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Series · 6 books

Red Rising

Pierce Brown · read by Tim Gerard Reynolds

They tell a story. Hardcover files every book in this run as fiction, and their readers there call them tense, dark and adventurous. Facts, not factors: neither plays any part in our call.

Listen to it

Every book we have judged on how far the recording outruns the page: 201 of them, the page's answer at the left-hand end and the recording's at the right. Marked for scale: All the Light We Cannot See, To Kill a Mockingbird and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. This one sits in the top 9% of our shelf of books for how far the recording outruns the page. −0.40, where we start backing the page; 0.40, where we start backing the recording.Red Rising
emphatic · 1.12 clear of the line where this would stop being a listen

Audio has the easy job on this one: 153 readers call it fast, so nothing in it needs a page you can flick back through. The recording and the book are received about equally well: Tim Gerard Reynolds’ reading sits in the middle 40% of our shelf of books, on 244,068 ratings of the narration. So the format is doing all the work here.

Length does not decide this

144h 34m to listen, at 1×115h 39m to listen, at 1.25×96h 23m to listen, at 1.5×82h 37m to listen, at 1.75×72h 17m to listen, at 2×about 112 hours to readabout 84 hours to readabout 67 hours to readabout 52 hours to readabout 42 hours to read

The runtime is Audible’s, 6 recordings added together, shown at the speed beside it. The reading time is our estimate: 3,360 pages in total at 30 pages an hour, the pace you told us. Ours is 50, about 300 words a page, read at 250 a minute. Treat the reading estimate as a floor on this one: this one runs 2.6 minutes of narration a page against a shelf median of 1.9, so there is more on each page than our 300-word average assumes and it will take you longer than we say.The runtime is Audible’s, 6 recordings added together, shown at the speed beside it. The reading time is our estimate: 3,360 pages in total at 40 pages an hour, the pace you told us. Ours is 50, about 300 words a page, read at 250 a minute. Treat the reading estimate as a floor on this one: this one runs 2.6 minutes of narration a page against a shelf median of 1.9, so there is more on each page than our 300-word average assumes and it will take you longer than we say.The runtime is Audible’s, 6 recordings added together, shown at the speed beside it. The reading time is our estimate: 3,360 pages in total at 50 pages an hour, which is about 300 words a page, read at 250 a minute. Treat the reading estimate as a floor on this one: this one runs 2.6 minutes of narration a page against a shelf median of 1.9, so there is more on each page than our 300-word average assumes and it will take you longer than we say.The runtime is Audible’s, 6 recordings added together, shown at the speed beside it. The reading time is our estimate: 3,360 pages in total at 65 pages an hour, the pace you told us. Ours is 50, about 300 words a page, read at 250 a minute. Treat the reading estimate as a floor on this one: this one runs 2.6 minutes of narration a page against a shelf median of 1.9, so there is more on each page than our 300-word average assumes and it will take you longer than we say.The runtime is Audible’s, 6 recordings added together, shown at the speed beside it. The reading time is our estimate: 3,360 pages in total at 80 pages an hour, the pace you told us. Ours is 50, about 300 words a page, read at 250 a minute. Treat the reading estimate as a floor on this one: this one runs 2.6 minutes of narration a page against a shelf median of 1.9, so there is more on each page than our 300-word average assumes and it will take you longer than we say.

Slot → chore-safe

Harder work in audio than The Little Prince.

All the books we hold · 222

Easier to hear than 88% of the books we hold.

Fiction · 176

Easier to hear than 85% of the fiction we hold.

Doorstoppers · 54

Easier to hear than 94% of the doorstoppers we hold.

  • The books do not agree with each other (spread 1.22 around 1.52); the odd ones out are Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga, #4) (-0.63), Morning Star (Red Rising Saga, #3) (2.78).

Reading load against listening load

Every book we hold placed by how much work it asks on the page, left to right, against how much it asks in your ears, bottom to top: 222 of them. Easy both ways is the bottom left corner, hard both ways the top right; above the dashed line the ears work harder, below it the page does. Marked for scale: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Diary of a Young Girl. This one is in the middle 40% of our shelf of books for effort on the page and in the bottom 27% of our shelf of books for effort in your ears.
The dashed line is where a book would be same effort either way. This one sits below that line (the page asks more of you here than audio does), in the bottom 12% of our shelf of books for extra work in audio.
On the page−0.29
In your ears−0.78
Audio disadvantage−1.13

Where that puts this one among the books we hold: in the middle 40% of our shelf of books for effort on the page and in the bottom 27% of our shelf of books for effort in your ears. The middle of the scale is not the middle of the shelf (most books sit below the average on both), so a book at 0.00 is already in the top 43% for effort on the page. Each of the three is measured against the whole shelf separately, so the bottom figure is not the top two subtracted. It is this book’s own distance from the middle.

What the audio disadvantage is made of. Two things and no others: how fast readers say this one moves, and how demanding the reviews we read found it. There is no third: the structural one has no data source, so it contributes nothing rather than being guessed at. Both directions are declared priors we have never fitted against a real verdict, which is the weakest-evidenced part of the whole model.

Every book we could measure both features on placed by pace, fast to slow, against how demanding the reviews we read found it, plain to demanding: 166 of them. The easiest listens are the bottom left corner and the hardest the top right, which is the shaded one. Marked for scale: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Diary of a Young Girl. This one reads faster than most books we hold and easier going than most, which is what leaves the format leaning towards the recording.
This one reads faster than most books we hold and easier going than most, which is what leaves the format leaning towards the recording.

How the call was made

Where a bar carries ticks, the grey one is the middle of our shelf and a coloured one is a line we publish, cool where we start backing the page, warm where we start backing the recording. The evidence squares at the foot are a different thing: how far each of our four sources went, hatched where there was nothing to measure at all.

The audio case
1.52It sits in the top 9% of our shelf of books for how far the recording outruns the page. Past the line where we start backing the recording.
Narration payoff
0.39Tim Gerard Reynolds’ reading and the book are received about equally well: in the middle 40% of our shelf of books, on 244,068 ratings of the narration. This is a difference, not a score: it sets the reading against its own book, so a much-loved book with a merely good reading sits low on this shelf even where nobody disliked either.
What is at stake
1.02It sits in the top 16% of our shelf of books for how well the print crowds think of a book: well enough regarded that a wasted first encounter costs more, so we lean towards protecting the page. Blended across 2,640,771 Goodreads ratings and 11,446 on Hardcover, each scored inside its own population first, and never added together.

For the page

  • The print crowds think highly of it

For the recording

  • The voice and the book are received about level
  • An easy listen anyway
  • 244,068 listeners behind it

So the case for the recording won it clearly.

A bigger dot counted for more: the voice and the ear are sized by their share of the sum above, the other two by how much stands behind them. A hatched square is a reason that did not apply here, which is not the same as one that counted for little.

Evidence
1.00How much of the picture we actually have, out of 1.00: four questions, each answered as far as the source could answer it, less anything taken off for reading fewer reviews than we aim to.The reading244,068 people have rated this reading: as good as it getsThe second sourceHardcover knows this book, with 11,446 readers there: as good as it getsThe matchHow sure we are that the recording we scored is this book: as good as it getsThe reviewsWe read 1,800 reviews to judge how demanding it is: as good as it gets

What each crowd complains about

In the reviews we read, how often readers brought it up and how often listeners did, each against what is usual for that same crowd across our whole shelf, which is the grey tick. The track stops at 4×. Listeners are only ever compared with listeners.

Listeners of this book bring up keeping the names straight about 2.2 times as often as listeners usually do, while readers of it bring it up about 1.7 times as often as readers usually do.

The books in it

Showing the stars as each shop prints them. The two crowds are not measured from the same place: on our shelf Audible’s listeners average 0.35 of a star above Goodreads’ readers, so a recording that is ordinary for Audible can still out-star a book that is genuinely well liked for Goodreads. Switch the toggle to take that difference off.Showing each figure as its distance from its own crowd’s middle on our shelf, in standard deviations, so 0 is a typical book for that crowd. Listeners start 0.35 of a star up, partly because anyone who finishes a twenty-five-hour recording chose it deliberately, and this takes that off. It is not a claim that audio is better, the story figure is still Audible’s own (people rating a story they heard), and none of it moves the verdict above.

One row per book: who reads it, how long it runs, then Audible’s listeners on the story and Goodreads’ readers on the book.

Red Rising
Tim Gerard Reynolds16h 12m12h 58m10h 48m9h 15m8h 06mAudible 4.69+0.61Goodreads 4.27+0.39
4.71·Audible
overallAudible
overall, pooled by the shop, so we hold no ruler for it
79%5 stars: 79 per cent, 68,739 ratings
15%4 stars: 15 per cent, 13,244 ratings
4%3 stars: 4 per cent, 3,174 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 1,014 ratings
1%1 stars: 1 per cent, 690 ratings

86,861 ratings · performance and story, as the shop pools them

4.77+0.64 sdAudible
the performanceAudible
the performance, against Audible’s own crowd
83%5 stars: 83 per cent, 65,214 ratings
13%4 stars: 13 per cent, 10,600 ratings
3%3 stars: 3 per cent, 2,295 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 469 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 375 ratings

How often this goes badly1.1% of the people who rated the performance gave it one or two stars. About typical for the shelf. The middle of our shelf is 2.0%, and half of it falls between 1.0% and 3.1%.

844 of 78,953 listeners gave the performance one or two stars

The shape of the room

  • United, this one
  • Warm
  • Split
  • Lukewarm

A united room: 83% of the listeners gave the performance five stars. A room that agrees this far leaves little to gamble on.

78,953 ratings

4.69+0.61 sdAudible
the story, as heardAudible
the story, as heard, against Audible’s own crowd
78%5 stars: 78 per cent, 61,641 ratings
16%4 stars: 16 per cent, 12,247 ratings
4%3 stars: 4 per cent, 3,180 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 1,042 ratings
1%1 stars: 1 per cent, 720 ratings

78,830 ratings

4.27+0.39 sdGoodreads
the book itselfGoodreads
the book itself, against Goodreads’ own crowd
49%5 stars: 49 per cent, 477,774 ratings
35%4 stars: 35 per cent, 343,067 ratings
12%3 stars: 12 per cent, 119,785 ratings
3%2 stars: 3 per cent, 29,678 ratings
1%1 stars: 1 per cent, 11,848 ratings

982,152 ratings

Golden Son
Tim Gerard Reynolds19h 03m15h 14m12h 42m10h 53m9h 32mAudible 4.78+0.99Goodreads 4.51+1.46
4.80·Audible
overallAudible
overall, pooled by the shop, so we hold no ruler for it
84%5 stars: 84 per cent, 51,345 ratings
12%4 stars: 12 per cent, 7,582 ratings
2%3 stars: 2 per cent, 1,412 ratings
0%2 stars: 0 per cent, 279 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 157 ratings

60,775 ratings · performance and story, as the shop pools them

4.87+1.08 sdAudible
the performanceAudible
the performance, against Audible’s own crowd
89%5 stars: 89 per cent, 48,667 ratings
9%4 stars: 9 per cent, 4,967 ratings
1%3 stars: 1 per cent, 660 ratings
0%2 stars: 0 per cent, 104 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 70 ratings

How often this goes badly0.3% of the people who rated the performance gave it one or two stars. Fewer than most recordings here. The middle of our shelf is 2.0%, and half of it falls between 1.0% and 3.1%.

174 of 54,468 listeners gave the performance one or two stars

The shape of the room

  • United, this one
  • Warm
  • Split
  • Lukewarm

A united room: 89% of the listeners gave the performance five stars. A room that agrees this far leaves little to gamble on.

54,468 ratings

4.78+0.99 sdAudible
the story, as heardAudible
the story, as heard, against Audible’s own crowd
83%5 stars: 83 per cent, 45,164 ratings
13%4 stars: 13 per cent, 7,193 ratings
3%3 stars: 3 per cent, 1,468 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 327 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 180 ratings

54,332 ratings

4.51+1.46 sdGoodreads
the book itselfGoodreads
the book itself, against Goodreads’ own crowd
61%5 stars: 61 per cent, 375,192 ratings
30%4 stars: 30 per cent, 181,030 ratings
7%3 stars: 7 per cent, 45,203 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 7,053 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 1,885 ratings

610,363 ratings

Morning Star
Tim Gerard Reynolds21h 50m17h 28m14h 33m12h 29m10h 55mAudible 4.79+1.01Goodreads 4.55+1.64
4.82·Audible
overallAudible
overall, pooled by the shop, so we hold no ruler for it
86%5 stars: 86 per cent, 51,353 ratings
12%4 stars: 12 per cent, 6,893 ratings
2%3 stars: 2 per cent, 1,222 ratings
0%2 stars: 0 per cent, 261 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 179 ratings

59,908 ratings · performance and story, as the shop pools them

4.90+1.21 sdAudible
the performanceAudible
the performance, against Audible’s own crowd
92%5 stars: 92 per cent, 49,893 ratings
7%4 stars: 7 per cent, 3,852 ratings
1%3 stars: 1 per cent, 430 ratings
0%2 stars: 0 per cent, 73 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 60 ratings

How often this goes badly0.2% of the people who rated the performance gave it one or two stars. Fewer than most recordings here. The middle of our shelf is 2.0%, and half of it falls between 1.0% and 3.1%.

133 of 54,308 listeners gave the performance one or two stars

The shape of the room

  • United, this one
  • Warm
  • Split
  • Lukewarm

A united room: 92% of the listeners gave the performance five stars. A room that agrees this far leaves little to gamble on.

54,308 ratings

4.79+1.01 sdAudible
the story, as heardAudible
the story, as heard, against Audible’s own crowd
84%5 stars: 84 per cent, 45,378 ratings
13%4 stars: 13 per cent, 6,902 ratings
3%3 stars: 3 per cent, 1,388 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 298 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 242 ratings

54,208 ratings

4.55+1.64 sdGoodreads
the book itselfGoodreads
the book itself, against Goodreads’ own crowd
64%5 stars: 64 per cent, 319,584 ratings
28%4 stars: 28 per cent, 138,305 ratings
6%3 stars: 6 per cent, 32,029 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 4,689 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 1,244 ratings

495,851 ratings

Iron Gold
Tim Gerard Reynolds, John Curless, Julian Elfer and Aedin Moloney23h 23m18h 42m15h 35m13h 22m11h 42mAudible 4.55+0.06Goodreads 4.21+0.13
4.56·Audible
overallAudible
overall, pooled by the shop, so we hold no ruler for it
69%5 stars: 69 per cent, 18,970 ratings
22%4 stars: 22 per cent, 6,036 ratings
7%3 stars: 7 per cent, 1,941 ratings
2%2 stars: 2 per cent, 438 ratings
1%1 stars: 1 per cent, 265 ratings

27,650 ratings · performance and story, as the shop pools them

4.51−0.47 sdAudible
the performanceAudible
the performance, against Audible’s own crowd
71%5 stars: 71 per cent, 17,788 ratings
16%4 stars: 16 per cent, 4,070 ratings
7%3 stars: 7 per cent, 1,772 ratings
3%2 stars: 3 per cent, 668 ratings
3%1 stars: 3 per cent, 624 ratings

How often this goes badly5.2% of the people who rated the performance gave it one or two stars. More than most recordings here. The middle of our shelf is 2.0%, and half of it falls between 1.0% and 3.1%.

1,292 of 24,922 listeners gave the performance one or two stars

The shape of the room

  • United
  • Warm, this one
  • Split
  • Lukewarm

A warm room: most listeners are happy with the performance, and a small group are not.

24,922 ratings

4.55+0.06 sdAudible
the story, as heardAudible
the story, as heard, against Audible’s own crowd
68%5 stars: 68 per cent, 17,030 ratings
22%4 stars: 22 per cent, 5,377 ratings
7%3 stars: 7 per cent, 1,856 ratings
2%2 stars: 2 per cent, 398 ratings
1%1 stars: 1 per cent, 215 ratings

24,876 ratings

4.21+0.13 sdGoodreads
the book itselfGoodreads
the book itself, against Goodreads’ own crowd
40%5 stars: 40 per cent, 93,495 ratings
44%4 stars: 44 per cent, 103,268 ratings
15%3 stars: 15 per cent, 34,611 ratings
2%2 stars: 2 per cent, 3,918 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 787 ratings

236,079 ratings

Dark Age
Tim Gerard Reynolds, John Curless, Moira Quirk, James Langton and Rendah Heywood33h 58m27h 10m22h 39m19h 25m16h 59mAudible 4.71+0.70Goodreads 4.52+1.50
4.74·Audible
overallAudible
overall, pooled by the shop, so we hold no ruler for it
81%5 stars: 81 per cent, 17,290 ratings
13%4 stars: 13 per cent, 2,768 ratings
4%3 stars: 4 per cent, 822 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 199 ratings
1%1 stars: 1 per cent, 136 ratings

21,215 ratings · performance and story, as the shop pools them

4.74+0.50 sdAudible
the performanceAudible
the performance, against Audible’s own crowd
82%5 stars: 82 per cent, 15,522 ratings
13%4 stars: 13 per cent, 2,390 ratings
3%3 stars: 3 per cent, 624 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 199 ratings
1%1 stars: 1 per cent, 178 ratings

How often this goes badly2.0% of the people who rated the performance gave it one or two stars. About typical for the shelf. The middle of our shelf is 2.0%, and half of it falls between 1.0% and 3.1%.

377 of 18,913 listeners gave the performance one or two stars

The shape of the room

  • United, this one
  • Warm
  • Split
  • Lukewarm

A united room: 82% of the listeners gave the performance five stars. A room that agrees this far leaves little to gamble on.

18,913 ratings

4.71+0.70 sdAudible
the story, as heardAudible
the story, as heard, against Audible’s own crowd
81%5 stars: 81 per cent, 15,202 ratings
13%4 stars: 13 per cent, 2,450 ratings
4%3 stars: 4 per cent, 824 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 235 ratings
1%1 stars: 1 per cent, 158 ratings

18,869 ratings

4.52+1.50 sdGoodreads
the book itselfGoodreads
the book itself, against Goodreads’ own crowd
62%5 stars: 62 per cent, 108,534 ratings
29%4 stars: 29 per cent, 50,976 ratings
7%3 stars: 7 per cent, 12,453 ratings
1%2 stars: 1 per cent, 2,100 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 608 ratings

174,671 ratings

Light Bringer
Tim Gerard Reynolds30h 08m24h 06m20h 05m17h 13m15h 04mAudible 4.90+1.44Goodreads 4.78+2.66
4.90·Audible
overallAudible
overall, pooled by the shop, so we hold no ruler for it
93%5 stars: 93 per cent, 13,154 ratings
6%4 stars: 6 per cent, 823 ratings
1%3 stars: 1 per cent, 156 ratings
0%2 stars: 0 per cent, 47 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 37 ratings

14,217 ratings · performance and story, as the shop pools them

4.88+1.08 sdAudible
the performanceAudible
the performance, against Audible’s own crowd
91%5 stars: 91 per cent, 11,767 ratings
7%4 stars: 7 per cent, 901 ratings
1%3 stars: 1 per cent, 192 ratings
0%2 stars: 0 per cent, 50 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 46 ratings

How often this goes badly0.7% of the people who rated the performance gave it one or two stars. Fewer than most recordings here. The middle of our shelf is 2.0%, and half of it falls between 1.0% and 3.1%.

96 of 12,956 listeners gave the performance one or two stars

The shape of the room

  • United, this one
  • Warm
  • Split
  • Lukewarm

A united room: 91% of the listeners gave the performance five stars. A room that agrees this far leaves little to gamble on.

12,956 ratings

4.90+1.44 sdAudible
the story, as heardAudible
the story, as heard, against Audible’s own crowd
92%5 stars: 92 per cent, 11,979 ratings
6%4 stars: 6 per cent, 748 ratings
1%3 stars: 1 per cent, 119 ratings
0%2 stars: 0 per cent, 63 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 44 ratings

12,953 ratings

4.78+2.66 sdGoodreads
the book itselfGoodreads
the book itself, against Goodreads’ own crowd
81%5 stars: 81 per cent, 115,000 ratings
16%4 stars: 16 per cent, 22,611 ratings
2%3 stars: 2 per cent, 3,454 ratings
0%2 stars: 0 per cent, 411 ratings
0%1 stars: 0 per cent, 179 ratings

141,655 ratings

The verdict is for the series as one commitment (144h 34m115h 39m96h 23m82h 37m72h 17m of it), because that is the decision you are actually making.

The series

Red Rising

No more announced yet · One voice throughout

7 books numbered on Goodreads’ list. Everything Goodreads lists is published, the last of it in 2023, and nothing new is announced, which is not the same thing as finished. We start saying finished after five quiet years.

Tim Gerard Reynolds reads all of the 6 volumes Audible names in our records, with other voices joining on some of them — a cast, not a change of narrator.

From Goodreads’ own series index, checked on 11 September 2026, where it is filed as “Red Rising Saga”.

Every reading we hold

One complete reading of Red Rising, and it is the reading the call above leans on. If there is another, we have not found it. The shelf grows in reviewed batches, never because somebody searched for a book.

  • Tim Gerard Reynoldsour pick16h 12m12h 58m10h 48m9h 15m8h 06m · One voice · Audible UK and US
    • The same voice all through

    Performance 4.77 · Story 4.69 · 78,830 rated the reading · 1.1% of the people who rated the performance gave it one or two stars

    Hear it · Audible’s clip, its length read from them on load

Tim Gerard Reynolds’s reading of Light Bringer is in our Hall of Fame, and the figures that earned it are all on that page.

Tim Gerard Reynolds’s reading of Morning Star is in our Hall of Fame, and the figures that earned it are all on that page.

The recording we mean · Red Rising

Runtime
16h 12m at 1×
Read by
Tim Gerard Reynolds
Kind
One voice
ASIN
B00I2W0H9W · Audible UK
Rated in
Audible UK and US · 4,817 + 74,136 ratings of the performance
Judged on
244,068 ratings of the narration
Published
Recorded Books · 2014

Audible sorts a search by newest, so ours may not be the first one you are offered. The runtime is the check: if the one in front of you says 16h 12m, that is the reading these numbers describe. “Judged on” is the crowd behind every judgement we make about this reading: the smaller of the performance and story counts, which is why it is a little under the two shop counts added. We do not link out to a shop, and we take nothing if you buy there.