Scarlet morning by N.D. Stevenson

Scarlet Morning is a rambling nautical fantasy. It revolves around two teenage characters, Viola and Wilmur, who are seemingly orphans and they live in a dull seaside town called Caveat. The town is inundated with salt, the sea is polluted and it feels quite post-apocalyptic. Viola and Wilmur have promised to care for a mysterious book and never part with it. However, one wild stormy night a woman pirate called Captain Cadence Chase turns up demanding this book. Wilmur says Chase can have the book if she takes them with her. After all they are leading boring and meaningless lives. They set off with Chase and a band of pirates by ship across the Dickerson’s Sea and from then on the plot becomes quite frenzied and events grow increasingly bizarre. There is a vast array of good and evil characters and creatures. Viola and Wilmur are separated early on and search for each other. Viola tries to uncover the truth around myths which arose after a calamitous event when there was a huge massacre of pirates. Sometimes she learns these truths through dream-like experiences. The ending comes in a frantic cliff hanger which will inevitably lead to a sequel.

N.D. Stevenson’s terrific illustrations really saved this book for me. They add to the fantasy and succeed in creating an original vivid world. There is so much happening in this quite long novel of 428 pages, and I worked hard to keep track of so many plot details. Stevenson created some interesting but maybe superfluous diversions such as Alias Crowe’s journals. There are times when it is quite creepy and chilling, but there is also quite funny banter between the characters, such as the scene with the hilarious Captain Harricot V. Prickpost. Viola is most certainly a brave heroic female character, and it is refreshing to have women portrayed as pirate captains. Scarlet Morning is suitable for ardent readers of fantasy and graphic novels. Given the complexities, scariness and length of the story, I think it is more suitable for young adults.

Themes: Bravery, Loyalty, Pirates.

Jo Marshall