***The Starry-Eyed Revue***: scary ass horses

Title: The Scorpio Races
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Narrator: Steve West, Fiona Hardingham
Series: n/a
Publisher: Scholastic Audio
Publication Date: October 18th, 2011
Source: purchased audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

I’ve avoided reading The Scorpio Races for years now. Why do you ask? I don’t like horses. They smell, they are usually surrounded by flies, and they are big and scary! I fell off one when I was young. So yeah, not a fan.

I bought the ebook while it was on sale, but it has sat on my kindle forever. I’ve been inching my way towards starting it, but never quite getting there. Then I saw it was only $2.99 for Audible. Jen and Heather swore by it, told me it was one of the best Audio books ever, and boy were they ever right.

Now I’ve only listened to the Audio, so I can’t give a full comparison, but just from listening I can say the audio adds so much to this story. The accents are amazing. The Narrators fit the parts so perfectly, and I think I’m in love with Sean Kendrick now. Holy shit, that voice. It’s … *sigh*… foreplay in my ears.

The story is just incredible. I knew Maggie Stiefvater was brilliant before I started this, but now I feel like I truly didn’t know and I was just guessing at it. The Water Horses scared the living crap out of me. I felt like I was on that island and those horses were breathing down my neck. I had dreams! Nightmares! Never listen to this book and watch an episode of The Walking Dead in the same day. I was being chased by zombies and freaky fish smelling horses the whole night long. I was never so glad I had to wake up and pee, as I was that night. Wheeew… saved by the bladder.

It’s really hard to describe, The Scorpio Races. It’s kind of one of those stories you just have to experience. I’m sure it’s not for everyone, but I didn’t think it would be for me and it was. I highly suggest giving it a try, especially the Audio. I’m so glad I went that route.

I think this trailer is the coolest thing ever.

About the author:

New York Times bestselling author of The Shiver Trilogy, The Raven Cycle, and The Scorpio
Races. Artist. Driver of things with wheels. Avid reader.

All of Maggie Stiefvater's life decisions have been based around her inability to be gainfully employed. Talking to yourself, staring into space, and coming to work in your pajamas are frowned upon when you're a waitress, calligraphy instructor, or technical editor (all of which she's tried), but are highly prized traits in novelists and artists. She's made her living as one or the other since she was 22. She now lives an eccentric life in the middle of nowhere, Virginia with her charmingly straight-laced husband, two kids, two neurotic dogs, and a 1973 Camaro named Loki.

Find Maggie:

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