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A review by yas_sezer
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis
3.0
3 stars
i didn’t really connect with this story as much as the others since it was quite disconnected from the original narnia world, with only glimpses of the magic that i grew to love. the whole story mainly takes place in calormen, journeying to narnia.
normally i really enjoy books where the characters are travelling along a long journey (like this one across the desert), but this one didn’t have the depth or interesting aspects during the journey that i usually love reading. it felt a little dragged out (surprising since the book itself is so short) and didn’t really feel like much was happening.
also, i wish the book focused more heavily on bree and shasta (prince cor btw how cute), since their dynamic was actually interesting. we have a talking war horse who abandoned his tarkaan and was taken from narnia as a baby, and then shasta who had a similar origin but ended up in conditions of more poverty and labour. their differences and relationship was something i wanted to see more of (opportunity would’ve been during the long journey) but it just didn’t happen. especially since this is a children’s story, i would’ve thought this was a story worth diving into but i suppose not.
also side not, even shastas relationship with aravis? we saw them disagreeing but hardly much of their growth. suddenly they grew up together and got married. i wanted to see more of them too.
however in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t a bad book at all and i still had a fun time reading it despite it not really living up to my expectations. it didn’t have the magical spark of narnia that i usually feel, but it was entertaining enough. the battle talk and plotting was somewhat interesting and added suspense and a sense of urgency to the story, with shasta having to make it to archenland to warn the king there who turns out to be his dad anddd he has a twin brother (very cute)
another part i enjoyed, but i always enjoy this part, was of course aslan. seeing aslan coming and protecting shasta and friends throughout the story was heartwarming and his character always reminds me of religious stories i have grown up hearing (in particular aslan walking alongside shasta on his left while shasta walked towards narnia, protecting him from the edge without him even knowing).
little appreciation for hwin our girly horse damsel in distress but also such a powerful character. i wanted to give her a hug she tried so hard throughout the book to keep up with bree, a WAR HORSE, and keep everyone safe and think of plans and she always pulled through. cute character
overall, the story was just okay, i definitely think and hope the others will be better moving forward, since the previous 2 were more impressive for me
i didn’t really connect with this story as much as the others since it was quite disconnected from the original narnia world, with only glimpses of the magic that i grew to love. the whole story mainly takes place in calormen, journeying to narnia.
normally i really enjoy books where the characters are travelling along a long journey (like this one across the desert), but this one didn’t have the depth or interesting aspects during the journey that i usually love reading. it felt a little dragged out (surprising since the book itself is so short) and didn’t really feel like much was happening.
also, i wish the book focused more heavily on bree and shasta (prince cor btw how cute), since their dynamic was actually interesting. we have a talking war horse who abandoned his tarkaan and was taken from narnia as a baby, and then shasta who had a similar origin but ended up in conditions of more poverty and labour. their differences and relationship was something i wanted to see more of (opportunity would’ve been during the long journey) but it just didn’t happen. especially since this is a children’s story, i would’ve thought this was a story worth diving into but i suppose not.
also side not, even shastas relationship with aravis? we saw them disagreeing but hardly much of their growth. suddenly they grew up together and got married. i wanted to see more of them too.
however in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t a bad book at all and i still had a fun time reading it despite it not really living up to my expectations. it didn’t have the magical spark of narnia that i usually feel, but it was entertaining enough. the battle talk and plotting was somewhat interesting and added suspense and a sense of urgency to the story, with shasta having to make it to archenland to warn the king there who turns out to be his dad anddd he has a twin brother (very cute)
another part i enjoyed, but i always enjoy this part, was of course aslan. seeing aslan coming and protecting shasta and friends throughout the story was heartwarming and his character always reminds me of religious stories i have grown up hearing (in particular aslan walking alongside shasta on his left while shasta walked towards narnia, protecting him from the edge without him even knowing).
little appreciation for hwin our girly horse damsel in distress but also such a powerful character. i wanted to give her a hug she tried so hard throughout the book to keep up with bree, a WAR HORSE, and keep everyone safe and think of plans and she always pulled through. cute character
overall, the story was just okay, i definitely think and hope the others will be better moving forward, since the previous 2 were more impressive for me