ScarletMarrisa Meyer
Puffin 2013
Scarlet Benoit is on
her own. Her beloved Grandmother is missing and no-one seems to
care. Dragged from the quiet existence of her farm, Scarlet finds
herself drawn into a world of street-fighting, marked men and
swirling conspiracy. Unsure where to turn, she finds herself
accompanying the mysterious fighter, wolf – a hungry young man,
steeped in secrets, lies and possibly a little bit of truth. As they
make their way through the French countryside to a Paris on the verge
of a new revolution, Scarlet must battle to save her family, save
herself and figure out whether Wolf deserves to be saved at all. Meanwhile back at the
ranch (ranch here meaning high security prison), Cinder is starting
a journey of her own (journey, here, meaning high octane escape
attempt). Along the way, she picks up the charming yet possibly
quite dim, Thorne (Captain, not
Cadet) and replaces Iko's lost body with that of a large space ship.
The three of them make an unlikely force against the evil Lunar
Queen but as paths converge and situations deepen, they and Scarlet
and Wolf and Emperor Kai find themselves on the front line in a
battle for planet Earth.
As
with Cinder, Scarlet makes for an enjoyable protagonist. Clear
thinking, if somewhat distraught, she stubbornly refuses to accept
her Grandmother's disappearance and kowtow to authority. She doesn't
trust Wolf but sees him as a means to the end, even if it means going
against her gut instinct when deciding to let him help her. Wolf
himself is rather nicely written. He's just animalistic enough to
have readers questioning his motives yet has the aura of a dog that's
been mistreated, an almost puppy like attitude to Scarlet that is
particularly effective when contrasted to his somewhat violent
nature. The friendship that starts to grow between them is
interesting in that neither seem to wish it and even at the end of
the story one suspects they are in for a bumpy ride when getting to
know each other better.
Cinder
is as likable in Scarlet as she was in her titular installment.
Struggling with her newly acquired knowledge of the past, she is more
than a little lost in the present. Unsure of where to go, she
realises that part of her story certainly has roots in France and
sets off there with little idea of where to go next. She's a little
bit scared and a little bit sad, with Kai still on her mind but she's
also focused, smart and in posession of a decent sense of humour.
Additional humour comes from the gloriously vain Thorne, who's
inflated self worth and bravura is tempered with real courage and the
lovely Iko, who is distraught to find herself so entirely enormous.
The dialogue between Iko and Thorne is particularly funny and both
are great additions to Cinder's ongoing story.
And
her story is an increasingly entertaining one. Levana fits the role
of fairytale Evil Queen rather beautifully and her and her minions
are genuinely creepy and suitably hard to imagine beaten. Cinder's
growing band of allies have much to fight against and find themselves
aggressively sought by both familiar and all new bad guys. While the
book may carry Scarlet's name this remains the story of Cinder and
her Lunar heritage with the girls carrying the narrative together,
with dual points of view. Additionally, there are shorter sections
set in Beijing, seen through the eyes of Kai. These contains some of
the most effective passages with Kai emerging as truly honourable
even when facing impossible choices.
Marissa
Meyer's world building remains rather excellent with her vision of
Earth, Lunar and their political strife continuing to be detailed and
believable. Now that the story is truly underway, Scarlet manages to
improve upon the storytelling that was already impressive in Cinder.
With Cress due out next year, it will be interesting to see how Meyer
continues to weave new characters into a tale that is slowly building
to what could be a truly thrilling climax. If you liked Cinder,
you're going to love this – if you've yet to pick up either then
treat yourself to some fairy-tale sci fi, it's a whole lot of fun.
This review was brought to you by Splendibird who is entirely aware that those of you who grew up in the '80's will be singing Duran Duran ALL DAY. You're welcome. Scarlet is available now, thank you to Puffin for providing us with a copy to review.
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