Stuff! I like stuff. Maybe a little bit too much, but I’m not here to apologize for that right now. Being in the U.S. meant waiting a little bit longer than those in the United Kingdom for my Illumicrate Howler Edition box to arrive, but arrive it did! And it does not disappoint. Those Howlers looking for a box of great goodies to show off their love for Pierce Brown’s Red Rising series will find plenty to appreciate in Illumicrate’s Howler Edition.

The box costs £72.98, which converts to a little over $100 when you add in shipping to the U.S. Not cheap, but it comes with a copy of the book and some other excellent items….

At the top of the above image, you’ll see some Haemanthus Blossom lip balm in a little metal tin from Glasgow Soap Company. To the left is a rubbery plastic keychain of our favorite Telemanus fox, Sophocles (designed by Hannah Hitchman)  with an assortment of jellybeans at his disposal (because you know he’d never sit still without them). And to the right, a metal pin from Fable & Black that says “Death is my shadow,” with a slingBlade wrapped around the text.

The other item from the Glasgow Soap Company is a bag of Mars-red bath salts, which apparently turn the water red. Bath stuff is my favorite, so this one hits close to home.

Red Rising fans can wear their Institute pride with these Illumicrate socks, which show off the different house symbols.

 

 

Next up, what better way to count down the days until Dark Age hits shelves than with this 2018 calendar from Hey Atlas Creative, which features a quote from the Red Rising books on each month.

From Hodderscape, we have the gold foil-covered notebook, and below that is a beautiful, fist-bumping piece of artwork of Sevro (holding his Ares helmet) and Darrow with his slingBlade, from artist PhantomRin.

Artist Merwild’s character work is on display with the above bookmarks, showing off Ragnar, Darrow, Mustang, Cassius and Sevro.

At the top are two awesome engraved wooden coasters by R Jack, one with the Gold symbol and the other for a bit of Red pride (and I’m just realizing I photographed that one upside-down). Below that is the 14-pointed star symbol of the new Republic (from Hey Atlas Creative), where every color is equally represented.

And then there’s this gloriously red beanie, showing off the words “Break the Chains” (with lettering done by Crini).

For the Lions among the fans, this tote bag from Goodnight Kittens celebrates Augustan pride with their slogan Hic Sunt Leones.

Not to be left out, the Howlers have their very own metal mug from Hey Atlas Creative, which shows off the House Mars wolf head under the words Omnis vir Lupus. Team Howlers indeed!

And finally, we got a cloth patch from Hodderscape, along with a copy of Iron Gold and the promised signed bookplate. The box also includes a typed letter from Pierce Brown.

On one hand, I already have a copy of Iron Gold, but on the other hand, it’s nice to have a U.K. copy of it, as it’s a bit different from the U.S. printing. Below you can see the Del Rey edition on the left, and on the right is the U.K. edition from Hodder & Stoughton included in the Howler box…

As you can see the U.K. edition is a bit thicker, and the text placement on the binding is different. As for the actual covers, they’re mostly the same, with the burning feather on both. The main difference on the cover is that the letters and feather are slightly raised on the U.S. version, whereas it’s all flat to the paper on the U.K. one.

Illumicrate still has the Howler Edition up for sale on their site. It shipped on or around the release of the book, and mine just arrived today (January 30), so if you’re in the U.S., expect a little bit of a wait for FedEx to get it to you, but it arrived in perfect condition, and was well worth the wait!