Red Rising

Darrow mines helium under the surface of Mars, told he is terraforming the planet for future generations. He learns the surface has been livable for centuries and his whole caste is slave labor for a society that already moved in. The rebellion that recruits him does not send him to fight. It surgically rebuilds him into a Gold, the top caste, and drops him into their academy. Brown writes in present tense and first person, which keeps the violence close and immediate. The first book is the most controlled of the series, before the politics sprawl across galaxies. Read book one as its own thing.