My favorite detail about Red Rising is that Gold is a superior race.

To explain: almost all other books/films that show a ruling class dominating the rest of society and holding down the people have the rich/upperclass in control, but but there is no logic to it other than the fact that they are on top and holding down everyone else. But in Red Rising, Gold IS superior to other colors in all physical ways, and arguably most mental/bravery ones as well. So there is logic to the fact that Gold is on top. This is very refreshing IMO.

Of course, that doesn't mean Gold are superior as human beings, as Brown writes, and nothing justifies how they treated the other colors in the hierarchy. But it's honest of Brown to show that through genetic manipulation you could actually create a superior form of human (not that we should try that). Ultimately any attempt would fail because the superior race would try to dominate. That's why Brown wrote at a couple of points in the series about how sad it was that Gold, with all its superior ability, squanders its potential.