In a post-apocalyptic future without modern technology, a city is engulfed in a violent revolution while innocent prisoners are condemned to public execution for the amusement of the bloodthirsty masses. Their only hope is a mysterious figure known as the Red Rook, after the symbol of a black and red feather he leaves behind whenever he saves a group of prisoners—wait, doesn't this all sound a bit familiar?
Sharon Cameron's 2015 novel Rook is a loose retelling of Baroness Orczy's 1905 historical novel The Scarlet Pimpernel, set hundreds of years in the future after all electronics have been destroyed by solar radiation.
For another post-apocalyptic Scarlet Pimpernel retelling, see Across a Star-Swept Sea, by Diana Peterfreund.
Not to be confused with The Rook, an urban fantasy novel by Daniel O'Malley.
Examples of:
- After the End: A technological apocalypse occurred hundreds of years ago, although life has improved somewhat since then.
- Almost Kiss: Sophia and René in Tom's underground bunker, right before René collapses, having been drugged by Sophia. Or so she thinks. And again in Spear's farmhouse when René confronts Sophia about what she really wants in life.
- And Man Grew Proud: The pre-apocalyptic civilization grew dependent on technology and was left unable to function when solar radiation due to shifting magnetic poles destroyed all electronics. The current societies are very suspicious of past technology, leading to a black market in items like clocks and plastic containers.
- Apocalypse How: Class 3b: Caused by wandering magnetic poles and solar radiation.
- Archaeological Arms Race: The Bellamys have (re)discovered the formula for gunpowder, but they worry about what would happen if it got into the wrong hands. Sophia still uses it to destroy the Tombs.
- The Atoner: Spear Hammond lied to Sophia and tried to kill René, then went back to find Sophia when he realized she didn't make it out of the Tombs. After her (apparent) death, he sets off the gunpowder bomb himself.
- The Beforetimes: The pre-apocalyptic period is referred to as "Before" or "the Time Before."
- Beta Couple: Tom Bellamy and Jennifer Bonnard
- Bilingual Backfire: LeBlanc gives a warning to René in French in front of Sophie, who understands him perfectly.
- Bilingual Bonus: Some of the French dialogue is untranslated. Also employed in-universe when René is trying to test if Sophie speaks Parisian.
- Becoming the Mask: René and Sophia plan to visit Paris under the guise of being an engaged couple who are madly in love. By the time they actually make the trip, it's not an act.
- Chekhov's Gun: René's weighted coin. Subverted in that the coin René uses to challenge LeBlanc is actually a random coin.
- The Chessmaster: Adèle Hasard: She has been secretly planning to arrange a marriage between René and Sophia since they were both children. Then she tries to break them up by signing away the family fortune when she fears that René has simply charmed Sophia and doesn't really love her. She still expresses opposition to the match until Sophia proves that she can stand up to her future mother-in-law. Oh, and she has been secretly transferring their assets to the Commonwealth for years, so most of their fortune is actually intact.
- Dawn Attack: After, disabling the firelighter, Spear and René reset it to go off at dawn.
- Death of the Hypotenuse: Spear
- Gender Flip: Everyone assumes that the Red Rook must be a man, but it's actually Sophia Bellamy, an English woman who is newly engaged to the Frenchman René Hasard.
- Genre Savvy:
- Sophia drugs René with a glass of whiskey. He only pretends to drink it and pass out, because he's figured out that she's the Red Rook.
- Sophia isn't supposed to leave Spear's farmhouse alone, so she slips out the window. René knows she's doing this, so he slips out his own window to go to the roof and watch where she's going. It almost gets him killed.
- Spear and René use a rope to climb out of the Lower City. Spear gets to the top first and cuts the rope in an effort to kill René, but René's family put the rope there in the first place, and he knows how to survive the fall.
- Heir Club for Men: Tom is the heir to the Bellamy estate, but he's injured and will have trouble proving that he is fit to inherit. Sophia can't inherit no matter what happens to Tom, so her only way to help save the estate is to marry for money.
- History Repeats: Centuries after The French Revolution, the city (formerly known as) Paris is once again the setting of a violent revolution with public executions. René even lampshades this, wondering if they are destined to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors because human nature never really changes.
- Contemporary technology and clothing also resemble that of 1790s Europe. The former is because of a post-apocalyptic Future Primitive and subsequent suppression of technological innovation. The latter is simply because it's become fashionable to try to mimic the clothing and styles of the past.
- I Have Your Wife: LeBlanc arrests and imprisons Tom, thinking that he is the Red Rook. When he realizes his mistake, he decides that Tom will do just as well as bait for Sophia.
- Lost Common Knowledge: René's family has passed down stories about plastic disks that could hold thousands of books or pictures, but he's not sure if the stories can be believed.
- Meaningful Name: Sophia's pet fox is named St. Just, a reference to The Scarlet Pimpernel character Marguerite St. Just. Sophia and Tom have actually read parts of that novel. René’s last name is the French word for chance. The Red Rook’s enemy is devoted to the black and white nature of his goddess Fate; naturally his name means the white as his foe’s calling card is a black feather tipped with red. There are very few names that aren’t packed with meaning. Mrs. Rathbone, Benoit, Sophia, etc.
- The Mole: Mrs. Rathbone
- Nobility Marries Money: Sophia needs René's money to save her family's estate.
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Sophia Bellamy and René Hasard both have ulterior motives for getting engaged. Sophia needs a rich husband to save her family's estate and René needs to get close to the Bellamys to track down the Red Rook and secure his mother's release from prison. They fall in love, anyway. Justified in that René's mother has been secretly planning the match since she met Sophia by chance when she was just nine years old!
- Oop North: Mr. Halflife has a Manchester accent. Subverted in that the accent is also described as "posh."
- Only One Name: Benoit
- Recycled IN SPACE!: Rook is The Scarlet Pimpernel, set in a post-apocalyptic version of Paris and England.
- Ruins of the Modern Age: The remaining "ancient" buildings are built with concrete and steel, while the "modern" buildings are made of brick and wood. Also, Tom has discovered what's left of an old subway station and the A5 is described as a "lane."
- Secret-Keeper: Tom, Spear, and Orla, for Sophia. Also her father, although he strongly disapproves.
- Shot at Dawn: After his original plan is thwarted, Leblanc decides to execute Sophia and Tom at dawn.
- Shown Their Work: It's only referenced obliquely within the story, but Rook is set hundreds of years after a slight shift in magnetic poles exposed parts of the earth to solar radiation, which killed millions and destroyed all electronics, causing a technological apocalypse.
- Slipping a Mickey: Sophia to René, unsuccessfully, René's uncles to LeBlanc, and finally Sophia to Madame Hasard.
- Story Within a Story: Few records remain from the pre-apocalyptic civilization, but Tom and Sophia come across some page fragments from an unknown book. It's Baroness Orczy's novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel, which inspires Sophia to become the Red Rook.
- When the Clock Strikes Twelve: LeBlanc is planning to execute Tom at highmoon. That's also the time when Sophia is planning to blow up the tombs. Both actions are ultimately averted, since LeBlanc is detained by René's family and Spear disables the firelighter just before it is set to go off.
- You Don't Want to Catch This: When Mr. Halflife tracks down Sophia at Spear's farmhouse, René convinces him that Sophia's pet fox has fleas.
