Scarlet Morning

Scarlet Morning is the first novel in a duology, with a sequel tentatively titled Evening Gray forthcoming. Scarlet Morning is set in a secondary fantasy world of islands called Dickerson’s Sea, once ruled by a beautiful young queen, Hail Meridian, from the wealthy island called Faire Distance. Legends say that the greatest threat to the safety and peace of these islands was pirates who built kingdoms on their own islands and terrorized the waters. The infamous pirate, Scarlet Morning, murdered Queen Hail Meridian, stole her crown, and caused a cataclysmic event known as the Great Blow. The Great Blow soured the sea, turning it into a thick sludge and covering it in thick sheets of salt that isolate the islands and prevent ships from traveling. It also transformed many animals into monstrous creatures. In retaliation, the parliament of Faire Distance began the Pirate Massacre, hunting down the pirates to eliminate the threat.

Several clues in the novel situate Dickerson’s Sea in an isolated part of the “real world” of Earth. Such clues include history books that Viola reads, which describe a world much larger than the salt-enclosed islands of Dickerson’s Sea that no one else seems to recall. Another clue is the Book, which makes veiled references to Darwin and “his ruddy finches” (34), indicating some familiarity with English naturalist Charles Darwin’s book On the Origin of Species (1859), further grounding the world of the narrative in real-world history. Stevenson has also indicated in several interviews that the sequel will be set in a different location, indicating that characters may travel beyond Dickerson’s Sea.

The plot and setting of the Scarlet Morning duology are inspired by many literary and pop culture influences, including tabletop role-playing games, the works of Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, 1979), an Australian fantasy series called Monster Blood Tattoo, James Cameron’s Titanic (1997), and the Coen Brothers’ 2010 film adaptation of the novel, True Grit (1968). Reviews have also compared the intricate worldbuilding to Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series (the first book of which, Sabriel, was published in 1995), and the darkly comedic tone to Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (1999). The novel includes gray-scale ink-drawn spot illustrations (small illustrations placed alongside text on the page) and full-page illustrations in Stevenson’s recognizable cartoon style, which enhance the character and setting descriptions.