Rise of Orion is releasing in exactly ten days, so I thought it would be a good time to share some of the emotions of the story. For those of you who have been waiting for the playlist, here it is! Along with a mood board for extra atmosphere. Scroll down for descriptions of the songs.

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Listen on Spotify | Listen online via Grooveshark | Download these songs on iTunes*

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 The Mood Board

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The Soundtrack

I decided not to reveal much of the story with the playlist this time because not only is it chronological, any more information would provide major spoilers. I’m just going to tell you to whom each song belongs and you can draw your own conclusions. ;)

Castle of Glass – Linkin Park
This is Mikel through and through.

Set Fire to the Rain – Alex Boye, Salt Lake Pops Orchestra (not available on Grooveshark)
Kierstaz and Mikel have a bit of a fight. There’s a lot of denial involved.

Only Hope – Mandy Moore
This is Aura’s. She’s calm in a sea of uncertainty…most of the time.

Stolen – Dashboard Confessional
Someone is in a little deep…

On Fire – Switchfoot
This is The Song With All The Feels. First verse is Aura’s, second verse is Mikel’s, the bridge is both of theirs.

The Unwinding Cable Car – Anberlin
Mostly Kierstaz’s. A little bit for each of the other characters.

Riser – Dierks Bentley (not available on Grooveshark)
There’s a reason why the Captain of the Guard is always there. This is both his and Kierstaz’s.

Sea of Lovers – Christina Perri
Aura’s.

Strawberry Swing – Coldplay
This song always makes me think of Colstadt, but really it could belong to all of the Knights.

Running Up That Hill – Placebo
Otreya’s, Trzl’s, Malcom’s. All in the family.

Carry On My Wayward Son – Quietdrive
Mikel’s, when Trzl re-enters the scene.

Between – Courrier
“The space between the gallows and the gates…” No more need be said.

It’s Time – Imagine Dragons
Malcom has things to say.

King And Lionheart – Of Monsters And Men
Kierstaz has a sidekick…

Made For You – OneRepublic
A few eerie things. And a few good things. Mostly eerie things.

Haven – Enter The Haggis
Belongs to all the Drei. Pier especially.

Devotion – Hurts
Some things that Mikel needs to work out of his system.

Love Don’t Die – The Fray
Everyone in the story would say this in one way or another. Especially Colstadt.

Dust to Dust – The Civil Wars
Kierstaz’s.

Learn You Inside Out – Lifehouse
A scene with Sark that involves scars and dredging up old wounds and other such things.

Pompeii – Bastille
There’s a moment here where everything is deja vu, for every character. Nothing says it better than Pompeii.

Sing It Out – Switchfoot
Some more things Mikel needs to get out of his system.

Now We Are Free – Lisa Gerrard

*I use Spotify as a tool to find new songs and to spread around those I love via playlists. As a fellow artist, I always buy the music I enjoy so that I can keep it forever, but also so that the artist can earn a real royalty and keep making good music! Please buy music! <3

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 About Rise of Orion:

After the Border Wars, Mikel Orion flees Serengard and seeks haven in the Desert of Aldad. Although he and his sister, Kierstaz, must become slaves in order to set foot inside its borders, the hot sands hold a bitter kind of peace—one he hopes to keep. But he risks destroying their newfound stability when he becomes entangled with an Aldadi girl. Aura has tragic secrets of her own, but she gives Mikel a purpose beyond his birthright, and when he leaves the Desert he carries scars that run deeper than skin.

Twelve years later, trouble brews in Serengard that threatens to pull in the Aldadi and the Drei alike. Trapped in a dungeon as the prize prisoner of Trzl—an orchestrator of the rebellion that killed his parents—Mikel is out of maneuvers. Even while Kierstaz gathers a force to attempt his rescue, Trzl transforms more and more into the hypnotic ruler she claims to loathe…and Mikel becomes convinced that peace has never been within his reach at all.

Rise of Orion is the third in the Serengard Series, sequel to Coldness of Marek and Knights of Rilch.

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