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
Though The Scorpio Races was not my first introduction to Maggie Stiefvater, it is, perhaps, the first book of hers that I fully latched onto. Her stories are lyrical and deeply intriguing, forcing you slow down and savor rather than rushing through—even though you must know what happens.
I am fascinated by this world where the Scorpio Races happen and capall uisce are feared monsters. Nothing is a given—not for Puck and not for Sean. The two of them are driven to enter into the Scorpio Races, each for their own reasons and each for desperately fighting for survival in a world set against them.
Thisby is not a place one can survive in. If you’re not lost to the bloodthirsty horses, you’re escaping to the mainland. Staying isn’t for the faint of heart; you must love the challenge of a world set against you as much as you love the island. But against all odds (literally, in Puck’s case), both Puck and Sean attempt to make a go at it, drawn to each other by their similarities.
The Scorpio Races leaves me oddly unsettled even now, after finishing. But it’s the kind of the unsettle that stays with you, bringing the story back in your memory again and again, enticing you with its lyrical quality and haunting world. I want more.
