Author Pierce Brown stopped by Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego to discuss his books and answer fan questions during the final leg of his Golden Son (Red Rising trilogy, book 2) book tour. There were apparently over 100 people that attended this event in the small, but newly moved, and awesome independent bookstore. Fans of the books were no doubt excited to have him there, as was I. I couldn’t wait to get to speak to him afterwards to let him know just how much he destroyed my heart (you can read my review of Red Rising here and Golden Son here.)
Apologies for the shakiness in the beginning (I unfortunately didn’t think to bring my actual recorder on a monopod and used my phone instead, thus holding it the entire time) and the hi-pitched ringing sound during the video. The ringing was an issue with the mic and speakers in the store, not an issue with the video.
Here’s the breakdown of Pierce Brown’s answers and timeline below:
- :48 – Pierce Brown reads the prologue of Golden Son
- 2:44 – Pierce explains Golden Son
- 3:22 – Pierce answers fan’s quickfire questions – Star Wars or Star Trek, Coffee or Tea, PC or Mac, Night Owl or Early Bird, Batman or Superman, and Automated or Live-Action for a Red Rising movie
- 4:42 – On whether he had any actors in mind for his characters, and where Hollywood is at in the process, as well as who the director is (Marc Forster)
- 5:38 – On the difficulties of writing the screenplay versus writing the book
- 6:44 – On the details of the razor, the primary weapon of a Gold
- 7:34 – On the Golds having “pets”
- 8:15 – Pierce answers another fan’s three questions – what wakes him up at 3am, on characters going a different direction than originally planned, and the Forbidden Song
- 11:28 – On his favorite book from childhood and a book he’s read repeatedly
- 12:32 – On Darrow’s last name, family/clan names, and stratification protocol
- 13:42 – On whether he has more clout on the movie process of Red Rising since he’s written the screenplay
- 14:36 – On most drastic thing he’s done for a deadline, but he really tells a story about what happened on one of his thesis papers when he was in college
- 16:36 – On “stuff” he wrote before Red Rising
- 17:27 – On what he’s reading at this time (James S.A. Corey’s Expanse series)
- 18:00 – On where he’s at in writing the third book of the Red Rising trilogy, and you’ll notice he kind of glosses over my question
- 18:13 – On if he’ll be at San Diego Comic-Con, and other comic-cons
- 19:06 – On if he cosplays
- 19:33 – On how long he’s had the characters in his head before he started writing, and how he was inspired to write the story
- 20:25 – On what he did for roadblocks in the writing process
- 23:21 – On what he’s reading in non-fiction, and what inspires his writing
- 27:12 – On his favorite incarnation of Batman
- 27:48 – On his playlist during his writing of Red Rising
- 28:38 – On how to get people for the editing process when you’re writing
- 29:15 – On if there are audio versions of Red Rising (Yes, audible.com has both Red Rising and Golden Son)
Pierce Brown’s Red Rising was published on January 28th, 2014 and has received many positive reviews, with numerous comparisons to that of The Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Ender’s Game (notably, his books do not have the word “game” in them). Golden Son was published January 6th, 2015, and even more praise has been added to book two, including a starred Kirkus Review.
Pierce Brown spent his childhood building forts and setting traps for cousins in the woods of six states and the deserts of two. Graduating from college in 2010, he fancied the idea of continuing his studies at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a magical bone in his body. So while trying to make it as a writer, he worked as a manager of social media at a startup tech company, toiled as a peon on the Disney lot at ABC Studios, did his time as an NBC page, and gave sleep deprivation a new meaning during his stint as an aide on a U.S. Senate campaign. Now he lives Los Angeles, where he scribbles tales of spaceships, wizards, ghouls, and most things old or bizarre.
