A breathtaking novel set in the wilds of Ireland, from
the bestselling author of Shiver, Linger and
Forever.
Stay alive, stay astride, stay out of the water...
Every November, the Scorpio Races are run beneath the chalk cliffs
of Skarmouth.
Thousands gather to watch the horses and the sea that washes the
blood from the sand.
The mounts are capaill uisce: savage
water horses.
There are no horses more beautiful, more fearless, more
deadly. To race them can be suicide but the danger is
irresistible.
Sean Kendrick knows the dangers of the capaill uisce.
With one foot in the ocean and one on land, he is the only man on
the island capable of taming the beasts. He races
to prove something both to himself and to the horses.
Puck Connolly enters the races to save her family. But the horse
she rides is an ordinary little mare, just as Puck is an ordinary
girl.
When Sean sees Puck on the beach he doesn't think she belongs.
He doesn't realize his fate will become entwined in hers.
They both enter the Races hoping to change their lives. But
first they'll have to survive.
Romantic and steeped in legend
Maggie Stiefvater is a master at writing both romance and heart-pounding
action
Her books have consistently debuted at #1 on the NYT bestseller
list
PRAISE FOR SCORPIO RACES
"If The Scorpio Races sounds like nothing you’ve
ever read, that’s because it is. The capaill
uisce are exhilarating, frightening creations... Stiefvater has
successfully plumbed lesser-known myths and written a complex literary
thriller" - New York Times
The bestselling author of Shiver (2009)
and Linger (2010) turns the
legend of the water horse into a taut, chilling, romantic adventure. The
water horses are breathtakingly well-imagined, glorious
and untamably violent. The final race, with Sean and Puck each
protecting each other but both determined to win, comes to a pitch-perfect
conclusion. Masterful. Like nothing else out there now.
- Kirkus Review
The Scorpio Races was a weird one for me. Overall, I enjoyed it, but it never fully grabbed me. Skarmouth is a kind of magical and deadly place. Every October, the fearsome waterhorses emerge from the sea, and it's up to the islanders to catch, tame, and train them for the upcoming Scorpio Races on November 1. Sean has won four out of the past six years, and he hopes to win again to finally own his own horse. For Puck, it's nearly a matter of life or death. She's going to lose her home and her oldest brother if she doesn't win her first race.
I think most of why The Scorpio Races didn't wow me was the characters. I liked them, but they were kind of boring. Sean is the awesome waterhorse whisperer, so I expected from the beginning that nothing would happen to him. He has this way with these ferocious beasts, so I was never worried. As for Puck, she's just kind of there. I admired her for sticking with her decision to not only enter the race, but to ride her own regular horse. But I also expected from the beginning that she'd have this amazing triumph and overcome all of the odds against her. There was nothing really special about her, other than being the first girl to the enter the race. I guess I just wanted more out of both of them. Surprise me!
The last quarter or so of The Scorpio Races was great. There's plenty of excitement as the race draws nearer and the stakes become even higher. Obviously, Puck and Sean can't both win, and they both need to for different reasons. There's also someone out there who will do anything to make sure that neither of them win. I had already made up my mind on who I thought would take the victory, but I wasn't sure how they'd get there, so the race did keep me on my toes. I just wish the earlier parts of the book had been as engaging, or not nearly as drawn out.
