Scarlet
The Sunday Times bestselling historical romp and vampire-themed retelling of the Scarlet Pimpernel
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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Publisher Description
‘Scarlet is utterly stunning. The intrigue and adventure keep you turning the page in this exciting tale of revolution, vampires and the guillotine' - T. L. Huchu, author of The Library of the Dead
Revolution’s a bloodthirsty business . . .
Revolutionary France is no place to be, especially for aristocrat vampires facing the guillotine. But the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel are determined to rescue them. And they have an ace up their sleeve: Eleanor, a lowly maid from an English estate with a striking resemblance to French royalty.
For Eleanor, the League and their legendary deeds are little more than rumour – until she’s drawn into their most dangerous plot yet. The mission? Travel to France in disguise, impersonate Queen Marie Antoinette and rescue the royal family. If they succeed, it’ll be the heist of the century.
But there’s more to fear than ardent Revolutionaries. For Eleanor stumbles across a centuries-old war between vampires and their fiercest enemy. And they’re out for blood . . .
Sunday Times bestselling Scarlet is the first book in the Scarlet Revolution trilogy, set during the turbulent French Revolution, and featuring all of Genevieve Cogman’s trademark wit and fast-paced plotting. It’s perfect for fans of The Invisible Library series, Kim Newman and Gail Carriger.
‘This book is a smart, swashbucking joy. I loved it.’ – H.G. Parry, author of The Magician's Daughter
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cogman (the Invisible Libraries series) launches a historical fantasy series with this complex tale of aristocratic vampires, an updated take on the Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel that has Dickensian levels of historical inaccuracy when it comes to the French Revolution. After vampire Lady Sophie, Baroness of Basting, loans housemaid Eleanor Dalton to Sir Percy Blakeney (the alter ego of the aristocrat-rescuing Scarlet Pimpernel) Eleanor becomes a pawn in an ambitious plot to save Marie Antoinette from the guillotine by posing at the former Queen's body double. Cogman's attempts at creating a nuanced Revolutionary France are appreciated, but lacking: Eleanor's dawning class consciousness gets abruptly halted so that Percy's rescue plot can continue, and the portrayal of every French man (and most French women) as bloodthirsty, dirty, weasely turncoats and torturers rings hollow. These problems undermine both the narrative and the book's attempts to interrogate its source material; Cogman ends up seeming to agree with Baroness Orczy's most extreme moments of reactionary conservatism. This supernatural swashbuckler will certainly appeal to royalists, but those with sympathy for the revolution should look elsewhere.
