What Is The Timeline For New Blood:The Blood Moon Saga Series Events?

I geek out over timelines, so I sketched this one in my notebook: long before anyone alive, the covenant rites establish the blood-moon cycle (ancient era); 'Crimson Prologue' fills in the immediate prelude (-25 to -1 BP); 'Blood Moon Rising' is Year 0 and covers the initial upheaval and Fall of Varenca across months; 'Red Reckoning' and 'Tide of Ashes' play out through Year 1 with major battles and betrayals; 'Night Threads' and a couple of short stories slot between those to explain side players; 'Shattered Eclipse' and 'Moon's Reckoning' span Year 1.8 to Year 2, delivering the climax; finally 'Afterlight' and the epilogues cover the recovery into Year 3. What I enjoy most is how the side materials subtly retcon motivations — reading in timeline order smooths the narrative, while release order keeps surprises sharp. Either way, the chronology brings the world into focus and makes every twist hit harder.

I tend to think of the saga in three clear phases, and laying them out as a timeline really clarifies the stakes. Phase one is foundational history and the re-awakening: ancient covenants (centuries ago), the events in 'Crimson Prologue' that lead to the modern curse (a few decades before Year 0), then the ignition at Year 0 with 'Blood Moon Rising'. That opening covers a compressed but intense period (weeks to months) where the political web and supernatural rules are established.

Phase two is expansion and complication through Year 1 to Year 1.8. 'Red Reckoning' and 'Tide of Ashes' expand the geographic scope: key campaigns, betrayals, and the Siege of Ebro happen in that window. The side materials — the 'Night Threads' webcomic and the short story collection 'Under Silver' — are slotted here and aren’t merely garnish: they resolve several character mysteries that pay off later. Chronologically, these side pieces take place between the two main books and sometimes run parallel to the main POV scenes.

Phase three (Year 1.9 to Year 3) is collapse and closure: 'Shattered Eclipse' moves into the fragmented aftermath, 'Moon's Reckoning' is the concentrated finale with the final ritual and the revelation of the Moon-Sigil origin, and 'Afterlight' plus two epilogues cover the rebuilding and the fates of surviving factions. If you want an alternate viewing/reading approach, follow release order for surprise reveals; if you want a straight story flow, follow timeline order. Personally, reading the novellas after the main arc changed how I felt about some characters — made the finale bittersweet in the best way.

I love mapping out timelines, and 'New Blood: The Blood Moon Saga' is the kind of series that rewards a detailed walkthrough — there’s an in-universe chronology and a slightly different release order, so I like to separate those first.

In-universe, it starts with the Prologue Era (circa -400 to -250 BP — Before Present in the saga’s dating): mythic foundations, the old covenants, and the first blood-rite that set the moon’s cycles. The immediate prequel period, covered in 'Crimson Prologue', spans roughly -25 to -1 BP and explains the catalyst families and prophecies that haunt later generations. Then the main sequence opens with 'Blood Moon Rising' (Year 0), where the titular moon event reactivates dormant powers and the modern political conflicts kick off — that book covers about three months of furious escalation, ending with the Fall of Varenca.

Books two and three, 'Red Reckoning' and 'Tide of Ashes', occupy the following year: the chase across borderlands, the Siege of Ebro, and the revelation about the Moon-Sigil. Major battles in Year 1.5 (roughly six months after the Siege) shift the focus to the inland isles in 'Shattered Eclipse', which bridges into the mid-series arc where alliances fracture and key characters die or vanish. The core saga’s climax occurs around Year 2 with 'Moon's Reckoning', a brutal convergence of timelines where ancient magic and modern tech collide in the Blood Citadel.

After that, there’s a denouement year: 'Afterlight' and two novellas — a recovery period and epilogues for secondary POVs. The webcomic spin-off 'Night Threads' slots between 'Tide of Ashes' and 'Shattered Eclipse' and gives side-story happenings that affect a few character motivations in the main arc. Release order mixed early prequel drops out of chronological sequence, so if you want a straight timeline read I’d do: 'Crimson Prologue' → 'Blood Moon Rising' → 'Red Reckoning' → 'Tide of Ashes' (+ 'Night Threads') → 'Shattered Eclipse' → 'Moon's Reckoning' → 'Afterlight' and novellas. Mapping it out like this makes every reveal land harder — I still get chills reading the Siege of Ebro chapter.