The Scorpio Races
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: Oct. 18, 2011
Pages: 409
Source: Purchased audiobook from audible
Read By: Steve West and Fiona Hardingham
Audiobook Publisher: Scholastic Audio
Length: 12 hours, 6 minutes
About the Book: It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.
My Thoughts: Oh. My. Stars. This audiobook…. I’m in love. I don’t know how else to say it. The story, the narration, the music, the characters, the pacing, the setting, the lore… I could go on and on and on.
I’ll start with the book in general. I’ve been a fan of Maggie Stiefvater since I randomly picked Lament up shortly after its release. While I enjoyed the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, I was excited to read something different from her. I admit to being skeptical when I first heard about The Scorpio Races. It was the term “water horses” that got me. I kept picturing giant seahorses. That idea didn’t work for me. Thankfully I was way off (Dumb and Dumber anyone?)
Maggie Stiefvater has created something completely magical with the island of Thisby and it’s inhabitants. I simply fell in love. Thisby itself has so much character… from the tempestuous weather to the sheer cliffs to the treacherous beaches. The island came alive. It seems as changeable and as constant as the carnivorous water horses that populate it’s waters. I realize that these terms may seem to contradict one another but trust me… it works!
And then there are the characters. I can’t talk about Puck and Sean without mentioning Steve West and Fiona Hardingham, the narrators of the audiobook. They were amazing. Seriously. It was just perfect. The book alternates between Puck and Sean telling the story. We hear from Puck more. This certainly fits with the characters’ personalities. Sean is much more reserved. He is a man of action, not talk. But when we do hear from him… oh boy. You listen. I found two main reasons. 1. If he’s talking he has something worth while to say and 2. Steve West. Yeah. His voice. I’m blushing just remembering it. (You should go to this blog post on Maggie’s blog. It’s an interview with Steve and Fiona as well as an excerpt of the audio.) By the end of an audiobook I typically “cheat” by reading the last bit in the physical book. The Scorpio Races was just to entrancing for me to do that. I didn’t want to miss a second of the narration. I was throughly under the story’s spell.
I can’t say enough about this story or the audiobook. They were both incredible. I just… I can’t say it enough. I’m in love.
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