After a narrow escape from Redemption, the Master and Captain Morski have barely had time to breathe before discovering a stowaway, Dorada, on board their ship. Not only that, but their ship is ambushed by space pirates, led by the notorious Scaramancer. However, the Scaramancer doesn’t have a pretty history with the Master, and her sights aren’t the only ones trained on him.

The Scaramancer was written by Lisa McMullin, directed and produced by Scott Handcock, and stars Derek Jacobi as the War Master, Colin McFarlane as Captain Morski, Sandra Hugget as Dorarda, and Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo as the Scaramancer. It was released in October 2020 as the second part of The War Master: Hearts of Darkness box set, which is the fifth volume of the War Master series.

The Scaramancer keeps up the frenetic pace set by the conclusion of The Edge of Redemption, with the Master and Captain Morski being quickly caught up in another misadventure. We are introduced to Dorada, a mercenary who followed his gang on Redemption, who joins forces with the crew to repel the pirate attack, and she’s a fine character. She mentions that she’s “cut from the same cloth” as Morski, although she does come across as being more emotional than him, quick to temper but also not averse to intimate conversation. 

The real meat of character work comes from the titular Scaramancer herself, who Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo plays with real sincerity, especially when she discovers that the Master is on board the ship, and her reaction sells it completely. You can feel the gritted teeth and sheer anger towards the man who turned her life upside down, her vengefulness comes alive completely, determined to despatch the Master as soon the opportunity presents itself. There is a marvelous flashback that is one of the box set’s highlights thus far, that shows us the Scaramancer’s initial meeting with the Master, and it is absolutely as vile and sadistic as one can imagine from him. It paints an incredible picture of the extent of the Master’s cruelty.

Jacobi and McFarlane again provide excellent performances, although McFarlane does take a backseat here, as Morski is mostly stranded in the cockpit for the majority of the play. Jacobi does get a fantastic one-on-one with Lewis-Nyawo, and his soft, unassuming tones are the perfect contrast to her venomous threats. I suspect we are in for some larger character moments along the way, but so far it has been very good!

The score and sound design again is fantastic, particularly in the flashback as the Scaramancer’s world is decimated. Reminded me a lot of the War Doctor series, of which the sound design there feels almost cinematic! Because the setting is in a more lonely part of space, the score reflects that with melancholy and moody pieces accompanying most of the good character moments. Not a standout, but still really helps you picture the world like a good soundtrack should.

As a continuation of The Edge of Redemption, The Scaramancer keeps up the excellent standard set by that story, further develops the story that has been set up and adds to the cast with interesting and diverse characters with unique motivations, as well as a few surprise twists and turns along the way!

This was an excellent story, well fleshed out characters played by a great cast of actors, with a revelation at the end that changes everything... I'm really looking forward to hearing where this box set goes next