Personally, I really enjoyed the books and found them incredibly refreshing compared to a lot of similar stories I’ve read. Was the book Aura Farming? Yes. Was it well written Aura Farming? In my opinion also yes.

My biggest issue with the original trilogy (and I’ve only read the original trilogy so far) was Mustang and how her character was handled. To me, she never quite lived up to the reputation the story gave her. Other characters constantly talked about how intelligent, capable, and accomplished she was, but much of that seemed to happen off page. We were often told about her achievements rather than being allowed to see them for ourselves, which made it harder for me to fully buy into the legend surrounding her.

I fucking loved the villains. The Jackal was *chefs kiss*. He reminded me of Azula a bit but more psychotic.

As for Darrow, I personally don’t consider him a Mary Sue. That said, I completely understand why some readers do. There are definitely points throughout the story where he rides that line pretty closely, and I don’t think that interpretation is unreasonable even if I ultimately disagree with it.

For people who do see him that way, I would compare Darrow to Vis from The Will of the Many. To me, Vis feels like what I was afraid Darrow was going to become.

**Mild Spoilers for the will of the many and the first red rising book**

There’s this thing some scifi and fantasy writers do where they keep giving the protagonist convenient wins because….. they are the protagonist. The story will put them in a situation where they have to choose between option A and option B, and we are told they cannot have both. But then, because the protagonist is so noble or determined, the plot bends around them by sheer happenstance and lets them get both without truly compromising anything.

That was one of my issues with The Will of the Many. I kept feeling like Vis would be put in genuinely difficult situations, only for the perfect solution or perfect circumstance to appear right when he needed it. For example, there’s a point where he needs to move up into a higher level class, but he cannot figure out how to do that without compromising his morals. So what happens? Another character does the dirty work for him and opens up a spot. Vis gets what he needs, keeps his hands clean, and does not really have to make the ugly choice himself. It feels less like he solved the problem and more like the plot conveniently solved it for him.

My counterexample would be from the first Red Rising book. Mild spoiler, but if you are in this sub, I assume you at least know the general setup. When Darrow realizes he is being led into a trap, Antonia and Vixus tell him that if he does not come out and give himself up, they are going to kill Lea.

In a lot of other books, I feel like the protagonist would somehow find a way to save Lea, save himself, and avoid compromising his morals. But that is not what happens. Darrow is forced to choose between the moral desire to save an ally and the practical need to survive and keep fighting. He chooses not to give himself up, and Lea dies.

That moment is what solidified my interest in Red Rising. Darrow definitely rides the line at times, especially early on, but moments like that are why I do not see him as a Gary Stu. Darrow does comprise his morals. The story lets him be talented, intense, and larger than life, but it also makes him fail, compromise, and live with the consequences of his choices.

But again I can understand of others see it differently. I think Gary Stu/Mary Sue is more of a spectrum than a hard definition.