The Red Rising series is set hundreds of years in the future after mankind has colonized most of the planets. A color-coded caste system has developed in which Golds are the highest rank and Reds the lowest.

Red Rising begins with Darrow as a Red miner on Mars. Despite his difficult life, he is content until his wife, Eo, is killed by Nero au Augustus, the Gold ruler of Mars. Darrow soon joins the Sons of Ares, a group fighting against the Gold rule. Darrow consents to undergo a “carving” in which he is surgically transformed into a Gold so that he can bring down their society from within. He earns a position in the Institute, the Gold school of war tactics. During a test, he has to kill a Gold named Julian au Bellona. This leads to a blood feud between Darrow and Cassius au Bellona, Julian’s brother. While in the Institute, Darrow also befriends Sevro au Barca, who leads a group of Gold misfits called the Howlers, and Virginia au Augustus (Mustang), the daughter of Nero au Augustus. Together, they defeat Mustang’s twin, known as the Jackal. At the end of the Institute, Darrow is declared the winner and becomes Nero au Augustus’s apprentice.