Welcome to the Solar System of Red Rising; A Guide

If you're here, odds are you're knee-deep in the Red Rising universe, overwhelmed by the galactic politics, culture, and absurd number of planets, moons, and cities with names that sound like mythological deities.

Don’t worry—I’ve got you.

This guide breaks down the major worlds and settings across the three main sections of the Red Rising solar system- the Core, the Belt, and the Rim, giving you a quick snapshot of where things are, the culture of the people on each planet, and some explanations as to how all these planets and moons were re-built to support human life through a process called terraforming. Let's dive in!

A map of the solar system from Iron Gold- some features omitted to remove spoilers

The Core

Map of Helios (Mercury) from Dark Age

Mercury: "Builders" with trust issues

Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. The Society used machines called Storm Gods to alter weather patterns and climate to make the planet habitable. The planet consists of two main continents; Helios and Boraeli. Not much is said about Boraeli, as Helios is the main setting in the events of Iron Gold and Dark Age.

Tyche, on Helios, is the capitol city. The city is referred to as "the jewel of Mercury" with glass and limestone spires, a backdrop of the Hesperides mountains, and wharfs and bridges that access the sea where people jump in and swim. The public transportation here winds underneath the sea and large apartment buildings on the outskirts of the city house the lowcolors.

Heliopolis is the other major city on Helios, and the wealthiest city on Mercury. The terrain is said to be similar to South Pacifica (rugged and mountainous with a coastal landscape). The Votum government is based here so the city is bordered by a Storm Wall as well as a Dome Shield that protects the city from aerial siege. It's a little hard to place the exact vibe of the city since most of the setting context we get takes place during the chaos of Dark Age- kind of hard to get a good image when there's death and suffering everywhere. But, the city is on a body of water called The Bay of Sirens, there's reference to lots of statues and plazas, including one dedicated to the worship of Poseidon so I'm sure it's a great place normally.

When terraforming, the society was forced to leave a massive chalk desert situated along Mercury's equator called the Waste of Ladon, so brutal and barren it's also known as "the Eater of Armies."

The people of Mercury are a bit hard to read, the lowcolors have it rough, especially the Reds with high radiation levels in the mines, but hey- war is complicated. Some of them support the Republic and others, witnessing the brutality that occurred during the liberation of Mercury, don't feel the same sense of camaraderie and support the Society. It's sort of a "the suffering I know is better than the suffering I don't know" kind of attitude among many of them. This proved to be a big obstacle for Darrow and his army during his time spent on Mercury.

Venus: Lazy and hedonistic

During terraforming, hydrogen was imported to Venus from the gas giants in the Rim to create rain, and mass drivers were used to cool the planets' surface and alter the rotation to make the days and nights similar to Earth's.

Venus is said to be very beautiful, and a prime spot for vacation among wealthy society citizens. 80% of the surface is blue oceans with coral reefs known to be occupied with large eels. The remaining land consists of white sand covered islands. Venusians are tan and attractive.

Venus is also known for great wine and I hear the oysters are delicious. Sounds like heaven on Earth if not for the obnoxious and sometimes violent hedonism of its Gold occupants. Notable inhabitants include House Carthii and Valii-Rath. So think Atalantia's depravity and Apollonius' overall debauchery.

Earth: Hometown nobody visits anymore

You may be familiar with Earth, the origin place of mankind and all. Sounds pretty awesome but in this world it seems to have become a little lame. Before being conquered by Society Golds, Earth was made up of a few geographical alliances that didn't particularly get along.

The planet is still habitable, though it seems to have been reduced a little due to some general environmental and war damage. Something to note is that there's a massive underwater prison at the bottom of the ocean called Deepgrave that houses some of the galaxy's worst criminals. The prison doubles up as a waste eliminator to clean up the oceans, and the prisoners live out their lives keeping it running. That's probably a good indication that the state of the environment after generations of human abuse is not so great. Although there are still some very beautiful places that remain, notably New Sparta (located in Africa and occupied by House Grimmus), the Rocky Mountains, and New Zealand where Darrow spent some time between trilogies.

We only meet a few characters from Earth (most notably Holiday and Trigg) and they're all treated sort of like like small-towners. So, in other words, Earth seems to be treated like that hometown of yours that everyone left when they graduated highschool.

Luna: Society's elite, royal bloodline

Luna, Earth's moon, is the Capitol of the Society and seat of House Lune. Due to the difficult nature of launching spacecraft through Earth's atmosphere, Luna became the port of efficiency and Earth became dependent on its location and access to resources. It's where the entire conquering began.

The northern hemisphere is covered in mountains and seas, and tall and fancy cities cover the equator like a belt. Due to the moon's gravity being 1/6th of Earth's gravity, buildings can be built much higher and the city seems to exist largely, in the air. The city of Hyperion is nearly vertical, and is described as a mix of futuristic and classical Roman with newer things being built upwards on top of old structures, which does seem to create quite a bit of disparity amongst the lower levels of the city and higher in terms of wealth, luxury, and safety.

Just want to point out that Ephraim loves it in Hyperion, and he seems like someone with great taste.

Mars: Strong and hard headed patriots

We've been given lots of information on Mars since that's where the Rising began, and where Darrow is from. Mars is half the size of Earth, with about 37% of the gravity. It was transformed via terraforming to have a breathable atmosphere, and an appearance that seems similar to Earth's- described as appearing green and white from space. There's volcanoes, lots of seas, some flora and fauna, mountains, and the largest canyon in the Solar System. The northern hemisphere of the planet was turned into a massive ocean that isolates the very cold and harsh northern pole that the Obsidians are isolated in with lots of terrifying carved creatures as company.

They're not known for agriculture, but Mars is the helium-3 center of the galaxy, having the largest amount of mines producing and exporting fuel. Their second most high-demand export is, disgustingly, their brainwashed Obsidian slaves, considered to be the best in the galaxy.

Martians are very proud and patriotic, and that attitude doesn't only exist within the Golds, but within the hearts of the lowcolors as well. Reds and Obsidians there turn out to be an essential and efficient part of the Rising.

Phobos: Martian Government

Phobos is a moon of Mars and home to significant population. It's a major transfer point for helium-3. It's said to be sort of, hollowed out by man and encircled by huge docks for trade ships to land and launch from. Underneath the docs and protruding out above them are the needle-like buildings that make up the cityscape. Similar to Luna, without the constraints of gravity, the city is very tall. While the surface area of the planet is only about 30km, the majority of the real estate is verticle. The wealth disparity between those who live in the points of the needle-tipped building vs. those who live closer to the surface is palpable. I picture it as looking like a very sharp space station.

Deimos: Not much

Smaller moon of mars, not much info is provided here.

The Belt

Between the Core and the Rim is a very large and vast asteroid belt. It's super vast but many of the asteroid's are populated and points of trade. Darrow mentions that many cities went black during the war between the Society and the Rising when he, Cassius, and Sevro travelled through the Belt in Light Bringer.

The Rim

Before we get into the world building of the Rim, it's important to note that the culture of the Rim is very different from that of the Core. They despise the Core Golds and they're more ethical (ish)? Rim golds are used to a life of scarcity and do not subscribe to the same overindulgence that the golds of the Core do. They detest the Society for their needless violence and decadence, and believe they've lost sight of Gold's original ideals. They view the hierarchical oppression as a necessary violence- but not necessarily one to bask in and abuse. They're less mean to their slaves- I guess- and they do not raise their young to believe they're superior before they've earned it, children of gold do not have a right to servants, for example.

They pride themselves on honor and tradition, and much to their own detriment, don't lie or deceive much. They've also evolved to have unique features- paler skin, larger eyes, and a much higher tolerance to radiation than the core golds.

"Ionian men and women are not like humans of Earth or Luna or Mercury or Venus. They are harder, lither, eyes slightly larger to absorb the dimmed light six hundred million kilometers from the sun, skin pale, taller, and able to withstand higher doses of radiation. These people believe themselves most like the Iron Golds who conquered Earth and put man at peace for the first time in her history."

-Morning Star, Darrow

Now, let's get into some of the cool settings in the Rim

Jupiter's Moons

Io

Io is awesome, probably one of the most vivid settings in Red Rising. It's the moon closest to Jupiter in orbit, and also the main source of food production for the rim (60%). It's the driest object in the solar system, and bombarded with tons of radiation due to its proximity to the gas giant. One side of the planet faces Jupiter, and is ridiculously hot (up to 248ºF). This side is covered in sulfur laced sand dunes and silicate rocks/ridges. Outside of the terraformed zone the surface is covered in literal lake-sized pools of magma, 400 volcanoes, and a sea made of sulfur that stretches from pole to pole. Sevro confirmed what all of us were thinking while reading, it does, in fact, smell like one big fart. The side facing away from the planet is freezing cold and covered in sulfur dioxide snow fields.

Demeter's Garter is the agriculture system that lines the equator.

We get to spend lots of fun times on Io in Light Bringer

Ganymede

Ganymede is described a little but not nearly in the same amount of detail as Io. It was terraformed to have oceans and forests, and it is a political center of the Rim. Major dockyards that support the Rim's industry are in its orbit.

Europa

Europa was terraformed to be a world covered largely in ocean, estimated to be up to 100 miles deep. The ocean is said to be the home of one of the largest carved creatures ever created- the leviathan. Spooky stuff. The gravity here is very low, 0.163 of Earth's, so things float and everyone has to adjust their lives around that somehow.

There's islands along the equator that are lined with cities that are mossy and forested due to the humidity of the very wet moon. Europa is prone to strong winds and hurricanes.

Saturn's Moon's

Rhea

Even though we aren't provided much information about Rhea, it's important to note that this was Saturn's moon, once the rebellious heart of the Rim. Now space dust thanks to the Ash Lord and a very big bomb. Its destruction forever fractured the Rim-Core relationship..

So there you have it- that’s your crash course on the Solar System according to Red Rising. I didn't get everything possible but we’ve covered magma moons, underwater prisons, vertical cities, desert death zones, and eel-filled oceans. There’s so much more to explore, and as the series expands, I’m sure we’ll be adding new entries (and possibly weirder ones). Check back in for the occasional updates.

Until then, Hail Reaper, Hail Libertas