"I live for you," I say sadly.
Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.
Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world 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 sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
When I first read the book I must have been on crack, because it went from 4 stars to 5 and my favorites list! It's bloodydamn awesome! Let me just say the second time around listening to it on audio was fanfreakingtastic! The narrator nails it and there is a song in the book and a woman sings it at the end and I got freaking chills people. Chills!
I have my loves: Darrow, Sevro, Mustang, Pax, Roque. There are a few more but those are the mains.
I'm going to have to add a few spoilers with excerpts and thoughts. So up goes the big ole banner.
Darrow is a Helldiver on Mars. He lives underground digging the earth so other people can live. Oh, the things he doesn't know. His wife Eo is wonderful but she has her own agenda. Below Mars these people are mostly a family. Even though they barely get by with food, etc. The Golds barely give them anything. It's all bullsh*t but we won't go there.
The first thing you should know about me is I am my father's son. And when they came for him, I did as he asked. I did not cry. Not when the Society televised the arrest. Not when the Golds tried him. Not when the Grays hanged him. Mother hit me for that. My brother Kieran was supposed to be the stoic one. He was the elder, I was the younger. I was supposed to cry. Instead, Kieran bawled like a girl when Little Eo tucked a haemanthus into Father's left workboot and ran back to her own father's side. My sister Leanna murmured a lament beside me. I just watched and thought it a shame that he died dancing but without his dancing shoes.
On Mars there is not much gravity. So you have to pull the feet to break the neck. They let the loved ones do it.
If any of the people do anything wrong they are killed. I hate the Golds so much! The evil ones at any rate.
One sad day Eo takes Darrow to a forbidden place so he can see they are living a lie. So he can see the true world. And . . . they were caught. They were both to be flogged and they were but Eo decides to sing the song of death. And what that means is it is a forbidden song and any who sing it will be hanged.
But never has Eo been more beautiful to me than in that moment. In the face of cold power, she is fire. This is the girl who danced through the smoky tav with a mane of red. This is the girl who wove me a wedding band of her own hair. This is the girl who chooses to die for a song of death.
My love, my love
Remember the cries
When winter died for spring skies
They roared and roared
But we grabbed our seed
And sowed a song
Against their greed
And
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper swing, the reaper swing
the reaper swing
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper sing
A tale of winter done
My son, my son
Remember the chains
When gold ruled with iron reins
We roared and roared
And twisted and screamed
For ours, a vale of better dreams
"Yes," the ArchGovernor says idly. "I have an appointment with Arcos. Hang the rusty bitch lest she continue to howl."
"Live for more," she mouths to me. she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the haemanthus I gave her. It is smashed and flat. Then loudly she screams to all those gathered, "Break the chains!"
Darrow had to pull her legs to break her neck. It was heartbreak, utter heartbreak. The jerks would never let them take down the loved ones that were hanged. They left them there to rot and then crushed them to dust when they were skeletons. Darrow would not let this happen to Eo. He took her down and buried her. As he was to be hanged for this, something else happened. He did not die. He was drugged and taken to an order of Reds that are fighting back against the system.
Darrow is turned from a Red into a Gold. This means tremendous pain that many do not live through. Changing the brain, changing the bone structure, muscle mass, eyes . . . but Darrow's body was strong even though it was weak from his living conditions.
The Elderwomen of Lykos say that when a man is bitten by a pitviper, all the poison must be drawn out of the bite, for the poison is wicked. When I was bitten, Uncle Narol left some in on purpose.
After months of healing and learning to be a Gold, Darrow is taken and given tests to see if he can get into the Golds school to become something of himself. In reality, to kill them all! Darrow passes and is picked by the House Mars and he is to fight with them against other houses. There can only be so many that win.
The boys and girls go through some horrific things. Many lose their lives. But it's so bloodydamn good! They are ruthless and do what they have to do. No, many of them don't want to do these things but they have to do it. Darrow has to do it for Eo and for the Reds and all they have lost over the years by all of the lies. Darrow is knows as the Reaper....
This is a freaking awesome book and I will read it many times. There are only a few things in the book I don't like, but there is always that!
I leave you with the full song from the book:
Listen, listen
Remember the wane
Of sun's fury and waving grain
We fell and fell
And danced along
To croon a knell
Of rights and wrongs
And
My son, my son
Remember the burn
When leaves were fire and seasons turned
We fell and fell
And sang a song
To weave a cell
All autumn long
And
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper swing, the reaper swing
the reaper swing
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper sing
A tale of winter long
My girl, my girl
Remember the chill
When rains froze and snows did kill
We fell and fell
And danced along
Through icy hell
To their winter song
My love, my love
Remember the cries
When winter died for spring skies
They roared and roared
Bur we grabbed our seed
And sowed a song
Against their greed
My son, my son
Remember the chains
When gold ruled with iron reigns
We roared and roared
And twisted and screamed
For ours, a vale
of better dreams
And
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper swing, the reaper swing
the reaper swing.
Down in the vale
Hear the reaper sing
A tale of winter done.
Mel ♥
****Old Review****
For whatever reason I loved the first part of the book better then the last part. I thought it was going to be a cool underground Mars weird thing. I'm the weird thing, I know. =)
I loved Darrow and a lot of other characters but I never wrote any down but Darrow. Omg! I don't know what is wrong with me. Why can't I remember them, uh, because most of them I can't even pronounce, much less think of how to spell them!
I loved that Darrow was a Helldiver <--- that so doesn't sound right! He and his colony of Reds dig into Mars inner layers to get what the world needs to survive. Well, guess what? He finds out that the world don't need saving, Mars is totally livable!
There are all kinds of colors on in this world and I'm not going into all of them because they have a lot but the ones that are jerks are the Golds. (I don't like that color anyway)
By the hands of the Golds and Darrow's wife Eo's decision, Darrow's fate has been sealed for him. He is taken into the world. THE WORLD and he is changed to become a Gold and infiltrate their evilness and TAKE THEM DOWN!
Like I said in one of my updates that Darrow went through some serious Frankenstein stuff. Okay, not seriously LIKE Frankenstein but some pretty messed up stuff to turn from a Red to a Gold. Who knew?
Then he gets put into tests to get into school and hopefully get on a ship or something cool where he can be a big man to do big things. But, the kids are put through some grueling things in order to see who is going to be some of the top contenders. It was pretty messed up but life is generally messed up in one way or another.
I really hope to enjoy the rest of this trilogy. I'm interested to read what's going to happen now that Darrow is . . . well I can't tell you that, but lets just say he is within reach of the person he wants to end most in the world!
GOODREADS REVIEW
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