Rating:  -
This is the third volume (chronologically) in The Chronicles of Narnia (after The Magician's Nephew; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and before Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Last Battle).
In this book we meet Shasta, a young boy who's been raised by Arsheesh, a poor fisherman far south in Calormen. One day comes a stranger on a strong warhorse, although it soon appears that this is a tyrannic Tarkaan who wants to buy Shasta and make him a slave. But his horse is actually Bree (does that name ring a bell?), a talking horse from Narnia, who come night, decides to gallop home to freedom, taking Shasta along.
While on the run across the desert, they meet a girl named Aravis and her talking mare Hwin, who's also fleeing, but from her future marriage with Ahoshta Tarkaan the vizier.
Their first stop will be the city of Tashbaan, where Shasta is mistaken for Corin, King Lune of Archenand's son. There he'll also make the acquaintance, among others, of Queen Susan, whom we met in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and learn that she's also about to marry Rabadash, the mighty Tisroc of Calormen's son, but doesn't want to.
Later, Shasta will become a hero by warning King Lune of an imminent attack by both disappointed bridegrooms.
My opinion on this book is so-so. Again, I think Avaris and Shasta's tumultuous adventure is something that can really appeal to a younger audience but, this makes me feel sorry, I personally just failed to get into it. Mark you, I still think I'm going to read the Chronicles of Narnia to my kids when I have some... I'm sure they'll enjoy them.
Rating:  -
Though it's one of the oddball pre/midquel episodes of the Narnia Chronicles, "The Horse and His Boy" is a deeply entertaining story. C.S. Lewis shifts his focus from the land of Narnia to a more exotic Middle-Eastern setting, and an archetypical story about a mysterious orphan, a fierce runaway, and two talking horses.
Shasta has always lived in the land of Calormene, with a fisherman claiming to be his father. But one day, he hears his "father" agreeing to sell him as a slave. So Shasta escapes on the visitor's horse -- a talking Narnia horse called Bree, who wants to escape Calormene as much as Shasta does. No sooner have they run away than they encounter a nobly-born girl, Aravis Tarkheena, who is escaping a terrible arranged marriage. Like Shasta, she has a talking mare named Hwin.
The two bickering kids decide to escape together, but they soon find themselves pulled to the capital city of Tashbaan, where the Narnian royals are currently staying. And as Shasta starts to unravel the mystery of his own parentage, he and Aravis uncover a plot to kidnap beautiful Queen Susan, and conquer Narnia.
"The Horse and His Boy" is a bit of an oddball story, which doesn't fit into the main storyline of the Narnia Chronicles. Instead, it's a side story which explores the enemies and allies of Narnia, as well as telling readers just what the four Pevensies were doing for all those years in Narnia before returning to our world -- visiting Calormene, a sort of generic Middle-Eastern country.
Don't worry, it's not a case of good-Europeans-versus-evil-Middle-Easterners. Prince Radabash is nasty for plot reasons, but Lewis has good Calormenes, bad ones, noble ones, and dizzy ones. And though Lewis' veddy veddy British writing sometimes clashes with the setting, he does an excellent job of bringing traditions and exotic settings to life.
Shasta and Aravis are definitely strong lead characters -- Shasta is an archetype orphan who uncovers his true ancestry, and Lewis handles this without any clumsiness. And Aravis is probably Lewis' strongest female character. She's tough, a fighter, smart and resourceful, even when dragging her ditzy pal along to spy on their nasty prince. And neither character tolerates idiocy from the other.
"The Horse and His Boy" is only loosely linked to the other Narnia Chronicles. But it's a highly enjoyable adventure story, and a fun midquel.
Rating: -
The Horse and His Boy was one of the best books I have ever read. It had little magic in it, but scenes were very gory and intense. Sometimes things were very exciting especially in the beginning which most books don't. During this story many odd things happened to the four adventurers. Those four are Bree, Shasta, Hwin, and Avaris. One of my favorite events in the book is when they four were attacked by lions! So pick up a copy of The Horse and His Boy, by Clive Staples Lewis, to figure out what the title means!
Rating: -
The second book in Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia is a more traditional "heroic quest" story than the previous book. The character of Aslan takes a bit of a different role in the story this time around. Whereas in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe we are introduced to the lion Aslan, the Son of the Emperor-Across-the-Sea, and his sacrifice to atone for a character's sins, in this book His sovereignty is the focus, as it is He, unbeknownst to the reader for most of the story, who drives the events that happen to the main characters. Lewis also throws some important theology into the mix. One of the characters postulates that Aslan can't be a "real" lion, that He must be some other sort of higher being. Aslan Himself quickly corrects this thought, however, pointing out that He is a "true beast," a real lion like other lions in the world. This corresponds to the Christian doctrine that Jesus was both true God and true man. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us."
Rating: -
"The Horse and His Boy" is a bit of an oddity in the Chronicles of Narnia. It is the only book in which the main characters are natives of the fantasy world of Aslan (rather than being from ours), and is set in the era glimpsed in Chapter 17 of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe".
Shasta lives in Calormen, a very Arabian Knights sort of place south of Narnia, full of beautiful palaces, dark skinned warriors, and citizens who quote their verbose poets and philosophers frequently. Shasta's lived all his life by the sea, treated cruelly by his "father" and made to do all the work. His humble life changes when a Tarkaan (something like a duke) arrives in town, riding a horse named Bree. Through an overheard conversation, Shasta discovers that his father isn't really his father, and that he comes from Narnia, a faraway northern country. Curious of his origins, he decides to run away to Narnia, and so does Bree (who is actually a talking horse, taken from Narnia when young, and forced to act tame). They meet up with runaways Hwin and her girl Tarkheena Aravis, (also headed for Narnia) and together they ride northwards, braving bustlings cities, sweltering deserts, and a wild lion that just won't leave them alone...
I struggled through this book when I was younger (fifth grade), even though I was something of a big reader. There's a lot of wordy dialogue, like the quotes of the poets, and a lot of political intrigue that a kid won't neccesarily appreciate, like the motives for Rabbadash's war and his flirtations with Queen Susan, which go on for quite a bit. I know I didn't really enjoy those parts back then, and kind of scanned over those chapters. There is much to enjoy though. I loved the landscapes. I could feel the heat of the desert, and the balmy, unpredictable climate of Archenland, and the bustle of Tashbaan.
C.S. Lewis was a devoted Christian, and even though it doesn't shine through as strongly as in the other Narnian Chronicles, there is still some allegory to be found. The theme, I think, is something close to Proverbs 16v9 in the Bible: "In his heart man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps". Shasta, Bree, Hwin and Aravis all decide to escape Calormen to Narnia, but it is Aslan who guides their way. Even if it they didn't know it, it was he who brought them together, kept them safe, and got them to where they were going just in the nick of time.
"The Horse and His Boy" was the fifth Narnian Chronicle to be written, and the third chronologically. Well, that's not techincally true If you were being really chronological, you'd start with "The Magician's Nephew", go on to "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", stop halfway through Chapter 17 after the children become kings and queens to read "A Horse and His Boy", finish that, then go back to finish the "The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe", then going on normally until "The Silver Chair", where you'd stop towards the end of Chapter 3, (where "The Horse and His Boy" is told to Jill and Eustace), read "The Horse and His Boy" again, then go back.
But that's being REALLY picky, and probably a little obsessive. It wouldn't be much fun at all to read the series like that.
The only book you really need to read before it, I think, is "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", which explains how the Golden Age of Narnia began.
I've been reading the series in the order that Lewis wrote them in, and again I've noticed a feeling of a looming end, a feeling that began with "The Silver Chair". The pieces of "The Last Battle" are falling into place. Apes being associated with deception, the introduction of Tash and the religion of Calormen, hints of Susan being too grown up for Narnia (she stays in the castle, acting like an adult, while her sister Lucy goes to battles), all elements very important for the Narnian finale.
Probably not an essential in the series, but enjoyable enough.
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