El Ciclo de la Luna Roja
#1594.19 adjusted 4.15 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 4 books Status Complete 2009–2021 Reading commitment Medium José Antonio Cotrina Last reviewed 2026-08-20
Overview
El Ciclo de la Luna Roja is a completed Spanish young-adult fantasy trilogy by José Antonio Cotrina. Twelve teenagers from Earth are lured through deception into Rocavarancolia, a ruined city under an ancient curse, where they must survive the factional politics of its Council before the red moon rises and transforms them into monsters. Originally published in Spanish by Alfaguara as La cosecha de Samhein (2009) and Los hijos de las tinieblas (2010), and by Hidra as La sombra de la luna (2011). The twelve are told from the outset that they are destined to become heroes, yet find the city's ruling Council legally forbidden from protecting them, forcing the group to survive largely on their own amid Rocavarancolia's mixture of wonder and menace -- a setting one reviewer described as feeling like "a hundred different cities at once, all miraculous yet eerie and absurd." Spanish-language critics praised the trilogy's intricate worldbuilding and character development, particularly protagonist Héctor, and its blending of survival-thriller tension with political intrigue and dark fantasy atmosphere, while noting the story functions as a single continuous arc rather than self-contained volumes.
Mythic fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (4 works) counts toward ranking
El Ciclo de la Luna Roja José Antonio Cotrina
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | La cosecha de Samhein | 2009 | 1 | core | 3.96 (1,785 ratings) |
 | Los hijos de las tinieblas | 2010 | 2 | core | 4.33 (1,141 ratings) |
 | La sombra de la luna | 2011 | 3 | core | 4.45 (1,010 ratings) |
 | Coda; Officially numbered book 4 of El ciclo de la Luna Roja (2021), not a side story; the cycle was originally described as a completed trilogy (2009-2011) before this later addition. | 2021 | 4 | core | 4.23 (162 ratings) |
Complete 3-book trilogy, published in original publication order.
Quick answers
- How many books are in El Ciclo de la Luna Roja? El Ciclo de la Luna Roja's Core Canon is 4 books.
- What is the reading order for El Ciclo de la Luna Roja? Publication order, starting with La cosecha de Samhein. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is El Ciclo de la Luna Roja finished? Complete (2009–2021).
- How much reading does El Ciclo de la Luna Roja take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 4 Core Canon books).
- How is El Ciclo de la Luna Roja ranked? #159 in this site's official ranking, based on 4,098 reader ratings across 4 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #159?
Ranked #159 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.19 across 4 core books.
- A smaller readership (4,098 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.96 to 4.45.
- Less than 0.01 behind #158, Crowns of Nyaxia (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 4 books · Complete · 4k ratings · Ranks #159 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length mythic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (4 Core Canon books)
- La cosecha de Samhein (2009)
- Los hijos de las tinieblas (2010)
- La sombra de la luna (2011)
- Coda (2021)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.19 across 4,098 ratings on 4 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit El Ciclo de la Luna Roja (José Antonio Cotrina) accepted 2026-08-20
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia (Spanish): El Ciclo de la Luna Roja Tier 2
- Rating-platform listing: El Ciclo de la Luna Roja series Tier 3
- https://adellabrac.es/resena-la-cosecha-de-samhein-cotrina/
Last reviewed: 2026-08-20
Rule: Core Canon = all 3 novels of the completed trilogy.