Books to read after you finish the Red Rising series (my recommendations)

Many ask what books they should read while they wait for Red God or if they like the Red Rising series. Here are my recommendations.

If you haven't yet read Ender's Game and Dune, those are two very logical next books. Brown obviously took inspiration from those two stories.

I also think he got inspiration for the tiers of the society and the bio-engineering of classes from Brave New World. I think that's a must read book. I'd actually say reading Brave New World will give you an even greater appreciation for Red Rising.

If you want something a little less serious, Old Man's War is a good sci-fi. The strategies and battles aren't nearly as complex, but I found it to be an enjoyable listen (I got it on Audible). The author's take on future tech was also interesting. He goes a bit more into science and the "philosophy of science" than Brown does. Brown did say in a recent interview that he tends to avoid going deep down scientific rabbit holes so that he can focus more on the story. While in Old Man's war, the author covers things like consciousness, neurotech/brain computer interfaces, bioengineering, cloning, and space travel. Philosophically, he covers things like the morality of cloning, war ethics, colonialism, and more. I will say he very much has some "dad/old man" humor, and it grows on you as you get further in the book. haha

I was really craving more Red Rising this week, but I wasn't ready to restart the series (I finished all 6 books in like 30 days 😂). This got me to look into the Sons of Ares series. It's actually pretty good! If you have an Audible Premium Plus plan (the $15/month plan), the first book in the series is free with your subscription. I finished the first book recently, and I'll be starting the others soon. It definitely hits that spot / storytelling style you know and love from the Red Rising series. It'll also give you more useful context on Fitchner and Sevro's origins and how they became the type of people they became.

If you want to go down the more "classic literature" route, The Lord of the Flies is interesting. It was an assigned reading in my high school English class. Not sure I would have read it otherwise to be honest. That's not really what I was interested in when I was a 17 year old boy. haha But, the book does cover interesting perspectives on humanity, people, and societies. I feel like it's one of those books you appreciate more when you're older. Related Appollonius the Minotaur quote: "I reread the books of youth with the gravity of age."

Lastly, if you aren't afraid of anime, the two closest anime to Red Rising in terms of storytelling style and intelligence levels of the main characters are Code Geass and Death Note (these are also my two favorite anime). I actually discovered Red Rising because I asked Perplexity AI to give me a book recommendation that was sci-fi and had intelligent characters like those in the two aforementioned anime. You may also like Legend Of The Galactic Heroes which is much more a sci-fi / space battles story. There are also great houses, powerful families, alliances, and etc like you see in the Red Rising. Though, I got bored of this anime after season 2 to be honest. Relatedly, Pierce Brown also said in a recent interview that he's an anime fan himself. It makes sense because many of the arcs in the series remind me of some of my favorite anime stories.

What about you? Any other books/stories you recommend?