid you put out on RR. I’m with Austin, I loved the first book and don’t really understand why people dislike it so much. I mean Pierce is both a genius and a mad man‼️
👊👊 Love it!
I loved it. I cried ti this book also.
I’m almost half way through and I’m sort of struggling. Darrow doesn’t really have any real personality traits and it’s just another battle royale/hunger games in space.
In a race of amazing books one has to come last, it’s still amazing, it’s just out shined
Finally got through my tbr after watching this vid two months ago and just finished reading this book today and MAN, what a fun start to a series! I loved Darrow, Sevro and PAX AU TELEMANUS the most.
The hierarchy system in this society is so interesting. This book would make such a great 8 episode , high budget season of a movie imo.
I agree with Rich tho, the writing is a little clunky at times and cringe at others but i'd give the book a 7.5 personally.
just finished the 1st one yesterday, sevro is my favorite character by far dude is so cold
This is one of my favorite series of all time, I read the first book in like a day and a half
The first 75% was fine and then BOOM, 25% left and I could not put it down. Cant wait for Golden Son
This is such a underrated channel. Love it :)
Thank you !
I fell head over heels in love with this story in December-January. I was very hesitant to start book 1 since he reception is pretty mixed, I liked book 1 but noted it felt like a young writer’s first published book.
But man, book 2 is a game changer. I rea book 3 alone in a day and half despite being 500 plus pages. Ended up reading all 5 in month, something I’ve never done in my decade plus of constantly reading.
Curious to see if you guys get to the sequel series. They’re notably different, but incredibly well written.
Just picked this up per your suggestion after finishing stormlight, it was fantastic I'm very excited for the rest of the books. Thanks for the recommendation.
Absolutely!
YESS. i subscribed to you when I was listening to your review of EOTY and mentioned that a red rising review was coming soon. Been waiting for this!
Its finally here this is one of my favorite series so excited your reading them! Ahh Sevro my fav
I don’t even think I’m a sci-fi fan but your enthusiasm is making me want to read these books. I love how unabashedly obsessed you guys are about something that is constantly seen as nerdy by other people
If you end up reading this let us know, thatd be awesome 👊👊
@@2ToRamble totally!
i absolutely love listening to you guys. i can relate to both of you in so many ways hahahahahaha keep it up. also just finished the last page of book one. was waiting to listen to this.
Appreciate ya listening, glad someone else enjoys this madness. Cheers! Howd ya like the book?
I absolutely love the main core of characters, but even with side characters like Pax, i hated reading his death and even more so because the Telemanus' are one of my favourite families in the series after reading the other books. The Howlers and how Darrow rallied them to take Olympus, and the slow chipping away at Darrow's heart from his interactions with Mustang was perfect, the fact their relationship grew over the trilogy made it feel more genuine.
Thanks for the review guys. Austin’s enthusiasm convinced me to start reading. On chp 14 and enjoying it so far. I’m not jumping for joy like Austin but it’s keeping me interested.
Glad youre giving it a go! Let us know how you feel by the end as well - cheers
@@2ToRamble Finished it. Loved it! Started Golden Son.
Darrow being conscious about his rage bringing him problems is his " traumatized Red-self ". The book is from his perspective so even as a Gold he fears and remembers the punishment toward reds when they don't behave, but now that he's a gold thats actually a positive because is seem as arrogant which is a good thing 😅 he just doesn't know it or is just really hard for him to get it.
I had this on my list since I found your channel. I just gave up on WoT (for now at least) on book 9. I went from empire of the vampire to red rising and it’s been a good month. We’ll be back when I finish it tomorrow!
I have finished it! I couldn’t put it down for the solid chunk of the book. Onto number 2
Hannah Montana
Hell yes!
The thing about his rage, is I think the point is that it is a positive for him to defeat his enemies. And while they say it will be his demise, it is the opposite.
So… I finally made it through Red Rising. I commented earlier that I had put it down at the beginning of Chapter 4 because I couldn't get into it. After reading several posts from others encouraging me to keep going I did. I have to say, Chapter 4 is where it got interesting for me and by Chapter 9 I was invested in the character. Although this will never be my favorite, I can see where people would enjoy it. I'll probably give book 2 a shot soon.
Glad you gave it a shot - cheers!
There is always another mountain! Loved the video and the book!
Just finished the book and immediately came back to watch this video. Reading slump over. Love the channel fellas
Thank you!!
Here because my partner is excited about this book (and while I’m more a fantasy fan he’s a scifi fan,) I want to be able to talk with him about his new fav series! Thanks!!
I'm always behind on you guys lol. I think i agree with Richard a lot and some with Austin. I rated the book 7.46. The line that hooked me because of the crazy visual context is about his father being hanged. Darrow says " I just watched and thought it a shame that he died dancing but without his dancing shoe"
I agree with Richard on Darrows rage needed a drawback. Darrow is constantly reward for his rage taking over. The siege on olympus is the prime example of this. He takes down all the proctors with less equipment and walks away with a few cuts.... Seems too easy to me... I think he should have suffered some small loss or defeat here but it was a straight up win with no concessions.
Pacing was too fast. I agree with austin that this a good example of a well paced fast paced book, however, some of my other problems with the book would have been solved if it was slowed down. For instance i agree with Richard that most of the side characters are forgettable/not that great. This i believe would have been fixed with a slightly slower pace and exploring these characters more. Another 100 pages of character development would have been nice. There was another example where he time skips in the book by like a month then in that same time skip chapter says "oh yeah, earlier we did this thing that was important.." (I'm obviously paraphasing) i just didnt like that. If it was that noteworthy let me read it.
I agree with both Austin that sanderson and brown are similar in terms mid-caliber of prose but i agree with Richard that it can be improved upon. Austin, i believe John Gwyene is way better with efficiency of words; there is absolutely no fat to his books and the prose and dialogue is way better in my opinion. I'm interested in your review of faithful and the fallen series. Either way great review still love y'all reviews
As a new fantasy and sci-fi reader(I usually read historical fiction), you guys have given me such a great list of recommendations so far.
I’m currently reading the Powder Mage Trilogy but after that I have Stormlight, Red Rising, Sword of Kaigen, Hyperion, Suneater, Enders Game and eventually The Lord Of The Rings on my list so far.
This is about to be a hell of a year of reading for me. No more Shogun ( my favourite book) style books for a while lmao.
What a year!!
I couldn’t agree more with Richard’s rating of a high 6, which makes me very excited to start reading Golden Son.
Red Rising felt like a maybe slightly better than average “YA+” novel that has potential - very ready to see if Golden Son can live up to the expectations.
Red Rising only really took off for me when Darrow gets to the Institute. The first third in the mines and whilst being turned into a Gold didn't do it for me. Darrow is constantly telling us why we should care about these characters rather than showing, and so they felt like generic placeholders to set up what he really wanted to write about. As soon as the Institute got going it felt more original and the characters actually showed why we should root for them and i had genuine interest in Sevro, Mustang, etc in stark contrast to the likes of Eo. Cant wait to continue the series as I've heard it only gets better.
Commenting way later as I’ve recently found and loved y’alls channel, so much fun, and am watching a lot of your stuff. Anyone reading this can hate me lol, but I strongly disliked red rising and thought it awful, enough that it’s the only series I’ve started and haven’t finished. However, I’ve heard over the years how much better the series gets, and after hearing Austin always go crazy about it, I think I’m going to try finishing the series. So cheers and hope I finally understand it’s hype!
I found you and I’m with you! I didn’t know I wanted this book and I love this book so much! I love it and I love the second one more. It doesn’t mean I don’t love this one still! I read this in one sitting and I wanted to keep going.
Bro I had the same reaction to Red Rising, and it got better and better.
I have to let you know and I say this with my whole chest...
THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THIS SERIES IN MY LIFE 11/10 (one of) THE BEST SERIES EVER
❤️
Love this book so much. Wish I could find another series like it
I struggled with the first Red Rising book. It was okay mostly, but held up by Tim Gerard Reynolds's extremely impressive narration. I'm glad I pushed through to the Golden Sun and Morningstar. GS was great, loved it. Morningstar is one of my favorite books ever. Going to go into the second set of books after I finish the final Dandelion Dynasty book.
Awesome video on a fantastic book! I do agree that I couldn’t get a mental image of hardly anything, but the plot was worth it
I might pick up the second book. But that Hunger Game-like story in book one was painful for me to go through
That doesnt continue in the second book if that helps!
@@2ToRamble I was the same way, the first half of the book gave me a different promise. I'm glad this will pay off in the second book, so I'll get it!
There is always another mountain! And the next book is the top of that mountain! Definitely an upgrade from the first book
I read it because of Ausins and i'm looking forward for that next mountain. Loved book one starting book 2 now :)
I'm in the "very good book" camp, but I can definitely see why so many people love it. Personally I felt the characters themselves were pretty weak and the first third of the book sets up an arc for the trilogy rather than this single book, so that was a bit rough to get through. But honestly once we get into the meat of it, there's a brilliant story that's told and it's just so dark. I love ot
I got this books years ago never was a reader, but it just happened to be on sale on kindle for like 3 dollars or something and fell in love. I think i had waitined till the original trilogy was finished to buy all the books physically. re-reading the ENTIRE saga again and can't wait for the next one "red god"
Two very different perspectives coming to the table to converse. Enjoyed it a lot! Good points from both but I'd have to say If given a choice, I'd rather have Richard as a DM in a campaign over Austin. All love! lol
Loved the review, just have to say Helium-3 is not a fictional gas, it is real.
I read this book because I love The Hunger Games and this seemed similar. I didn't love this one just cause some parts were confusing and slow for me, but after listening to you guys talk about the plot and characters, I feel like I have to continue with the trilogy cause it sounds SO good!!
Hope you continue and end up loving the series!
I think the differences on this book boil down to whether you give Pierce Brown the benefit of the doubt. For me, darn near everything that happens in this book is told but not shown. Richard has issues with this, but Austin doesn't, and that's the fundamental difference. I side with Richard. I enjoyed the book, it was a really fun read. But everything happened so fast and the plot advanced so quickly that Brown just wants to reader to believe that the character development he's telling you about is actually happening off screen, instead of actually showing any of it.
I would highly recommend the dramatised audiobooks for the trilogy. It's absolutely amazing, pure theatre, and does the series and characters justice.
So a little backstory, im currently reading stormlight (currently finished up to part 1 of Words of Radience), however due to the length of stormlight books, ill read another smaller book for a refreshing break. I picked up red rising on a whim, and it was a fun ride, i was kept on my toes and never saw what was coming next past part 1. If i had to score it, id put it at a solid 7.2, i certainly wanted to keep reading but couldnt stop feeling like the story wanted me to be more emotionally invested than i was most of the time until the very end. Very good read and now i might be binging the rest of the series before i get back to Words Of radiance 😂
Both amazing series - SA and RR cant go wrong!
We need you to finish the full trilogy… and then the next trilogy as well hahaha
Just finished , I feel the same way as austin does lol let's see how this plays out when I'm done with the complete series 😅😂
There is another even greater narration of the audiobook.(and 1st trilogy) Bloody Bookmarker aka Sonny Burton. does a great job with the voices.
richard the rich patreon users acting real gold with the better then tho energy
So as for the argument you two had over Darrow’s rage and where there was a disconnect between Richard and Austin is simply that Richard is arguing that Pierce Brown did a lot of telling us how rageful Darrow was but not a lot of showing us how rageful Darrow was. Then Austin brings up some passages in the book and most are about telling and then the few that are showing (i.e. actions) Richard concedes those are better examples just simply not enough for how often it’s talked about. It’s always best in storytelling to try and show and explain your character through actions rather than just simply telling us about him or his feelings. Otherwise you run the risk of readers not believing a character is truly feeling said emotions, at least not realistically; you see someone who is rageful in real life, how do you know? They yell, they get violent, punching walls, breaking things, hurting people, they act on their rage and if they don’t how would you know how mad they really are? Richard is right, for how full of rage Darrow is described as being his actions don’t do enough to convince you of it. P.S. I love this book too.
There is always another mountain
Great episode! Great book! Austin is making me want to re-read it tho.. what did I miss?
Golden Son definitely got me on board the hype train tho.
On to Morning Star!
Also, Hanah Montana.
🥂
Just finished this gorydamn book yesterday and boy O boy I can tell this is going to be one prime series.
🙏🙏
I’ve been waiting for this
Hey Austin, just came here to say that I only read Red Rising because of how exited you were, thank you very much my dude
Hell yea - glad you enjoyed RR. What a ride!
@@2ToRamble But golden son, my dude, THAT IS THE BOOK
🤌🤌🤌
I agree with the mental picture of the world, I had to use AI to give me pictorial views of some of the descriptions because I couldn’t clearly grasp it. I still relatively liked the first book. I am about to begin the second book now.
I’ve just finished the first book. 70 pages into the second. I remember the amazement I felt at the fulling the feet line. 2 paragraphs in I put the book down to talk to my GF about it. Amazing. And then “none of them will survive.” Page 1 is a BANGER
I’m so glad to finally be able to say “Hannah Montana”
I got and read this book because of Austin’s pure excitement for it. Hopefully I’ll be commenting on the Golden Sun video in a few weeks
😁😁🔥
So glad your read it!
Finished the book a couple of days ago. Loved it but it’s still not Stormlight Archives. Currently on Golden Son, I hear it’s better so let’s see how that goes! Btw the reading of RR was difficult in the beginning
Let us know what you think of Golden Son! Hope it surpasses book 1 for you…its incredible!
I just started the book and I'm 180 pages in, can't wait to listen to the rest of the video
Hell yea!
Austin, this book is precious to me as well. Even after re-reading the WHOLE bloodydamn series! Is it the worst in the series? Yes, but it is still a masterpiece in my eyes.
This book made me fall in love with reading.
Its so precious. Red Rising is the one ring to me 😮💨
When I would look away from the book, or go to the bathroom reality would have to come back over me, because I felt like I was inside this book. I felt like I was walking next to these characters. I could not stop thinking about this book and all the underlying topics for 5 minutes. 10/10. Obsessed. I never want to leave these characters.
🙏🙏
Great video and good book. I’m more on the side of Richard on this one at around 6.5/10. The first half of the book is brilliant but the second half seemed a little bit rushed with some cheesy dialogue. A lot of action in the second half particularly the last 100 pages. Worth a read, I believe the next book is better, I’ll definitely give it a go.
Curious what you think of book 2!
@@2ToRamble I’m reading it now, so far so good! Look forward to watching your spoiler review after I’ve read it 👍
A side note - I’m enjoying your videos and you have inspired me to read again. Last year I only read 3/4 of a book but this year I’m reading a book a month, thanks 👍 Mike from the UK 🇬🇧.
@@mjp9899 That is awesome!!! So glad you're getting back into reading
Finished this book a few hours ago. I absolutely loved every second of it! Austin you should definitely check out Shadow Slave. Its a Webnovel that I read before reading Red Rising. Definitely think you’ll like. Lots of people who’ve read Shadow Slave seem to enjoy Red Rising as well.
Thank you for the rec! Where can I find it?
@@2ToRamble lightnovelworld or webnovel either one of these sites work, though webnovel requires you to pay.
Oh my gosh I’m laughing already haven’t even clicked play I love you guys
I’m in the presses of reading red rising right now and i am LOVING IT. now i’m not a reader but i’m doing everything i can to become one, it’s just with ADHD and dyslexia (why on gods green earth would they spell it like that) it can be pretty challenging at times 😅
Lol they did make it hard to spell - glad youre loving it!
There's always another mountain indeed, Golden son is sooo good. But also, i feel like the first book gets alot more "hate" than it deserves. Full agree with dude on the right (Austin?) that it was a crazy page turner, i blazed through it so fast, just couldn't put it down.
Red Rising - 8.7/10
Golden Son - 9.4/10
Morning Star - 9.8/10
Iron Gold - 9/10
Dark Age - 10/10
Lightbringer - 10+/10 (best novel I’ve read)
This is my personal rating for the series, I love it so much. To be fair I haven’t read as much novels yet, plan to read more.
Love that you love it!
1:28:53 I’ve mostly agreed with Richard on his points of the book, but I disagree here. What he says about Gold’s recreating/emulating ancient Greco-Roman civilization as having a stunted effect on their culture/civilization is wrong in my opinion. I think the reason, a decent one in my opinion, the Gold society modeled themselves after this historical group is because they believe this was the height of culture for humanity. In their opinion anything after that period of time was below tier in terms of culture.
I love the first book. I knew nothing of it at all. I found the trilogy at a thrift store. I bought the books $2 a pop. Im six chapters into Golden Son. Loving it
If you have to "leave room" for future books in a series to have better ratings, every first book of any series is doomed to 3/10 and no one would pick it up. Sometimes authors put out banger after banger. Pierce Brown is one of those authors IMO
Whats your ranking of the series so far? I loved Red Rising to an insane degree, probably more than most
@@2ToRamble
Light Bringer (that might be the recent tears speaking)
Morning Star
Dark Age
Golden Son
Red Rising (here it is toward the bottom of the list, but I just finished a re-read and it's still great. The bottom of a Pierce Brown list is still really high in my all-time reads)
Iron Gold
About the rage dicuasion. I think a big part of it is not even about the consequences he'll face because of hia rage because like mentioned the Golds respect him often. I would say that it's more about he has to control his rage so that he doesn't just end up being like all the Golds in the end. If he continues being full of rage then he will end up no better than the golds rather than how the book ends by not enslaving people but by letting them free.
Yea great point here!
Austin is 100% right in everything he stated in his review!
Okay, like the vid and looking forward to golden son review. ( I’m on chapter 12 now ) but let’s move on from the rage topic a lil faster lol I was in raged listening to you guys talk about it for so long
Fair enough 😂
My favourite series is Malazan, but i would never give it score THAT high. 😂
😁😆
I felt the first half of this book was quite tough, as in a bit tropey, a bit clichéd quite predictable. The second half of this book has all the same problems, but it doesn't matter because it's awesome.
All I would say to people who struggled like I did, press on because Golden Son in particular is an exceptional sequel and Morning Star again is great.
For context I read both Golden Son and Morning Star via audiobook in like 3-4 days and I was findint excuses to do chores so I could listen more.