‘I would have lived in peace. But my enemies brought me war.’

 

It brings me IMMENSE pleasure to release some of the details of our upcoming joint-publication of Pierce Brown‘s Red Rising!

This has been well over two years in the works now and it’s an honour to work on such an iconic title and series. I was approached by Joel from Lit Escalates in 2023 about working together on this series and I of course couldn’t refuse. It has been a genuine pleasure to collaborate with Lit Escalates on this production as I don’t think there are many other people I could work with on a release like this. Not only that, but we have the illustrious Marc Simonetti producing 22 pieces of colour art (21 interior, and then his incredible dust jacket art!) for this edition and we plan to produce four tiers of each book in the series, starting with Red Rising.

Instead of the Standard Edition, we will be producing an Artist Edition on this series. What on earth is an artist edition you say, and how is it different from the Standard? Good bloodydamn question. The Artist Edition does not have a specific limitation, but a pre-order window of 3-weeks to purchase, while supplies last. This should allow most people the chance to buy one if you are ready for that pre-order period, though we do have a cap of how many we can produce.

Unlike the top 3 tiers, the Artist Edition is printed offset and machinebound in a smyth-sewn binding by the UK’s best quality printer/binder (more info on the specs below). We have been very particular in using the best in that field to ensure the quality is up to our usual high standards. Each copy of the Artist Edition will be signed by Pierce Brown!

For those looking to secure a copy in the public sale please sign up to the official Red Rising website HERE for regular updates and an FAQ about how to purchase on March 20th!

 

This is a Publishers Rights release, so that means owners of Assassin’s Apprentice Lettered Editions and Numbered Editions (1-150) will have an opportunity to purchase their PR when the rights holder period opens. We ensured there are plenty of copies available for each tier which will go up for sale on the public pre-order.

The four tiers in question:

• Artist Edition (Limited to 3-week ordering window)
• Numbered Edition – x350 copies
• Lettered Edition – x52 copies
• Roman Numeral – x10 copies

Inside each version of the book you’ll find:

• • 21 Full-Color Paintings by Marc Simonetti
  • All-new Institute House Dossiers by Pierce Brown for all 13 Houses
  • Crafted with care from brutally beautiful materials.
  • Official House Sigils for all 13 Houses by Joel Daniel Phillips 
  • Updated Institute Map
  • Details you will discover slowly, obsessively, and with a grin

All copies but the Artist Edition continue with their Series Rights, so those who buy Red Rising will get matching rights to purchase Golden Son. As we have a purchase period for the Artist Edition, anyone who purchased RR will be able to buy the next book when that is released as well.

Here is our release of Red Rising!

Red Rising

Red Rising is the thrilling first entry in the Red Rising Saga. Darrow has never seen the sky. He is a Red, a member of the lowly mining caste in the colour-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he willingly spends his life digging underground, believing his sacrifice will make the surface livable for future generations.

Then Darrow makes a horrible discovery: Darrow and the Reds have been betrayed as Humanity actually reached the surface generations ago. The Reds are slaves, in service to a decadent ruling class.

Longing for justice, driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow joins the resistance to destroy society from within.

He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, Darrow will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies, even if he has to become one of them to do it.

Red Rising is well-beloved by fans, and we’re determined to create with Pierce’s blessing an edition that will both excite his Howlers, but also bring the glory of Red Rising to sci-fi fans everywhere.

Pierce Brown

Pierce Brown is an American science fiction author who made his fame by creating the Red Rising Saga consisting of Red Rising, Golden Son, Morning Star, Iron Gold, Dark Age, and Light Bringer.

Pierce began life growing up in seven different states. He graduated from Pepperdine University, California where he studied political science and economics. He never intended to become a writer, and it wasn’t until high school he started writing.

Red Rising was published after six books and over one hundred rejections, but his space opera about the depths of human emotion, oppression and the fight for freedom has captured the hearts of fans, known lovingly as Howlers, worldwide.

Alongside creating Red Rising, Pierce and Joel Daniel Philips, the artist responsible for the Society Sigils, Institute House Crests and Maps for Red Rising, have formed the company Lit Escalates. Lit Escalates creates merchandise for sci-fi and fantasy authors, from apparel to prints to sculptures, bringing the creative work of various authors to life.

Since forming in 2020 they have shipped over 50,000 packages to readers in 35 countries and gotten to work with brilliant writers like Joe Abercrombie, and V.E. Schwab.

Art

The incredible Marc Simonetti has been hard at work all last year on 22 unique full colour illustrations for our Red Rising Collectors Edition. Marc has illustrated both the front and back endpapers as well as the interior images.

This edition will have a REVERSIBLE dustjacket! That’s right we have two full wraparound pieces for this release, one by Marc Simonetti and the other by Joel Daniel Phillips. We will be revealing these absolute peaches over the next couple of weeks running up to the pre-order date, so keep your eyes firmly on our social media.

Best known for his work on GRR Martin‘s books A Song of Ice and Fire and The Iron Throne, Marc has also illustrated some of the best known fantasy and Sci-Fi novels, including Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, Robin Hobb’s The Royal Assassin Trilogy, Patrick Rothfuss’s Name of the Wind, Terry Brook’s  Shannara Cycle and Frank Herbert‘s Dune.

Having originally trained as an engineer at INSA, the National Institute of Applied Sciences in Lyon, Marc decided to pursue an artistic career and studied at the Beaux Arts in Annecy then at the Emile Cohl School. He quickly established himself as a concept artist, making his mark in high profile productions such as the 3D space opera Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, when he worked in close partnership with acclaimed French director Luc Besson.

His most recent works as a concept artist include Aladdin, Maleficent 2, Aquaman 2 and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, among many others.

Artist Edition

Printed in 4-colour offset lithography on Munken Lynx White Smooth 100gsm by Gomer Press in Llandysul, Wales, this edition comes with a reversible dustjacket featuring art from Marc Simonetti and Joel Daniel Phillips as well as 21 full-colour paintings by Simonetti within the book.

Underneath the jacket, the book itself is quarter-bound and printed with a bas-relief style painting by Phillips onto Wibalin Buckram. It features Darrow’s Hero Arc as if carved on a marble tomb. The spine image design is part of a much larger painting done by Phillips which will go across all books in the planned series.

Both front and back boards are covered in Wibalin Ruby Buckram and hot foil stamped in black and gold. Full-colour endpapers illustrated by Marc Simonetti adorn both the front and back of the book.

The spine is rounded and comes with gold head and tailbands as well as a silky smooth ribbon in red “Passion” by Berisford. The slipcase has been formed out of 3mm thick board and covered with printed buckram. The slipcase design features a photograph of a huge piece of marble we acquired, onto which the red sigils were hand-carved by our master stone carver Nick Roberson. On the spine is another hit of hot foil stamping in gold.

Pre-order Price: £75 (Converted from $100.00)

This release is a preorder and we expect to start shipping the Artist edition Fall of 2026.

Numbered Edition

Printed in two colours on a Heidelberg Windmill letterpress by the master printers at Nomad Letterpress (Cheltenham, UK) on Mohawk Superfine Ultra White 118gsm paper.

Half-bound in black goatskin leather with red metallic hand tooling by the premier handbinders in the UK: Ludlow Bookbinders. The boards are covered in printed marble with elements from Marc Simonetti’s paintings and are finished with a translucent foil stamping to the front cover. Both the front and rear endpapers feature full-color illustrations from Simonetti.

The spine is rounded with 2 hits of hot foil stamping in metallic red and gold. This is matched with the black and red head and tailbands, and comes finished with a sumptuous dark red ribbon. The top edge of the book is hand coloured in grey, white and red.

Surrounding the book is a handmade slipcase by Ludlow Bookbinders covered in Wibalin Buckram and featuring a cut out with a Marc Simonetti illustration embedded within and a gold stamped sigil.

Pre-order Price: £570 (Converted from $780.00)

This release is a preorder and we expect to start shipping the Numbered Edition during the Christmas Period 2026.

Lettered Edition

Printed in two colours on a Heidelberg Windmill letterpress by the master printers at Nomad Letterpress (Cheltenham, UK) on Liber Charta 115gsm mouldmade paper.

Bradel bound with black harmattan leather on the spine, with cream leather boards and handbound by Ludlow Bookbinders. The boards have 6 pieces of Roxburgh antique burgundy leather onlay and a blind stamped design surrounding.

The spine is rounded with two raised bands with gold hand-tooling on either side. The author name and title are hot foil stamped in red metallic foil with a blind stamped pillar towards the base. We have utilised a red leather head and tailband on the book with a red ribbon, and the pages are gilded in gold on all three sides. The endpapers are handmarbled with a design to accentuate the bindings.

Enclosed in a handmade solander case by Ludlow Bookbinders. The case is made from black leather with more burgundy onlay to the front and back, with the trays lined in sumptuous “tomate” suedel by Winter & Company. The spine has a burgundy leather label inset into the box with white foil stamping.

Pre-order Price: £2015 (Converted from $2750.00)

This release is a preorder and we expect to start shipping the Lettered Edition during the Christmas Period 2026.

Roman Numeral

Printed in two colours on a Heidelberg Windmill letterpress by the master printers at Nomad Letterpress (Cheltenham, UK) on a bespoke handmade paper by the Paper Foundation in Burneside, UK. 

This edition is fully bound in finest harmattan leather which has been hand dyed and coloured by the expert craftspeople at Ludlow Bookbinders. The cover and spine feature hand finished, CNC-cut brushed black metal elements that have been inset into the leather.

The head and tailband have been hand sewn in a complex colour design to mirror the patina and scheme of the book leather. The spine has been hand rounded using ancient techniques and the book edges have been gilded copper, hand-distressed and painted with Verdigris to give a weathered effect.

Housed in a handmade marble box by master stonecarver Nick Roberson and lined by Ludlow Bookbinders. The four pillar design as well as the Howler sigil and text on the lid has been hand carved by Roberson himself as well as the Howler sigil and text on the lid. Across all four sides of the box is hand carved lettering in Latin which translates to “I would have come in peace, but my enemies brought me war”.

The endpapers are handmarbled pieces to complement the design of the bindings. Inside the book there is a remarque hand-drawn by the artist Marc Simonetti.

* Fun fact:  The Paper Foundation are bestowed with the Royal Warrant, and make both book and decorative papers by hand. The team works with original equipment from the former Griffen Mill in Ireland, which was relocated to the English Lake District in 2020.

Pre-order Price: £7,878 (Converted from $10,750.00)

This release is a preorder and we expect to start shipping the Roman Numeral Edition during the Christmas Period 2026.

As with other releases I will still be tweaking the designs before they go into production as there are often small improvements that can be made from the initial prototypes.

Pre-order Information

The Rights Holder period for those with Publishers Rights for Lettered Editions A-Z and Numbered Editions 1-150 will open on:

Monday 16th of March at 10:00 GMT

Rights Holders will have until Thursday 19th March at 20:00 GMT to take up their copy, any copies not purchased by then will go into the public pre-order the following day. Links for Rights Holders will be sent via our email and handled by us.

As mentioned above the public sale for all tiers goes live on

Friday 20th of March at 17:00 GMT

All copies purchased on the public sale for the Roman Numeral, Lettered, and Numbered Editions will come with Series Rights to the next book in the saga.

We expect to start shipping the Artist Edition Fall of 2026, with the Lettered, Numbered, and Roman Numeral editions will ship closer to the end of the year. 

For those looking to secure a copy in the public sale please sign up to the official Red Rising website HERE for regular updates and an FAQ about how to purchase on March 20th!