50 Fun Facts About Red Queen (Victoria Aveyard)

Victoria Aveyard pitches Red Queen as Game of Thrones meets Hunger Games meets which superhero team?

The X-Men complete her three-part pitch, a habit from her screenwriting training, where she learned to sell a story as one hit meeting another.

Which power does Mare Barrow, a Red, unleash by accident before the Silver court in Red Queen?

Lightning bursts from her as she falls, which no Red should be able to do; the king hides the truth by passing her off as a lost Silver noble.

After Mare Barrow's power is exposed in Red Queen, which royal is she forced to become engaged to?

Prince Maven, the king's second son, is the match the king imposes to keep her close; his older half-brother is promised to another bride in the same announcement.

At the start of Red Queen, how does teenage Mare Barrow bring in money for her poor family?

Picking pockets is all she can offer, since she has no apprenticeship; her sister's sewing work is what really keeps the family fed.

Which rebel group in Red Queen fights for equality with the Silvers and recruits Mare Barrow?

The Scarlet Guard takes her in when she turns up furious over a brother's death, and she is soon working against the court from inside the palace.

In Red Queen, which contest sees noble Silver daughters show their powers to win a prince?

Queenstrial ends in chaos when a Red servant girl tumbles into the ring and survives a shield that should have killed her.

Which best friend of Mare Barrow sets the plot of Red Queen moving when he loses his apprenticeship?

Kilorn loses his place when his master dies, and Mare's scramble to keep him off the front lines is what leads her to the rebels and then the palace.

Which element can the king and both of his sons manipulate in Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen?

Fire is the gift of House Calore: Silvers who wield it are called burners, and the king passed the ability to both of his sons.

Under the queen's mind control, whom is Cal forced to kill near the end of Red Queen?

His father dies by Cal's own hand on a live broadcast, which brands the prince a traitor and clears the throne for the queen's son.

In Red Queen, Mare Barrow lives in which kingdom ruled by the Silver House Calore?

Norta's Red villagers, like Mare's family in the Capital River Valley, serve a Silver elite that holds every seat of power.

In Red Queen, Mare Barrow grows up in which poor Red village in the Capital River Valley?

The Stilts is where her parents and sister scrape by while her three older brothers serve on the front line of a long war.

In Red Queen, which seamstress sister of Mare Barrow has her sewing hand broken as a punishment?

Gisa is only fourteen, and the injury ends the apprenticeship that fed the family and shielded her from conscription.

Which queen in Red Queen, the king's second wife, can read and control other people's minds?

Elara, born into House Merandus, has an ability known as whispering, and she uses it in a plot to put her own son on the throne.

Before his master dies in Red Queen, Mare Barrow's best friend is an apprentice in which trade?

Fishing kept him out of the army until his master's death; with no apprenticeship, a Red his age is conscripted and sent to the front.

In Red Queen, Mare Barrow helps rebels plan to kill several leading Silvers at which palace event?

A royal ball is the target, but an explosion the rebels never planned kills bystanders, letting the court paint them as terrorists.

Which rebel captain in Red Queen demands two thousand crowns to smuggle Mare Barrow and her friend to safety?

Farley, whose first name is Diana, sets a price Mare cannot pay; the scramble to raise it ends with Mare inside the palace.

Which royal librarian in Red Queen, an uncle of Cal, tutors Mare Barrow in controlling her power?

Julian works out that her blood carries a mutation giving a Red abilities as strong as any Silver's, and that she is not the only one.

Which brother of Mare Barrow, reported executed during Red Queen, turns out to be alive at the end?

Shade faked his death and joined the rebels; he carries the same rare mutation as his sister, which is why he was marked to die.

In Red Queen, Mare Barrow's kingdom has spent about a century at war with which neighbouring power?

The Lakelands war has swallowed all three of Mare's older brothers, who are serving at the front when the story opens.

Which novel by Victoria Aveyard is the direct sequel to Red Queen and the second book in the series?

Glass Sword picks up straight after the first book's ending and sends Mare across the kingdom to find other Reds with powers like hers.

Evangeline Samos, Cal's chosen bride in Red Queen, is which kind of Silver?

A magnetron bends metal at will, a trait of House Samos; Evangeline loses face when Mare's power overwhelms hers in front of the court.

After being branded traitors at the end of Red Queen, how are Mare Barrow and Cal sentenced to die?

Fighting in an arena against their former sparring partners is the sentence, but rebels break them out before it can be finished.

After Mare Barrow meets Cal at a tavern in Red Queen, what does he quietly arrange for her?

Work at the palace is what he arranges overnight; only once she is serving there does she learn the generous stranger is heir to the throne.

In Red Queen, what false Silver name is Mare Barrow forced to use at court to hide her Red blood?

Mareena Titanos is presented as the long-lost orphan of a Silver war hero, adopted by Reds near the front, to explain away a Red with powers.

In Red Queen, Cal is a nickname; which first name does the crown prince share with the king?

Tiberias Calore VII is his full title, since the reigning king is the sixth of that name; Mare first knows him only as a servant called Cal.

To which Silver city does Mare Barrow's sister regularly travel for her apprenticeship in Red Queen?

Summerton is where the Silver royals hold their warm-weather court, and a rebel bombing elsewhere throws its market into chaos while the sisters are there.

At which royal residence in Red Queen is Mare Barrow's power exposed in front of the court?

The Hall of the Sun is where the great Silver houses gather to compete for a royal marriage, and Mare arrives just in time for it.

Whitefire Palace, the king's main residence in Red Queen, stands in which city?

Archeon is where Mare travels with the royal family late in the book, and where the rebels then try to seize the palace from within.

How do the rebels carry Mare Barrow and Cal away from their execution at the end of Red Queen?

An underground train does it: the rebels run a hidden line they call the Undertrain, which had already taken Mare to a secret meeting with them.

Before going into hiding in Red Queen, what does Mare Barrow's tutor leave her to carry forward?

A list of names is his parting gift: each one is a Red with a mutation like hers, and finding them becomes her mission.

In the Red Queen sequels, what are Reds like Mare Barrow who have Silver-style abilities called?

Newbloods can rival the strongest Silvers, so Mare sets out to track them down and build an army before the new king can hunt them.

In the third Red Queen novel, how does Mare Barrow spend most of the story?

As the king's prisoner in King's Cage, she is cut off from her power and made to broadcast lies about the rebels she once fought beside.

What kind of book is Broken Throne, published after the four main Red Queen novels?

A short story collection, it mixes new and earlier novellas with maps, family trees and diaries from before and after the main story.

In the Red Queen prequel Queen Song, which queen, Cal's mother, keeps a secret diary?

Coriane was the king's first wife, and the novella follows her courtship with the then crown prince and the dangers of life at the palace.

Which cousin of Evangeline Samos is one of the few Silvers Mare Barrow trusts in Red Queen?

Lucas shares the family's gift but not Evangeline's grudge, which makes him a rare friendly face for Mare at court.

Which black-market contact of Mare Barrow in Red Queen first introduces her to the rebels?

Will Whistle deals on the black market, and Mare goes to him for a way out when her best friend faces conscription.

Rane Arven, instructor to the young Silver elite in Red Queen, has which rare ability?

Silencing other powers makes an Arven the ideal jailer, and one is on hand at the end of the book to hold Mare's ability down.

Sara Skonos, a friend of Mare Barrow's tutor in Red Queen, has which Silver ability?

Healing wounds is the work of a skin healer; she serves as a nurse, and the queen had her made mute for what she knew about an old death.

Mare Barrow's tutor in Red Queen has a rare Silver ability that lets him control people using what?

His voice is the weapon of a singer, a power that ran in his family; his late sister had it too.

At the start of the second Red Queen novel, Mare Barrow and her allies narrowly escape which city?

Naercey is left in flames behind them as they head for a secluded island where Mare's family and the rebels are lying low.

Which Red Queen prequel novella in Cruel Crown follows a rebel captain recruiting for an attack?

Steel Scars is told partly through coded transmissions, as the captain recruits smugglers and black-market traders before ever meeting Mare.

Which publishing imprint bought Red Queen in a three-book deal after just two weeks on submission?

HarperTeen signed it in April 2013, three months after the first draft was finished, and the manuscript then went through another year of edits.

Which prize did Red Queen win in 2015 in the category for debut authors?

The Goodreads Choice Award for debut author went to it, and the book was also nominated in the young adult fantasy and science fiction category.

Which film studio optioned Red Queen in the same month the manuscript sold to its publisher?

Universal Pictures took the film option in April 2013, nearly two years before the book reached shops, and later hired a screenwriter to adapt it.

Which Hunger Games cast member signed on to direct and co-star in a Red Queen television series?

Elizabeth Banks was first linked to a film version in 2015; six years later the project resurfaced as a series with her directing and playing a supporting role.

Which streaming service was reported in 2021 to be developing a television drama based on Red Queen?

Peacock took it on for development, with the author herself co-writing the script alongside a former showrunner of Arrow.

At which university did Victoria Aveyard study screenwriting before writing Red Queen?

USC, the University of Southern California, is where she graduated in 2012; she then moved back in with her parents to write the novel.

In which US state did Victoria Aveyard grow up and later write the first draft of Red Queen?

Massachusetts is home: she grew up in a small town in the west of the state and went back there to write the book in about six months.

Which fantasy series did Victoria Aveyard launch in 2021 after finishing the Red Queen books?

Realm Breaker reached number one among New York Times young adult hardcover bestsellers and grew into a trilogy.

Red Queen won the 2015 Buxtehude Bull, a youth literature prize awarded in which country?

Germany's Buxtehude Bull goes each year to a young adult book published in German, and the winner takes home a steel statue of a bull.