I would love to be here relaying the news that Red God has a release date, but that’s not the case. The next Red Rising book is still being written, according to Pierce Brown, but that doesn’t mean Howlers are left with nothing new to dive into from the world of Red Rising. Pierce Brown recently announced a new story, called The Book of Lorn, which is being released in installments, digitally, to those who subscribe to the Shit Escalates Patreon.
This announcement happened at the conclusion of the latest version of the community-focused Hazard Bedlam game from Pierce Brown and Lit Escalates, where Howlers were encouraged to work together to collect game pieces, and put together puzzles teasing this new project. If you’re guessing that The Book of Lorn has something do with a certain legendary razormaster, you would be correct.
Check out the announcement Pierce Brown dropped on his Instagram below:
As Brown’s caption states, this story is a mixture of his prose, which focuses on Darrow’s perspective during the time period between the end of Red Rising and the start of Golden Son, and comic-art done by Giannis Milogiannis, which takes us back to Lorn’s past and will “illustrate the origins of Lorn’s hard won wisdoms.” New pages for each episode will be unveiled at Shit-Escalates.com twice a week over the next 6-8 weeks. This part-novella/part-graphic-novel content will only be available to people who subscribe to the Shit-Escalates Patreon at the $5/month level or higher.
The Book Of Lorn First Impressions
Did I sign up? You’re bloodydamn right I did. And I’m not about to spoil any specifics from the first set of pages released, though I think the above trailer does a nice job of teasing some of its contents.
Golden Son Spoilers Ahead
What I will say, after reading the pages currently available on the site, is that I’m really curious about how it was for Pierce Brown to return to Darrow’s POV during this time period — spoilers if you haven’t read the original Red Rising trilogy (specifically Golden Son) ahead! — If you recall in Golden Son, we don’t learn until a little bit into the book that Darrow managed to convince the retired Lorn au Arcos to train him to use the razor in the art of the Willow Way. Darrow’s acquired skill with the razor is such a brilliant reveal at that point in the story, so I’m grateful we were left in the dark about it until Darrow faced off with Cassius. And yet, until now, we didn’t get to see how he went about getting that training.
Reading Chapter 1, I felt like I had to reset my mind to remember Darrow as a character at this specific point in the story, which was really fun. I can only imagine what it must’ve been like for Pierce Brown to write from a younger Darrow’s perspective again, around the time when the character was fresh out of the Institute and still trying to find his footing in the Society.
Not only am I excited to read more pages as they become available, but this first set from Episode 1 is already fueling my craving for a full-series reread. As excited as I am for Red God, I love getting a bit more story from the time period of the original trilogy. And also, I’m very intrigued to learn more about Lorn’s past. We know a fair amount about Lorn from Darrow’s perspective, and from Lorn’s legacy as a razormaster. I’m interested to learn new things about the character and see how he got to be the legendary man he is when Darrow first met him.
A Book Of Lorn Book Will Be Released Eventually
For those of you who aren’t up for subscribing to the Patreon, or who’d rather read this new story in book-form, according to the About page on Shit-Escalates, there are plans to eventually release the story in book form.
Any news on Red God, you ask?
As mentioned, there’s still no release date for Red God. The seventh book in the Red Rising series is still being written. During the Twitch live stream where he announced The Book of Lorn, Pierce Brown mentioned the upcoming book as he was signing off, with a bit of a playful tone, repeating what he’s said in the past about wanting to release the book when he feels it’s good, and from the sound of it, the book isn’t ready yet:
“You’ll get Red God when I like it and think it’s good. I don’t think it’s good right now. So do you want it done, or do you want it good? I appreciate your patience. Love you all.”
As always, Howler One. Take your time, we will wait!
Howler Life 