'Red Rising: Sons of Ares' by Pierce Brown and Rik Hoskin with art by Eli Powell is a graphic novel set in the world of Pierce Brown's best selling books.

In this world, mankind has left Earth, and now exists in a caste system dicated by colors. Golds rule, while Pinks entertain, on down to the lowly Reds. This is the story of a man who makes it in to Gold by skill, not blood, and how he is treated. He then makes the error of falling for a Red and having a child. This is the story of him trying to save the woman and child by gathering a team of different colors and different skill sets.

It's a pretty violent story, but I liked it, and got really engaged with the characters. The art took a bit of getting used to, with a sort of minimal style, but I was able to tell who was who, and I kind of liked the "rushed" look. It helped keep the story feeling fast paced. I really liked the tinted word balloons which conveyed caste color.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I never got a chance to read this in time, but I will be continuing to read Red Rising series for sure. Thank you for the ARC.

Sons of Ares is a gritty prequel to the Red Rising series. It tells us the story of Ares, the leader of the rebels and the time before Darrow ever came into the picture (it’s been a while since I read the Red Rising book so I may be a little wrong here). Ares was born as a Gold, top of the class pyramid but considered a runt among his people. He has to fight continuously for any footing in his life, even his very survival. If you’ve read Red Rising, you know about the brutal rite of passage they have called the Reaping, and the subsequent games to determine the Peerless Scarred among them. Going through all that, especially as a member of House Ares would warp anybody, especially an underdog for whom the only way to get on top is violence and violence.

After receiving his status as a Peerless Scarred, the rest of his life is determined by a series of choices that keep pushing on him. First his friend (or master, more like) turns his back on him. Then he is employed to oversee operations on a distant mom, Triton, where he thinks he’ll get away from the rigid caste system but again only sees a more extreme version of it. He falls in love with a Red during his time there, and marries her. Their relationship has to remain a secret, especially when they get back to Agea, and have a baby with the aid of a black market Carver.

The story starts out in a retrospectivev way, and we piece together the events that lead to the start, and then carry on forward. While initially it’s only a rescue operation, soon we see how their small rebel group came together. The story continuously calls out the brutal culture of the Golds and the terrible system that keeps the different colors apart from each other. It’s also a story about a relatively privileged person learning about how much he is not different from the people he has been taught all his life to consider inferior. The power gap between Golds and Reds is almost akin to masters and slaves, and he finds that he prefers the community of Reds and the ‘lower’ colors than the backstabbing and bloodthirsty class of the Golds.

The artwork of the book definitely has that dark, gritty atmosphere to it. Most of the scenes seem bleak and have a redish color scheme owing to all the violence depicted. Fans might be happy to see some things of the books imagined in a visual format. I, however, felt the artwork, when it came to the core of it, the lineart itself, was not that impressive. Half the time I couldn’t even distinguish characters from one another and the size differences in between characters was not consistent. (The Golds are supposedly much larger than the Reds)

Overall though, it’s a wonderful addition to the series, and recommended for fans and new readers alike. But be warned, though, that this book doesn’t provide much of the exposition needed to understand this world, and it would be better to at least read Red Rising before this one.

I Prefer the Original Series to this, and the format not so much.

I still love the characters like they are my own family.

ARC from Netgalley.
The Red Rising series is outstanding, but there were always questions for me about what came before. This graphic novel attempts to explain the life of Fitchner and beginnings of the "Sons of Ares". The story is pretty straightforward (though it flashes back and forth between present and past):
-Fitchner is born, seems small and like a runt, though he passes into Gold society
- Goes to the Academy, and makes it there too, though with the help of Arturious
- Graduates Peerless Scarred and makes his way through the ranks, eventually working under Quicksilver
- Meets a Red woman named Bryn and falls in love
- They have a child (with the help of a Violet Carver) and name him Sevro, making him Gold by blood
- Arturious comes back into his life and helps get him out from under Quicksilver, but captures Bryn and Sevro as payment.
- Fitchner, along with a group of masked friends and members of Bryn's family (which is where the story starts and everything before is in flashback), infiltrates and rescues them.
- Bryn is captured and killed, but Fitchner is allowed to take Sevro and leave, after losing half his arm to Arturious' Razor

The story is good and the action is fast-paced, but I really didn't like the art. I know that every graphic novel can't look amazing, but I wish the art was at least as good so the characters weren't easy to mix up at times.
Still.... recommend.

I'm a little bit behind on my <em>Red Rising</em> series reading (though I'm currently working on correcting that) and I'd hoped that this might help me out and round out a few things for me. And it does. In many ways this is a prequel to the series as it lays out the story of a 'gold' who has fallen in love and had a child with a 'red'. For those not familiar with the series (and you might want to be before going in to this) there is a caste system in place with the different castes being identified by their color. Red is about as low as you can get, while Gold, of course, reigns supreme.

The story is pretty dark and violent and that's certainly an aspect of the one book that I read, but it's not the only trait in the book, whereas it dominates the mood and tone in this graphic novel. Still this is a story of uprising in a caste system, so violent action is to be expected. Writer Rik Hoskin does a decent job, considering he's playing in someone else's world with someone else's characters and laying out a prequel.

But this is a graphic novel and the art is just as important to telling the story as the writing and here the story absolutely falls apart.

I am giving artist Eli Powell the benefit of the doubt as to his skills and assume that he's going for a tone, similar to Hoskin's dark story-telling, trying to convey the seriousness of the action with plenty of dark shadows and harshly drawn figures. But it doesn't work. (It rarely works, in my opinion.)

Instead we get a drawn story in which it is nearly impossible to tell the different characters apart and everything looks like a quickly made sketch rather than a carefully inked finished project. The dark, slashing shadows at or under a character's mouth was driving me crazy by the end of the book.

<a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5032" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth1.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="199" /></a> <a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5033" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth2.jpg" alt="" width="257" height="396" /></a> <a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth3.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5034" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth3.jpg" alt="" width="465" height="182" /></a> <a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth4.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5035" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth4.jpg" alt="" width="252" height="157" /></a> <a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth5.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5036" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth5.jpg" alt="" width="216" height="166" /></a> <a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth6.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5037" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth6.jpg" alt="" width="140" height="174" /></a> <a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth7.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5038" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth7.jpg" alt="" width="156" height="214" /></a> <a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth8.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5039" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth8.jpg" alt="" width="211" height="180" /></a> <a href="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth9.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5040" src="https://lookingforagoodbook.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/mouth9.jpg" alt="" width="611" height="173" /></a>

I'm not sure the purpose of this style, but it's definitely one that I don't care for and it really took me away from the story itself.

Looking for a good book? Go out and read Pierce Brown's <em>Red Rising</em> series, but don't bother with the graphic novel <em>Pierce Brown's Red Rising: Sons of Ares</em> by Rik Hoskin and Eli Powell unless you're the sort of fan who must read everything connected to the original books.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

One of the best books I have read in 2018, and I can't wait to read the author's next book. This was a very exciting thrilling book to read with great character development.

Pierce Brown’s Red Rising: Sons of Ares enlightens us to what happened before the YA Red Rising Trilogy, as told by Fitchner.

Brown, writing with Rik Hoskin (Heroes of Skyrealm, Brandon Sanderson’s White Sand) provides us with an insight to how a caste system begins to break down purely because an elite member of the Gold caste is not supposed to love a lowly Red, so the Red begin to rise!
The art by Eli Powell (Yakuza Demon Killers, The 13th Artifact), takes us one a fun and informative journey across the universe, and delivers a peek in the events which lead to the uprising, in previous trilogy. All is not what it seems.

It's a spin-off that pretty much hits the tone of the series spot on. Although, I have to say it's not quite what I expected in terms of content and art, which is dark, shady and obscure at times, but nevertheless it's a fun read with romance! If you like gritty, sci-fi comic book action, which grows even more tense as the plot progresses, you should still enjoy this read featuring forbidden love of opposing castes, where sadly their love for each other is their downfall.

Sons of Ares is a spin off of the Red Rising series and takes place long before the events of the books. The story follows Fitchner au Barca, a gold peerless scarred and father to Sevro, the main character of the book series. While Red Rising is all about revolution, Sons of Ares is about the cause, the catalyst that prompted unrest among the people.

The graphic novel does a pretty good job of presenting readers with the world in the Red Rising series. Through the eyes of Fitchner readers are able to see how utterly broken the caste system is, from the lowest color levels all the way up to the highest rungs on the ladder. No one is spared from the cruelty of an unfair society, even those born to privilege and worshiped like Gods.

While I absolutely loved the backstory and the message it has about society, I wish the relationships between characters could have been better developed, particularly between Fitchner and Bryn. I didn’t feel convinced of their romance, and even some of Bryn’s inner turmoil in the later parts of the novel feel rushed. The only character that was actually developed was Fitchner, others barely had personalities or played very brief roles in the story.

The art in Sons of Ares is pretty dark and gritty and I actually enjoyed it. This comic is not for the faint of heart, there is a lot of violence and a plethora of action scenes. I have no doubt that fans of the book series will probably appreciate seeing parts of the world come to life.

Dialogue boxes were different colors based on the speaking character’s social caste and I found this detail to be pretty cool and very helpful. Just seeing those different colors automatically gives me information about each character that is encountered. It really drives home how divided the castes are and changed the way I saw or thought of the characters just by seeing those different colors.

Overall I think this was a pretty decent graphic novel that I think can be enjoyed by both fans and non-fans of the Red Rising series. It’s relatively easy to follow for those unfamiliar with the story though references would likely help. The Red Rising wiki has a simple color guide available to use as reference.

Speaking as someone that has not yet read the books I found everything fascinating, it’s a decent introduction to the series. The graphic novel has piqued my interest in the series and makes me want to pick the books up sooner rather than later.

I'll preface this with I haven't read the Red Rising novels yet. But I figured since this is a prequel I shouldn't need to. A lot of the world building that I'm sure is in the novels, has been glossed over here, so in that respect, I felt a bit lost in the first issue. Once it started focusing on Fitchner's history, I was fine, especially after he heads to Titan. The book is Fitchner's life story, or at least the highlights. I hated the art. Powell can only draw one facial expression, a scowl. The art was so dark and scratchy, I often didn't know what has happening. Those who compare it to Sean Murphy's need to do a double take. The only way this compares to Murphy's art is if he penciled it with one of those jumbo pencils for kindergartners.

I loved reading Pierce Brown's books but unfortunately, I wasn't able to review this one due to device compatibility though I'm sure that this will also be a great read! :)

In the YA series, Red Rising by Pierce Brown, readers were thrown into a future where mankind has spread to other planets. A caste system has developed ruled by the Golds while the Reds, the lowest caste, are brutally exploited. But a rebel group, the Sons of Ares had risen to fight back. In the graphic novel, Red Rising: Sons of Ares, we learn the backstory story of the rebel group and its leader, a Gold named Fitchner.

Red Rising: Sons of Ares collects issues 1 – 6 of the comics of the same name. It is well-written and –plotted edition to the story. It was fun learning Fitchner’s early story and how a member of the Golds came to lead a Red revolutionary group. I was less enthusiastic about the art although I found the use of colour in the dialogue bubbles to denote the different castes an interesting idea. Overall, though, I found the art somewhat muddy. Still, I am a huge fan of the series and found this a nice edition to the story. Although I believe it would work as a standalone, I really recommend reading the series because it’s one gorydamn good tale.

3.5

Thanks to Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

Over the course of the RED RISING trilogy, we learned of a Gold who didn’t meet the exacting standards of his peers. He wasn’t as tall, as bright, as shiny, as his gilded brethren, but rather than having the decency to die in the passage, he lived to become a peerless scarred.

And turned their world upside down.

RED RISING: SONS OF ARES is Fitchner’s story.

It’s the story of how he fell in love with a Red and how that love became the foundation of a rebellion that brought his world to its knees.

It fills in the gaps of the things we thought we knew . . .

But we were wrong.

Fitchner didn’t fall in love with a Red and live a peaceful, happy life with her until the aberration was discovered.

Nothing in Fitchner’s life was ever peaceful or happy, so we should’ve known better.

Maybe you did.

But I didn’t.

Either way, Fitchner’s story is not one that should go unread.

Now it’s your turn to learn his truth. Highly recommended.

I am going to preface this by saying I have never read Red Rising, or any book in the series prior to reading this. I want to, but haven't yet. So I may miss things etc.

I thought the graphic novel was interesting, though it would have been more so if I had read the novels. Sons of Ares is a prequel, but it gives very little explanation for events happening, and only a very shallow explanation of the world or context - you really have to have read the series (though I'm unsure how much) to understand fully whats going on. I was kind of confused through out parts, like I was missing information, so this isn't meant to be read as a standalone or before the series despite being a prequel. The art is cool, but some panels are really dark/busy making it difficult to follow in some places, and some characters faces hard to recognize. Blood is pretty prominent just as a warning, as well.

I thought this was pretty cool overall, but its definitely meant for fans of the Red Rising books.

It takes a team to create a successful graphic novel. Pierce Brown's Red Rising: Sons of Ares is the compilation of six comics packaged into one book used as a prequel to the Red Rising Trilogy. Collaborated with Rick Hoskin and illustrated by Eli Powell, the story of Fitchner Au Barca's survival as a Gold, despite his abnormally small stature, provides a backdrop to the motivations which lead him to become a violent killer yet loving father.

Admission: Since I have not read the SF Red Rising Trilogy (although I'm aware it's a popular series) I am not handicapped by preconceptions. Some of the colorful illustrations were awe inspiring and while the features of the male characters were vague (although the masks they wore were intricate), the females were more articulately drawn. There was a lot, perhaps an excessive amount of brutality, but Brown has created a volatile world where society is strictly divided into castes which legally cannot intermingle. Unfortunately for our "golden" hero, he falls in love with Brynn, a service Red. On the sparsely populated Titan it isn't much of an issue, but when he's called back to Mars they must keep their illegal marriage a secret which is complicated by the birth of their son, Sevro. Brynn's sister Ryanna, who has accompanied the couple, is caught in the middle as they try to survive an untenable situation which leads to even more bloodshed as a hodgepodge team of misfits attempt a rescue one of their own. Best friend Arturius, who betrays Fitchner, is a reminder that it's almost impossible to go against your upbringing or understand those who are able to break away from the norms. The philosophy of safeguarding your own dominion by regarding others as dispensable commodities and not fellow "humans" is a foundation for the start of a revolution.

There were a few times I got "lost" and had to reread pages to figure out the motivations behind what was happening and to whom, but I expect readers of the books who know what comes next won't have this problem.

Four stars and a thank you to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is a great look inside the Sons of Ares from the amazing Red Rising series. I loved seeing my favorite characters visualized. The artwork was wonderful and I loved the dialog as well.

It’s my first time to review a graphic novel. I always enjoy reading manga (Japanese comic) and comics, but I think it’s my first time to read and review a graphic novel. I had to research first the difference between those things to understand more about it.

Anyway, I glad to read Red Rising: Sons of Ares because I’ve been dying to know the behind story of Sons of Ares. I guess I’m a late bloomer for the Red Rising saga and I kind of regret it of not reading it before, but I’m also happy that I’ve read the saga this year because it’s very timely that they release this graphic novel.

Honestly, I have no idea on how to review a graphic novel. It’s an easy to read and it got me hooked. The art is beautiful and I like it even more because of the thrilling story.

I highly recommend that you’ll read the trilogy first, before reading this prequel because it’ll added to the excitement if you don’t have any idea about the behind story of Sons of Ares.

This comic, without the books behind it to reference, would be crippled. A weak attempt to fill in a backstory that would have been better served with a two page summary in the next book. Am I being unfair, don't think so. I love the Red Rising books by Pierce Brown and I love comics so this should have been a great match. But what we have here is a Frankenstein slash Romeo and Juliet tale that would have been so much better served on a grander scale. Better story. Better artwork. Better attention to the characters and the fans.

As a reader, I would have just put this one aside. As a fan; well I'm kind of pissed off

I received a Kindle Arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

A little backstory on this graphic novel, it is a prequel to Pierce Brown's Red Rising Series and revolves around one of the subsidiary characters in the 4 novel story, However, other characters that are in the Red Rising series are featured. That being said, this graphic novel can be read on it's own but the reader will not get the nuances had they read the entire 4 book story beforehand. Furthermore, I think Brown's great writing is missing here. It doesn't have the same detail that the novels have. It seems much flatter. If you are a diehard fan of the Red Rising series, absolutely read this. Otherwise, you might skip it till you read the novels.

Excellent complement to the Red Rising novel series. The character of Ares is mysterious and pivotal, and seeing more about him adds to the books. Please DO NOT read this before finishing the books. Spoiler alert.
The violence also seems more visceral, and the physicality of the colour castes more apparent