The Scorpio Races

Starred review from August 22, 2011
In her closing notes, Stiefvater (the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy) calls this a book “about killer horses”—terrifying faerie creatures that eat meat and seek to drown humans—and, in virtually the same breath, says that it “isn’t really about water horses.” She’s right on both counts. On the island of Thisby, the Scorpio Races are held every November, when the driven or the crazy ride the beaches on the backs of these mounts. Sean Kendrick does it for love, winning year after year on the stallion Corr; Puck Connolly, pitting her ordinary horse against the killers, does it out of desperation, to win money to keep her home and to earn respect from her older brother, who threatens to desert the family. Stiefvater’s narration is as much about atmospherics as it is about event, and the water horses are the environment in which Sean and Puck move, allies and rivals to the end. It’s not a feel-good story—dread, loss, and hard choices are the islanders’ lot. As a study of courage and loyalty tested, however, it is an utterly compelling read. Ages 13–up. (Oct.)■

Steve West and Fiona Hardingham bring Stiefvater's lyrical prose to life in this fantasy story about the island community of Thisby and its legendary traditions. With charming accents, West and Hardingham recount the island's feverish devotion to its annual Scorpio Races, featuring unpredictable and dangerous "water horses." Told from the points of view of 19-year-old Sean and the younger Puck, the narration is a seamless blend of Sean's rough edge and Puck's courage. Listeners will find themselves with a deep and lasting sense of the island and of Sean and Puck's complicated relationship. Both have entered the race with everything on the line, with steeds that are more interested in blood than victory. E.A.B. (c) AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine


lianag - I really like all the detail and action in this book and how sometimes it is in Puck/Kate's point of view and other times in Sean's. It is very interesting in my opinion and in certain parts in the book it is as if I were there and could see them capaill uisce galloping down the beach and how red Corr's body is. This is easily one of my favourite books, it is amazing!