Red Rising series made me start reading again (no spoilers)
Currently on book 3 of the Red Rising series. I've been trying to get back into reading for years but I've felt like "quicker" forms of entertainment (video games, etc.) have broken my ability to sit down and focus on a book. Case in point - I've had Red Rising book 1 downloaded to my kindle for years after a friend of mine gave it a overwhelmingly positive recommendation. I tried reading it a few times but my lack of attention span made me fail after just a few pages.
Well all that changed recently when I finally sat down again and gave the book a proper chance by reading more then 3 pages I feel like I'm 14 years old again just crushing books in a few days. Several times I have not been able to put the book down and read until 2AM.
Since the end of June I've finished the first 2 books and am around 1/3rd through the 3rd one.
I haven't felt this way about a book series in over a decade. It is so refreshing and satisfying to be reading again. I just wanted to share this amazing series with everyone.
Veteran readers might prefer something slower paced (RR is "pedal to the floor" pace) but for someone like myself who needs that to re-ignite my love for reading it is very welcome.
I will say book 1 is a bit young adult fiction style. If you enjoyed it but felt that was a negative I would strongly encourage giving book 2 a chance. Book 2 is quite an evolution from the first book.
Same actually. I tore through all 5 in one month. The shorter books taking as little as 2 days, which is saying a lot for me. And while I haven't found another single book or series that grabbed me in the same way, I still read every day and have tried non-fiction, older scifi, fantasy, and even one book on organizational strategies.
The 6th book in the series is coming out July 25 if you are looking for another to read.
Wow. It feels like forever since the last book.
Found the series just as I was getting into more contemporary Sci-fi. It hit all the more interesting elements of Hunger Games but then developed the world far beyond that. I'm actually tempted to name all my future cats Sophocles because House Telemanus is such a wonderfully written set of characters.
But overall, books 4 and 5 started loosing me. It feels very Game of Thrones with all the moving parts, players and political considerations. So just like GoT, I sort of blanked out when it got to characters I didn't care about and I really can't recall much of what happened overall.
It may be because I marathoned the entire series and started burning out there so maybe a re-read will change my mind.
If you are on a Sci-fi trip, my I recommend The Expanse series and Project Hail Mary.
I just finished Project Hail Mary a few days ago. Great book.
I'm anxiously awaiting it. I should be finished with my current book by then.
That's great to hear! Ready Player One did that for me. After several books, I tried an Audible subscription and have been using that ever since. There are so many good stories and I love the experience of them.
I tried the RR series when the first book was gifted to me. Only read the first three books. I liked the first one. Really disliked the second one.
I'm glad you love them though. If you like sci-fi, John Scalzi is a great author to get into as well.
+1 for the John Scalzi recommendation. I started with Old Man's War and read most of what he's published since then.
I also really enjoyed the Murderbot series by Martha Wells over the past couple of years.
I'm actually about to start Old Man's War. Lock In is what introduced me to Scalzi
You're in for a good time!
Another +1 for Scalzi!
I love Scalzi. The Old Man's War universe is fantastic. In some ways he reminds me of Heinlein.
Have you listened to The Dispatcher series included in the Audible Plus catalog? They were my first (and for now, only) exposure to John Scalzi.
I have added him to my "authors to read" list because of The Dispatcher.
I hadn't heard of these but now they're on my to-read list :)
Yes and Zachery Quinto does a great job as the narrator!
If you like the military scifi aspect of that series, you might check out Galaxy's Edge series by Jason Anspach. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with Star Wars. But fair warning there are a LOT of books in the series. I've read 3 so far and really enjoyed them.
I felt this way about the book series "the way of kings". I hadn't read since high school because I just couldn't get myself to read more than a few pages without getting bored. But I started doing audio books as friends suggested. And I started with "the Witcher" series. Which was ok. Not bad in almost any way, but didn't blow me away.
But then my friends suggested "the way of kings" by Brandon Sanderson and I instantly found reasons to listen to the audiobook more. Even just going on a walk to be by myself and listen. I then eventually switched from audiobooks back to reading, and then devoured almost all of Brandon Sanderson's books. I've also read the entire expanse series and greatly enjoyed it.
But funnily enough the series I'm reading as we speak is "Red Rising". Like you I wasn't sold at first. But once it hit. It hit like lightning. I'm in the process of switching between that and Sanderson's "the lost metal" because I can't decide which one I want to finish first.
I love Sanderson, like a lot. As in, I have a 4ft wide professionally framed print of the cover art from The Way of Kings hanging in my living room, among other things.
With that for context, definitely take a break from the Cosmere between books. I've found reading more enjoyable in general when I've jumped between authors (in general) than trying to binge through something. It's discouraging to start feeling burnt out on a series/author in three middle of a book even though you still are enjoying it.
I definitely felt that way when reading through all the mistborn, so I definitely should have taken a break. But at the same time it let me catch so many of the cross references they have in these books.
But man I love me some Sanderson. I did the "year of Sanderson" in his Kickstarter. And then bought those leather bound way of kings and warbreaker to start my collection off.
That's what re-reads are for! ;)
I also contributed to the Kickstarter, but only got the books and not the boxes. They've been delightful so far. In addition to being fun stories, the books themselves are beautiful physical art.
Yeah I do kinda wish I went physical book route instead of the ebooks. But oh well. Good thing they still exist and I can buy at a future date.
I absolutely adore Red Rising, read through the original trilogy probably 4 or 5 times now.
Darrow's journey through the books is just brilliant, his character arc without saying too much feels immensely satisfying & I feel that the author manages to get so much out of the side characters too.
"Golden Son" is definitely my favourite of the saga so far. I feel it has the best tones and set pieces of all the books currently.
Always looking for new dystopian series to read. I’ll check this out - thanks!
Almost finished book 1. I love it.
The whole part and line where they say, “I know where we’re going,” (don’t want to spoil) made me laugh and cheer out loud.
Great to hear you found your gateway book! Scifi also got me back into reading a couple of years ago. I always felt ‘reading’ ment reading the classics (probably thanks to highschool), which just wasn’t working for me. It took me a decade too, but now I’m a avid reader.
Question for someone who read the entire series: I read Red Rising book 1-3. I loved it but was kind of satisfied at that point. Should I continue reading books 4 and 5?
This was the first series tht really got me reading for the first time in my life!
I always hated reading, but I read a few short ones in my mid 20s on a borrowed e-reader, then I found the Red Rising series which opened my eyes to the fact that there are lots of books I could appreciate and to some degree not be too bothered by being a slow and easily distracted reader.
I've read through it and I definitely think it's one of those gripping series that sucks you in.
What reignited my love of reading was actually everything in the Realm for the Elderlings by Robin Hobb.
It's a little young at times but the universe it's set in runs over 3-4 book series and the world-building is great and you develop a love and admiration for the characters and their motives.
I'm very glad you got back into reading, OP. It's super rewarding. I'm currently down a rabbithole of watching other people play DnD while I wait for the next Brandon Sanderson book but hopefully I get back to it sooner than that.
I’ll have to check out Red Rising! Love a good fast-paced sci-fi or fantasy series
I likes the first couple, then it started to lose me when the scope of the series started to change. But I came back around when they started bringing in some new characters and showing their perspectives.