August 2, 2004
"If you are unlucky enough to be an orphan, it helps to grow up among horses. Horses take life as it comes," says the omniscient narrator of this elegantly written debut novel. Young Syeira, the implied orphan, works in the stables for the king of Haysele, a land known for the quality of both its horses and their handlers. She is particularly fond of the Arva horses, famous for their aggressiveness. Ran, "a great lord and a scourge," ruler of a neighboring kingdom, makes an annual visit to Haysele to take horses for his war efforts ("as long as Haysele provided Ran with superb horses and horse expertise, it remained free"). After he leaves, Syeira discovers that Ran has taken two Arva colts, and in a rather unlikely move, the girl frees the Arva mare, and accompanies her to reclaim her progeny. If the plotting stretches credibility, the eloquent prose compensates; Syeira meets a litany of entertainingly odd travelers along the way, who relate their life stories to the heroine in conversational passages. Syeira eventually faces Ran himself, learns the nature of his dreams and the origin of the legendary "Night Mare." Readers may be willing to go along with the importance of three horses in a kingdom of thousands, but the dream subtheme muddies the proceedings. Still, horse lovers will likely be caught up in this tale, which moves along at a canter. Ages 9-12.