History Literature / RedRising

* CrapsackWorld: A dystopia where other colors are subjugated by the Golds, with their characterizing trait being ruthlessness and ambition. [[spoiler: Becomes even more so at the end of ''Golden Son'', [[DownerEnding where anyone who could resist the Sovereign or the Golds is dead or captured]]]].
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: [[spoiler: Fitchner/Ares - Uncaring hedonist who has a chip on his shoulder? Try the only one who managed to resist the Golds in decades and the Rage Knight]].

* StakingTheLovedOne: Hanging is the primary method of execution, but on places with lower gravity--such as Mars or Luna--the drop isn't enough to snap the condemned's neck; unless someone pulls their legs to break it, they'll merely suffocate to death. Darrow was forced to do ths for his father as a child, and then to Eo. [[spoiler: Virginia does it to Adrius.]]

** Only Golds are allowed that luxury, with the cast having small funerals for [[spoiler: Tactus]] in ''Golden Son'' and [[spoiler: Roque in ''Morning Star''.]]

* RedBaron: The Ash Lord, supreme leader of the Society's military forces, and infamous for his massacre of Neptune.

The series continues with 'Golden Son', the second installment, in which Darrow [[spoiler: starts a war between Bellona and Augustus in an attempt to further Ares' plans]].

The third installment, 'Morning Star', was finally released in February, 2016, and follows Darrow as he [[spoiler: finally leads the uprising against the Golds and fights to keep his allies from killing each other or slipping into HeWhoFightsMonsters territory.]]

* TheLostLenore: Eo

* SleepCute: Darrow and Mustang have several moments in the first two

* PraetorianGuard: The Sovereign has multiple different groups of this

* BeautifulElite: Golds are bred for physical beauty.

-->'''Eo:''' [[MySecretPregnancy "I am with child."]]

* CrapsackWorld: A dystopia where other colours are subjugated by the Golds, with their characterizing trait being ruthlessness and ambition. [[spoiler: Becomes even more so at the end of ''Golden Son'', [[DownerEnding where anyone who could resist the Sovereign or the Golds is dead or captured]]]].

** [[spoiler: Mustang with Octavia au Lune's head]] at the end of ''Morning Star''.

* EnemyCivilWar: [[spoiler: Between Augustus and Bellona in Golden Son, then between the Core and the Rim during Morning Star.]]

* TheGMIsACheatingBastard: The Proctors are largely aloof, at first. When the game isn't going their way, however, their cheating becomes more and more blatant, until they literally descend from the sky to order the correct people to lose. [[spoiler:Happens at the Academy too, with the Sovereign giving Karnos an extra ship to surprise Darrow with in the last battle, causing his defeat.]]

* VillainExtisStageLeft: [[spoiler: The Ash Lord flees to Mercury after Octavia's death in ''Morning Star''.]]

-->''"The In­sti­tute is not a school, it is a culling ground where the Golds go to hack at one an­other till the strongest in mind and body is found. You. Will. Die."''

* TheUnfought: Tiberius

** ''Morning Star'' features this as a major issue for the Rising, with Golds allied with Darrow being hunted by lower Colors, only being resolved by Sevrus taking Darrow's unification tactics UpToEleven [[spoiler: by first hanging Cassius then hanging ''himself''.]]

* FiveBadBand: As of Morning Star, this is:

* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning

* TheChainsOfCommanding

* FantasticallyIndifferent: Darrow's [[spoiler: uncle]] has this reaction to walking in on the Howler's [[NauseaFuel initiation ritual]]. He takes it in calmly and then just walks back out.

* MagicPlasticSurgery: Mickey the Carver reshapes Darrow into a perfect Gold, a lengthy, painful process.

* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught

* CaptureTheFlag: Capture another House's Standard and be rewarded lavishly, as well as taking away your enemies ability to make slaves of other players.

* CrapsackWorld: A dystopia where other colours are subjugated by the Golds, with their characterizing trait been ruthlessness and ambition. [[spoiler: Becomes even more so at the end of Golden Son, [[DownerEnding where anyone who could resist the Sovereign or the Golds is dead or captured]]]].

* TheDeadHaveNames: No one who dies is really forgotten, and living characters' memories and opinions about their dead friends and relatives informs many of their actions.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The end of 'Golden Son', where Darrow is captured for [[FateWorseThanDeath super-special Gold torture and dissection]], loses his fleet, is betrayed by his 'brothers' and is presented with Fitchner/Ares' head by Roque.]]

* EyeScream: [[spoiler: Poor Fitchner]]

* FatalFlaw: [[spoiler: {{Pride}} for Darrow, and pretty much every Gold, as he becomes so arrogant over his apparent victory that he tells multiple people his Red origins, before he loses everything from Roque's betrayal]]

** BigBad - Octavia au Lune
** TheDragon - Adrius au Augustus

** EvilGenius - Roque au Fabii
** TheBrute - Aja au Grimmus
** TheDarkChick - Antonia au Severus-Julii
** TheSixthRanger - Cassius au Bellona

* TheGMIsACheatingBastard: The Proctors are largely aloof, at first. When the game isn't going their way, however, their cheating becomes more and more blatant, until they literally descend from the sky to order the correct people to lose. [[spoiler: Happens at the Academy too, with the Sovereign giving Karnos an extra ship to surprise Darrow with in the last battle, causing his defeat]]

* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Cassius after learning who was really responsible for the massacre of his family]]

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Spoiler for ''Morning Star'': [[spoiler: Virginia and the rebels would have had ''far'' more trouble subjugating Luna against its military's will if the Jackal hadn't provided a common enemy.]]

* RuleOfSymbolism: The Proctors of the Institute, and some of the main students for those houses, tend to align with the mythological archetypes they're based off of, partially from purpose and partially from chance.

** As the story expands, it becomes more and more clear that The Society does not practice this as much as they preach; an entire theme of Golden Son is how corrupt the system has become, with numerous flaws preventing the meritocracy the Golds idealize.
* TheSpartanWay: The training for Golds involves this, with specific reference to the Spartans, as a Gold in authority asserts that while DemocracyIsBad in itself, both democratic societies like Athens and aristocratic ones like Rome fall to decadence unless (imitating Sparta) the system culls the weak and leaves the strong to rule.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Sevro in the Academy. Darrow deduces that, since the [[InvoluntaryBattleToTheDeath Initiation]] was primarily a selection process, the small, scrawny-looking, non-highly bred Sevro was supposed to be one of the victims. Instead, he killed golden-boy Priam, and was instrumental in Darrow's becoming Prime.

* RammingAlwaysWorks: [[spoiler: Well for Karnus it does.]]

** Morning Star features this as a major issue for the Rising, with Golds allied with Darrow being hunted by lower Colors, only being resolved by Sevrus taking Darrow's unification tactics UpToEleven [[spoiler: by first hanging Cassius then hanging ''himself''.]]
* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler: Golden Son's ending, BIG time. To take stock: ''everyone'' now knows Darrow's secret. Roque betrays him. Victra's mother? Dead. Victra herself? Dying and quite possibly dead. Lorn au Arcos? Dead. [=ArchGoverner=] Nero au Augustus, built up for so long as the BigBad? Killed by his own son the Jackal. Darrow is taken captive by his enemies. And as if all that wasn't enough, the last thing we see before the book ends is the head of Fitchner/Ares.]]

* BringMyBrownPants: In ''Morning Star'', [[spoiler: Sevro has to feign death for several hours.]] A drug used causes....digestive issues. Did you think he did it on purpose?

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: The end of 'Golden Son', where Darrow is captured for [[FateWorseThanDeath super-special Gold torture and dissection]], loses his fleet, is betrayed by his 'brothers' and is presented with Fitchner/Ares' head by Roque]]

--> '''Darrow:''' "Well...."

* WarIsHell: The institute's war game can get insanely brutal. The point is partially to instill fear of losing power in the future leaders of The Society. Starving, freezing, and being tortured by the more violent students are all fair game.

* CainAndAbel:
** Jackal and Mustang are twins who share a talent for accomplishing their aims through trickery. However, while Jackal is a murderous sociopath, Mustang is a kind and caring InternalReformist.
** Antonia and her (introduced in the second book) older sister, Victra also have this dynamic- Both are [[LadyOfWar Ladies of War]], but while Antonia is a RichBitch and shows signs of being a sociopath, Victra is a friendly HardDrinkingPartyGirl who shows an unusual amount of conscience/aversion to killing innocents for a Peerless Scarred. Victra notes that people who have met her sister tend to immediately dislike/distrust her. [[spoiler: In the massacre of Darrow's allies at the end of the second book, Antonia personally murders Victra.]] [[spoiler: The latter got better]]

* Messianic Archetype: Darrow. Gathers a group of undyingly loyal followers? Check. Betrayed by one of those followers? Check. Figurative death and resurrection? [[spoiler: Happens twice actually.]]

** Darrow ends up employing (and later joining) [[PintsizedPowerhouse Sevrus]] and his [[BadassCrew Howlers.]] He later adds Sefi's [[AmazonBrigade Valkyries.]]

->"You brave Red pi­o­neers of Mars—strongest of the human breed—sac­ri­fice for progress, sac­ri­fice to pave the way for the fu­ture. Your lives, your blood, are a down pay­ment for the im­mor­tal­ity of the human race as we move be­yond Earth and Moon. You go where we could not. You suf­fer so that oth­ers do not.

->“I salute you. I love you. The he­lium-3 that you mine is the lifeblood of the terra­raforming process. Soon the red planet will have breath­able air, liv­able soil. And soon, when Mars is hab­it­able, when you brave pi­o­neers have made ready the red planet for us softer Col­ors, we will join you and you will be held in high­est es­teem be­neath the sky your toil cre­ated. Your sweat and blood fuels the ter­raform­ing!"

-->--'''Oc­tavia au Lune''', RedRising

A third installment has been announced, 'Morning Star', which was finally released in February, 2016.