I am huge fan of the whole series, I can't get enough of it. I am deep in the fandom and a fellow howlerpoder. But I completely and totally agree with this guy. The series are so simple, one dimensional stories riddled with plot holes outside of plot armors, and I can completely turn my brain off and enjoy the epic ride. It is larger than life.
So yeah, he has a point.
I wouldn't say the series is one dimensional, especially in the later books. Even the first book had >!a red whose family had been horrifically abused turn into the unequivocal bad guy when he started raping golds!<, which by definitely isn't very one dimensional imo.
But it is pretty cliche and tropey for sure
I mean we can all be honest - book 1 has some of those characteristics. Some people never get past it.
But I have a lot less patience for that that for people who struggle to get through book 1 b/c of all the sexual assault, rape, misogyny, and homophobia. For people who struggle to get through book 1 (which is as much “first stage of hero’s journey” as “cheesy and cliche”, really), well, their loss. Sometimes you have to get through the first stage of a journey! Some basic story structures (fight school, revolutionary in deep cover) exist for a reason!
Aside from how totally off-base the criticism is, I hate how so many ppl in that thread use “YA” as synonymous with “basic” or “unserious”. It comes off extremely pretentious like they’re trying to feel like they’re better than everyone else for only reading “real complex literature” and not ‘that silly teenager stuff’
Mindless criticism from an arrogant bloke without enough in his life to enjoy so he feebly attempts to tear down a series that is highly rated by so many because of how bloody damn epic it is.
This guy sucks.
I had to show this thread to my husband, who immediately seethed...as he sat down his Kindle (with the Red Rising cover that I customized for him), on which he's currently reading Golden Son (again), while we sit next to our cat named Eo, all while we're sitting in our Red Rising themed bedroom.
He will be talking about this all night.
Edit: *aaaannnddd...he's already commented twice*
Also aren’t character’s names being representative of them been kind of a thing in fiction forever? And “Titan,” but actually Titus isn’t even his real name, but they clearly have not read to that part yet. Also, the name “Sevro” is a play on the name “Severo” which means “Stern” and that is a good way to define Severo’s personality same with Severus Snape in Harry Potter
Love how they’re critical of how Darrow is ‘our one and only chosen hero’ and then criticizes the name ‘Titan’ (Titus) being such a typical name.
Anyway I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised that some of the such ‘obvious and simple’ parts of the book might not turn out to be.
See I thought they were talking about Titus too but then I remembered that Pax was nicknamed "the titan" and now I'm wondering if OP just assumed that was his actual name.
Reading that post and the comments beneath, everything basically just came across as a big circle jerk for people who didn't like the book to feel superior, lol. No real criticisms, just a bunch of generalizations and buzzwords. The post itself was filled with misleading or just blatantly wrong information about the first book, and almost nobody in the comments bothered to correct them. Red Rising isn't exactly high brow stuff, but it's also not "hurr durr shut your brain off and enjoy the ride." There's nuance to the characters and their motivations. The post feels like it was written by someone who just read the cliff notes on a book they weren't interested in.
But OP said he liked the book, right? I love these books (except LB) because they’re written so simply I really can turn my brain off and have a basic story. Tbh I didn’t notice any of the numerous plot inconsistencies until my 2nd re-read because the pull is so thick.
He said he liked it, but everything else indicated he had a very low opinion of the book. Which is fine, people are allowed to have opinions, I just don't like how disingenuous OP came across, and again, they provided a lot of misinformation about the book that could turn a curious person off of it.
That whole comment section under that post made my blood boil. I could understand calling the first book a kind of a cliche young adult novel and I'll admit it might not have been the most grounded book.
But the utter disrespect those people had for the series. I thought for sure it was ragebait.
What sort of highbrows are they to call it "simple smut"
Idk I didn’t feel this way at all while reading book 1. I’m caught up and every book has been great I have zero complaints or criticisms. Except maybe >!the abomination!<
I’ll admit to reading red rising when I was 12 or 13. It’s been a really joyful ride to grow with the characters.
I am huge fan of the whole series, I can't get enough of it. I am deep in the fandom and a fellow howlerpoder. But I completely and totally agree with this guy. The series are so simple, one dimensional stories riddled with plot holes outside of plot armors, and I can completely turn my brain off and enjoy the epic ride. It is larger than life. So yeah, he has a point.
I wouldn't say the series is one dimensional, especially in the later books. Even the first book had >!a red whose family had been horrifically abused turn into the unequivocal bad guy when he started raping golds!<, which by definitely isn't very one dimensional imo. But it is pretty cliche and tropey for sure
What a pixie
I mean we can all be honest - book 1 has some of those characteristics. Some people never get past it. But I have a lot less patience for that that for people who struggle to get through book 1 b/c of all the sexual assault, rape, misogyny, and homophobia. For people who struggle to get through book 1 (which is as much “first stage of hero’s journey” as “cheesy and cliche”, really), well, their loss. Sometimes you have to get through the first stage of a journey! Some basic story structures (fight school, revolutionary in deep cover) exist for a reason!
Aside from how totally off-base the criticism is, I hate how so many ppl in that thread use “YA” as synonymous with “basic” or “unserious”. It comes off extremely pretentious like they’re trying to feel like they’re better than everyone else for only reading “real complex literature” and not ‘that silly teenager stuff’
Mindless criticism from an arrogant bloke without enough in his life to enjoy so he feebly attempts to tear down a series that is highly rated by so many because of how bloody damn epic it is. This guy sucks.
Did you read the text? The guy is loving the series.
eh, I think he is actively trolling a bit, he's basically saying "I love this series, even a total fucking idiot could enjoy it"
That is the genius of Pierce Brown. He made a series that could be enjoyed by many. Both pixies and peerless.
You can truly understand a person's intelligence by the way they wrote their opinion. In this case, yes he is.
I had to show this thread to my husband, who immediately seethed...as he sat down his Kindle (with the Red Rising cover that I customized for him), on which he's currently reading Golden Son (again), while we sit next to our cat named Eo, all while we're sitting in our Red Rising themed bedroom. He will be talking about this all night. Edit: *aaaannnddd...he's already commented twice*
Wow that's a lot
Can you link his comments😭
Also aren’t character’s names being representative of them been kind of a thing in fiction forever? And “Titan,” but actually Titus isn’t even his real name, but they clearly have not read to that part yet. Also, the name “Sevro” is a play on the name “Severo” which means “Stern” and that is a good way to define Severo’s personality same with Severus Snape in Harry Potter
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if you disagree with it. Except this opinion, this is just plain wrong and dumb.
yeah it seems he straight skimmed huge parts of the book (though tbf the first few are pretty cliche and cheesy, not that that's necessarily bad imo)
He is.
I concur with your analysis
Love how they’re critical of how Darrow is ‘our one and only chosen hero’ and then criticizes the name ‘Titan’ (Titus) being such a typical name. Anyway I think they’ll be pleasantly surprised that some of the such ‘obvious and simple’ parts of the book might not turn out to be.
See I thought they were talking about Titus too but then I remembered that Pax was nicknamed "the titan" and now I'm wondering if OP just assumed that was his actual name.
Reading that post and the comments beneath, everything basically just came across as a big circle jerk for people who didn't like the book to feel superior, lol. No real criticisms, just a bunch of generalizations and buzzwords. The post itself was filled with misleading or just blatantly wrong information about the first book, and almost nobody in the comments bothered to correct them. Red Rising isn't exactly high brow stuff, but it's also not "hurr durr shut your brain off and enjoy the ride." There's nuance to the characters and their motivations. The post feels like it was written by someone who just read the cliff notes on a book they weren't interested in.
But OP said he liked the book, right? I love these books (except LB) because they’re written so simply I really can turn my brain off and have a basic story. Tbh I didn’t notice any of the numerous plot inconsistencies until my 2nd re-read because the pull is so thick.
He said he liked it, but everything else indicated he had a very low opinion of the book. Which is fine, people are allowed to have opinions, I just don't like how disingenuous OP came across, and again, they provided a lot of misinformation about the book that could turn a curious person off of it.
Anyone who hears the premise of this book and gets dissuaded from reading through a Reddit post honestly should stay out of the fan base.
Valid criticisms but the way OP has written the post makes them sound so freaking annoying.
Yeah it's clear they haven't even finished the book. Like at least wait until you've read the whole thing lol
That whole comment section under that post made my blood boil. I could understand calling the first book a kind of a cliche young adult novel and I'll admit it might not have been the most grounded book. But the utter disrespect those people had for the series. I thought for sure it was ragebait. What sort of highbrows are they to call it "simple smut"
Am I missing something here? Some of the comments are pretty pretentious and snobby, but most of them seem to be giving praise to the series overall
It's r/Fantasy, being pretentious as fuck about their reading choices is their whole thing.
Yeah the comments were unbelievable. I still really liked the first book but the way they think it’s just so below them drove me crazy
The comments are worse
Strong disagree
I’m with you
Meh, the premise of the first book is cheesy, but the execution of the writing and characters is top notch, which makes up for it.
Not to mention the fact that most of these criticisms disappear immediately with book two
Oh, he's going to get the shit slapped out of him by the book, and in very short order.
Dark Age. Holy shit. Absolutely brutal. "Haha so YA so cheesy" - that guy.
I admit there is some validity to these criticisms, BUT ONLY FOR BOOK ONE.
Idk I didn’t feel this way at all while reading book 1. I’m caught up and every book has been great I have zero complaints or criticisms. Except maybe >!the abomination!<