Dark Age (1 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation]: Red Rising 5

Red Rising Saga Dramatic Adaptations #5, part 1

by Pierce Brown, Full Cast (Narrator)

He broke the chains. Then he broke the world….

A decade ago Darrow led a revolution, and laid the foundations for a new world. Now he’s an outlaw.

Cast out of the very Republic he founded, with half his fleet destroyed, he wages a rogue war on Mercury. Outnumbered and outgunned, is he still the hero who broke the chains? Or will he become the very evil he fought to destroy?

In his darkening shadow, a new hero rises.

Lysander au Lune, the displaced heir to the old empire, has returned to bridge the divide between the Golds of the Rim and Core. If united, their combined might may prove fatal to the fledgling Republic.

On Luna, the embattled Sovereign of the Republic, Virginia au Augustus, fights to preserve her precious demokracy and her exiled husband. But one may cost her the other, and her son is not yet returned.

Abducted by enemy agents, Pax au Augustus must trust in a Gray thief, Ephraim, for his salvation.

Far across the void, Lyria, a Red refugee accused of treason, makes a desperate bid for freedom with the help of two unlikely new allies.

Fear dims the hopes of the Rising, and as power is seized, lost, and reclaimed, the worlds spin on and on toward a new Dark Age.

Adapted from the novel and produced with a full cast of actors, immersive sound effects and cinematic music!

Genres: Audiobook

Audible Audio

Published August 29, 2025

About the author

Hello. I'm Pierce Brown, the author of the Red Rising Saga, a NYT #1 bestseller.
I figured I'd write you myself than have corporate copy pasted below my totally natural author photo.

In my books you'll find stories of men and women finding their inner strength when all seems lost. You'll also find me exploring themes of love, violence, hope, and power--what it means, why people seek it, and how they hold onto it.




IG @piercebrownofficial
Twitter @pierce_brown

Reviews

[Loreli Cruz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tongueless… Orion?!?… where is Alexander where is Serafina 😩 Lysander is stressing me out or pissing me off I can’t tell. REAPER! mustang or should I say the sovereign had POVs this book?? Oh we are so back I missed her. Also I fully thought dancer was a traitor LMAO when the twist was that he actually had no idea who the Duke of hands was I was like oh 😬😀. 🫩🚬

[Ziva McD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pierce Brown surely enjoys building a character and the brutality getting him/her killed to torture us…

I struggled pushing through this book. I switched to dramatized audio but it still didnt help. I find myself dosing out and not paying attention most of the time…There was not much story other than just catching up with different characters and war… hoping it picks up in the next section…

[Lara Bone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I maintain that one of the funniest things I’ve said regarding this walking trauma-fest of a book is, “He’s not evil he’s just gay.”

I am SCARED of part two.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLOODY DAMN! This was already an epic book without a full-cast, soundtracks, sound design and ambience backing it up, but BY JOVE does it absolutely REV YOU UP and animate even a corpse like the Nakamura Snakebite concoction! Dark Age was already my favorite book prior to reading the audiobook version. BOY was I excited to finally get to reading these versions once they were released. I simply CANNOT wait for Part 3 to release and then bide my time for the Lightbringer adaptations 😭 but wait I must and will. It's worth it.

HAIL REAPER!

🎶 "If your heart beats like a drum, and your legs a little wet, it's 'cause the Reaper's come to collect a little debt." 🎶

[David Naroznowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I get so immersed in these graphic audio readings… it’s made normal audiobooks seem so boring! I’m so invested in my “reread” of this series. Experiencing it through this medium makes me very giddy. I love the characters and voice acting. So well done. Wish I didn’t have to wait months for the next installment.

[KEW · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐ because the audiobook execution is excellent. The book itself, 2⭐. I think, for me, this series ended too perfectly in the original trilogy and what follows feels too forced, too messy, and too pointless for me to continue. Maybe I'll give it another go when part II is out... Likely not.

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

can one even love a book as much as I love this one

oh dearest graphic audio, you understood the assignment!!

[Peter Barreiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

was so good, i had to listen to it twice

pierce brown is the goat (but minus points for releasing it in 3 parts)

[Michael Sivenbring · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great but a bitter pill to read.

[Mark Noizumi · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6 stars. The action really starts to pick up again here and a lot of characters and threads that had been a bit forgotten come into play.

[Whitney Reid Drebot · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ | 🫑

I’ll post a full review after I read part 2 & 3. For now I’ll just say that I’m both invested and horrified by this book. lol