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Rook

Sharon Cameron

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Apr 11, 2015 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: dystopian-and-post-apocalyptic, stayed-up-way-too-late, young-adult, fantasy-and-sci-fi, spies, retelling-a-classic

I enjoyed this far more than I expected I would.

This is the second YA dystopian retelling of the Scarlet Pimpernel that I've read this year. That seems like a really specific thing, so it's funny that I've read two! (the other one being Across a Star-Swept Sea) I wasn't expecting this to be another Pimpernel, and I think I would have enjoyed this more from the beginning if I'd realized I was reading a re-telling; I wouldn't have been so annoyed with how "done" the plot felt.

In this dystopian, we I enjoyed this far more than I expected I would.

This is the second YA dystopian retelling of the Scarlet Pimpernel that I've read this year. That seems like a really specific thing, so it's funny that I've read two! (the other one being Across a Star-Swept Sea) I wasn't expecting this to be another Pimpernel, and I think I would have enjoyed this more from the beginning if I'd realized I was reading a re-telling; I wouldn't have been so annoyed with how "done" the plot felt.

In this dystopian, we are 800+ years into the future - the "Great Death" happened some time after 2025, for some reason the magnetic poles of the Earth shifted, causing excessive solar radiation on the Earth and general mass destruction, death, changes of coastline geography, collapsed cities, and loss of all our electronic knowledge. None of this is explained outright, we get clues and hints here and there throughout the story - there is no mind-numbing info-dump, and I appreciated that.

Just as in Star-Swept Sea, the people react by banning technology, with the thought that over-reliance on technology caused the disaster (in this case, there are no indications that it did, but religion is generally fear-based and irrational, so I bought this). Our Pimpernel is the Red Rook, also known as Sophia Bellamy. Her family needs money, and she has been betrothed to the (supposedly rich) Parisian, Rene Hasard; she's not particularly happy about this turn of events, but she finds herself unreasonably attracted to Rene. She thinks of him as "Daughter Stealer" (because his charm steals daughters' hearts).

I happen to be a big sap and I love romances and spies, so this all worked very nicely for me. If you don't want your book to revolve around a romance, skip this one. If you don't like spies and subterfuge, skip this. If you never liked the Scarlet Pimpernel, skip this.

I found most of the characters to be quite charming and interesting. I did wish there had been a little more backstory for Mr Halflife and Mrs Rathbone, since I didn't quite understand their relationship with Tom and Sophie Bellamy. I really liked Sophie's maid, Orla, and wished there had been a bit more of her. LeBlanc was suitably insane, but not TOO too.

The biggest problem I had with characters was with Spear - I would have liked his character to be more nuanced and complex; I could see the author trying for this, but it didn't work for me. I also had a hard time figuring out the geography of the Upper City and the Lower City, and I would have liked a few more paragraphs about how the two interact and where the city gates are, etc.

I really liked the little hints we get to modern day buildings: the Bellamy house is the modern-day Kings Cross train station (I Googled and found photos of the statue described in this book), and (I assume) part of the Tombs is the Catacombs in Paris. Having Sophie puzzle over a few pages of the original The Scarlet Pimpernel was a lovely touch. I don't know London and Paris all that well, so there may have been other "shout outs" that I missed, but that's okay.

I also really liked how the author played with "what's old is new again" - it is very true that history repeats itself and trends, beliefs, and culture cycle back again and again, so why not have another French Revolution 800 years from now? Maybe 800 years ago, they were fighting the same things we fight today in the world, too! ...more

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Jul 05, 2015 Abigail rated it really liked it

A homage to The Scarlet Pimpernel set in a future Paris that has regressed to the French Revolution era Paris. This book had a thick and twisty plot, good character development, some humorous and loveable side characters, and a lot of action. I enjoyed reading this though the ending was a little too neat in some ways (there is very little realism in the fact that the class war appeared to be fully resolved for example) and the whole last episode with René's mother felt a little silly. I'll defin ...more

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Sep 17, 2016 Josianne Fitzgerald rated it it was amazing

Shelves: cac, young-adult, print

Excellent!!

History always repeats itself and so, when the earth tilts enough to bring about apocalypse, humanity returns to an pre-industrial age and the French Revolution. (Of course.)

I always loved the Scarlet Pimpernel and enjoyed this YA remake. Lots of adventure, a little romance, and much much fun.

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