Why Is The Society In 'Red Rising' So Oppressive?

CAN LOVE SURVIVE IN A WORLD OF ZOMBIES AND ALIENS! In a dystopian world that is struggling to recover from a nuclear war and that is dominated and ruled by aliens, Kendra manages to find love, peace, and harmony. Sadly, her domestic bliss is shattered when she and her husband are captured by the alien regime and placed into the breeding program. With the help and sacrifice of her gentle caretaker, they manage to escape. Their bodies are free, but what about their minds? Has too much happened for them to come back to each other? To add to the story, their son is taken to Center Land in inner earth and placed in the child program. Now, they must find a way to get him back! “The Regime” is Book Two of Kendra's Journey in a world that offers steamy romance, nail biting peril, thrills, a bit of horror, and a paradise-like sanctuary within its core. All she has to do is make her way there.

My brother had bonded with an Academic Prodigy System, and its mission was simple: get into Northbridge for graduate school. If he failed, the system would erase his intelligence and leave him permanently disabled. To save him, my parents told me, "Aaron, you're smart. You still have options, but your brother doesn't." So they secretly switched my guaranteed admission file and gave my place to him. My fiancee, Vivian Harkins, a professor at the university, personally helped him forge the records. She touched my face with the same tenderness she always used. "Aaron, everything has an optimal solution. Sacrificing one year of your time to protect this family is worth it." My brother held the admission letter with his own name on it and became the star of the celebration banquet. I stood in the corner and watched the system panel in front of me as the [Hope Value] hit zero. The cold voice in my head asked, [Host, you have reached the threshold for extreme injustice. Confirm activation of the death program?] I watched Vivian, with her own hands, fasten the pair of cuff links she had once promised me onto my brother's sleeve. I smiled, swallowed the taste of blood rising in my throat, and said, "Confirm." "Use my life to trade for the rest of theirs... beyond redemption."

What if humanity’s cruelest monster is the only one who can save you? In the toxic slums of Sector 4—far beneath the glittering glass domes of the elite city—there is only one rule: keep a low profile and stay alive. Jada is a master of survival. From the scraps discarded by the upper class, she builds everything she needs to exist in this merciless world. But during a brutal raid by the ruling Consortium, her identity scanner suddenly flashes a blood-red alarm. The verdict is neither prison nor death. It is: Sector Omega. Sector Omega is a myth born of whispered nightmares. It is the Consortium’s deepest underground laboratory, where the authorities breed genetically mutated supersoldiers. Jada is thrown into a pitch-black cell as a "calming companion" for the most dangerous experiment of all: Subject Zero. He calls himself Kael, and he is the Apex. An unstoppable beast, engineered for war in the toxic outer world—a nightmare of muscle, claws, and blinding rage. Every woman sent into this cell before Jada never left it alive. Yet, when the monster attacks from the shadows and lunges at her, he suddenly halts. The beast catches a scent. In the rebellious scavenger, Kael sees no prey—he recognizes his destined mate. With a single, guttural "Mine," Jada’s fate changes forever. Certain death transforms into a perilous alliance. Kael vows to protect his mate with his life, while Jada discovers the man hidden beneath the monster. To escape the cruel Consortium, they must ignite a bloody rebellion together—one that will shake the dystopian world beneath the dome to its very foundations. For an Apex does not share. Tropes: Sci-Fi Dystopia, Werewolf Romance, Fated Mates, Touch Her and You Die.

Before it's our turn to get our marriage registered, I beam brightly as I scoot closer to Charles Scott for our commemorative photo-taking session. But he suddenly darts away from me for no reason. "I saw you when your team was in action yesterday." I freeze momentarily. "How is that even possible? This week is filled with secretive prostitution-busting campaigns…" Charles nods lightly. "When you led your team to inspect the venue next door, I was in the middle of pinning her against the wall while screwing her brains out. "She was so nervous that she shook even more than the first time we slept together. Later on, you were summoned to another place. Only then did she have the guts to keep moaning." After following Charles' line of sight, I find myself looking at the young woman, who's currently taking photos of us with her camera. That's when my mind buzzes loudly. It's Samantha Wood, the hostage whom my dad has taken seven stabs for just to save her in a kidnapping case. Just now, Samantha was all tears and snot as she swore to me, "Nat, if he dares hurt you in any way, I'll definitely exact revenge on him, even at the cost of my life!" Charles moves to shield Samantha from my gaze, though his tone remains gentle. "It's your choice now. Do you want to continue with the process? Or do you want to take some time off to cry your heart out, and we can do this another day?" I feel my blood turning to ice at that moment. The system's warning blares loudly in my mind. "Warning—you have failed in registering your marriage with the target. The eradication protocol will be activated soon. You now have a 48-hour countdown."

“You’re a blank, John. A hollow shell. Do you really think I’d tie the future of the Card family to a man who can’t even manifest a drop of instinct?” Caleb’s voice was like a wire garrote, tightening around John’s throat. “Carl is the heir. You’re just the mistake we kept in the basement.” John Mark was the Syndicate’s golden prince—until his power never came. In a world where the Hale Mafia rules through raw, predatory instinct, being a "blank" is a death sentence. When his biological brother, Carl Cole, returns to claim his birthright, John isn't just pushed aside; he’s erased. His brothers look at him with loathing, his father treats him like a stain on the ledger, and his fiancé, Caleb Card, discards him for the new, powered heir. But the city is rotting. The Abyss King, Morcant, demands a soul to keep the shadows at bay. With nothing left to lose and fifteen days to live, John signs the Sacrifice Certificate in secret. He’ll give his life to save the family that hates him, paying back his debts in blood. He dons a red coat and a porcelain mask, becoming the nameless "Red Savior" the city worships—while by day, he is the "useless" son the Hales kick into the dirt. As the clock ticks toward the final jump, John discovers his power didn't vanish—it was stolen. Now, trapped in a house of vipers, John must decide: Does he reveal the truth and watch his family’s world burn, or does he leap into the dark to save the monsters who broke him? The Abyss is hungry. And the man they called a failure is the only one who can feed it.

The entire world froze. Overnight, the city plunged to –40 °F. Yet, in the middle of this frozen apocalypse, my mother, my sister and her son moved into the home I bought for my marriage. Even my own husband took my sister’s side. They threw me out into the freezing cold to scavenge for supplies. I came back frozen half to death, and they had not even saved me a bowl of warm soup. Then, my sister shoved me straight off the fifth-floor landing. In that bitter cold, my body hit the ground and shattered like glass. When I woke again, I found myself back in the week before the apocalypse struck. This time, I resolved to cut them all off. I would make every last one of them pay.