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Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite
The Scarlet Lady is the second book in the Tale of King Justice series by Evelyn M. Exley. Marion, the Scarlet Lady, flees from a marriage proposal from King Deut-wah of Dungh Ga Da and indulges in dragon-slaying, during which she discovers a collared dragon, a pet to an unseen enemy. She is captured, together with First Knight Gilven, by giants at Old Genoa, and the wizard Shavras shows her a vision in which she and her father, Lord St. John, are dying at the claws of the Great Dragon. Her journey takes her through an underground waterway to seek penance at the grave of a man she once assassinated to lead the charge against the Great Dragon that devastates her homeland of Sentheon, defying the orders of the king. Once an assassin, now she feels an irresistible pull toward the beast that can certainly destroy her, but does she stand any chance with the mounting odds?
Evelyn M. Exley’s novel is well-structured, and the episodic storytelling mixes action with character-driven chapters. The action pulled me in with well-crafted scenes like the dragon hunt, the serpent fight, and the ambush by the giants. These earlier scenes prepare the reader for more propulsive action as the conflict intensifies. The author introduces Marion as a legend and the intriguing nature of her past, and details like the blood-red stone “from a great Dragon’s heart” become payoffs in the later chapters. Her unraveling is so carefully accomplished that she becomes a character readers remember long after finishing the story. While she is physically strong, she has deep emotional flaws that make her likable. The Scarlet Lady is fast-paced, action-packed, and delivered in excellent prose and storytelling that combines engaging dialogue with terrific descriptions.
