I felt like reading something modern and tried giving this a shot but I couldn't get past the first page without finding it retarded that the factions are named by colors. Am I missing out on much?
After the Tuscan Guelphs finally defeated the Ghibellines in 1289 at the Battle of Campaldino and at Vicopisano, the Guelphs began infighting. By 1300, the Florentine Guelphs had divided into the Black and White Guelphs. The Blacks continued to support the Papacy, while the Whites were opposed to Papal influence, specifically the influence of Pope Boniface VIII. Dante was among the supporters of the White Guelphs. In 1302 he was exiled when the Black Guelphs took control of Florence.[19]
>>25242844That reads better than it does in the book. "The first thing you should know about me is I am my father's son. 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."
>>25242839The sequel is better and the sequel series is much better. But ultimately if you're not enjoying it for le epic battles and betrayals it's not for you.
>>25242853What's wrong with that?It establishes a clear social hierarchy, and instead of having complicated names, you get gray and gold which literally translate to a scale without having to think too much about it.Is it bad because it is too easy?
>>25242882"The purples raped my mom" just sounds silly. I can't get past it.
>>25242887Maybe if it were "The blacks raped my mom" you'd get a boner instead.
>>25242882They don't have to be complicated it's just childish sounding to do it by color alone. It could be a color preceding some simple name like this >>25242844
>>25242912>it's just childish sounding Isn't this YA fiction though.
>>25242893I felt like it would be much better for the tone to just not include the color names here. "I am my father's son. I did as he asked. I did not cry. Not when they televised the arrest. Not when they tried him. Not when they hanged him."
>>25242921What happens there is that you're not making the distinction between the executioner caste (gray) and the judge/superior caste (gold), and the "Society" which is not a caste. That's the colors are there for, to show you as fast and as simply as possible that there are rigid castes with roles and unfair advantages. You make it sounds like "they" is the same vague enemy force. I think in the same page he goes more in depth about the roles of the different color castes and all that shit.And personally I think it's less silly and time-consuming than coming up with some corny caste name, or just calling them "judges" and "executioners" because then it doesn't feel sci-fi anymore.
>>25242941I based my opinion on the one page I read so maybe there's an important reason this caste system is established immediately and this naming convention feels totally natural over the course of the story. Is this book actually any good and worth reading?
>>25242952I read this years ago, and only read like 15 pages of it. Not a fan. Not for me. It felt like reading an anime book, if that makes sense to you. I mean, it's science-fiction YA, you know what you're getting into. Maybe I'm being too harsh on it, but that's my take. If you got miffed by the opening line then I don't know, maybe 150 pages in you'll realize you really, really love this book.However, I did have an appreciation for how quick and direct the setting was set up in the first few pages, and re-reading that opening line reminded me of why it managed to capture my attention in the first place.
>>25242839It's not a great plot hook but the book is fun and the second book gets significantly better.Also, referring to factions by colors is actually very common across history. You see it in the Russian civil war, Byzantine politics, Renaissance Italy, etc.
>>25242959It's only the first book that was edited to be YA. I do think that's partially why it struggles.
>>25242853seems like it's giving you a good amount of info without wasting a ton of space
>>25242952The first one is notoriously YA written in the wake of the hunger games and it shows. The rest are much better. To not spoil anything Pierce is the kind of writer that can actually write an interesting completely alien political debate with multiple parties arguing their points without it coming across as a straw man showdown. If you think this story will end with the reds rising up and creating a perfect socialist utopia you're dead wrong. Matter of fact extremist red factions serve as minor antagonists in some of the later book.
