One for 2014? 'Red Rising' - Pierce Brown

It feels like this feature gets earlier and earlier every year... :o)

When I was running the other blog, I liked to flag up 'next year's' new releases a little ahead of time, just for the hell of it really and to see if they caught anyone's eye. I hadn't planned on doing it here but 'Red Rising' came through the door this morning and the timing just felt right, the 'One for...' series is now a thing again! Here goes,

Darrow is a miner and a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he digs all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of the planet livable for future generations. Darrow has never seen the sky.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better future for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow and Reds like him are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow joins a resistance group in order to infiltrate the ruling class and destroy society from within. He will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies . . . even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

Hodder are publishing 'Red Rising' at the end of January next year, here in the UK, while Del Rey will be publishing at the beginning of February in the US.

So what do you reckon? I'm always up for a stirring tale of slaves overthrowing their masters so will be probably give 'Red Rising' a go a little nearer the time. I'm a little tiny bit wary though having read the tag-line 'The Hunger Games meets Ender's Game' on the back. Nothing against either of the two books (which I enjoyed) and I know that publishers have to make these kinds of comparisons to generate interest. It can work the other way though... Do I really want to read another version of 'The Hunger Games' or 'Ender's Game'? No, not really, I've read them already. I'm hoping more a little bit more from 'Red Rising' then, we'll see how it goes.

How about you?