The Horse Goddess [School & Library Binding]

Morgan Llywelyn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1998

Troy is in crumbling ruin and Athens is rising far to the south. It is a time when mortal men and women are becoming gods and goddesses as news of their extraordinary adventures sweeps across the land. In this world, Epona, a woman whose life is celebrated in legend, meets Kazhak, a Scythian warrior and prince. Their stormy love affair sends them sweeping across eighth-century Europe, pursued from the Alps to the Ukraine by Kernunnos--a mysterious Druid priest known as the "Shapechanger."

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What a marvelous novel!"--South Bend Tribune

"Great feeling and towering imagination....An outstanding work."--Liverpool Daily Post

"Llywelyn's The Horse Goddess is a vivid time trip, weaving a spell that is hard to shake off."--The Arizona Daily Star

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Since 1980 Morgan Llywelyn has created an entire body of work chronicling the Celts and Ireland, from the earliest times to the present day. her critically acclaimed novels, both of history and of mythology, have been translated into many languages. She is an Irish citizen and lives in Dublin.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• School & Library Binding: 469 pages
• Publisher: Tandem Library (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613288815
• ISBN-13: 978-0613288811
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,593,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Reality Behind The Myths, September 6, 2000

By 

J. H. Minde "Everything I need is right here" (Boca Raton, Florida and Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Horse Goddess (Mass Market Paperback)

In THE HORSE GODDESS, Morgan Llywelyn creates a real-life basis for mythology, by reducing the gods and goddesses of the Celtic pantheon to human dimensions.

The fictionalized young Epona (who was historically the goddess of horses and one of the most widely worshipped European deities) has her coming-of-age in the early Hallstatt Celtic era. Refusing to accept the limitations of her life, she flees her home village and travels with Kazakh the Scythian. While in his company, she demonstrates psychic abilities allowing her to tame and communicate with animals, particularly the horses of the Scythians (a tribe who are generally considered to have domesticated the horse some 5,000-8,000 years ago).

When her "magical" abilities become manifest, she is pursued by the shaman Kernunnos of her own tribe, who wishes to force her to return home. Kernunnos is obsessed with using Epona's powers to best benefit her own tribe. (The mythological Kernunnos was the Celtic god of the hunt, and here, his fictional namesake follows Epona from the modern-day Austria to the modern-day Ukraine.)

Ms. Llywelyn's writing is crisp, detailed, and shows a fine appreciation for and understanding of the symbolical universe which her characters inhabit. The book brings these almost-forgotten myths to life, and leaves the reader just about convinced that perhaps it really did happen this way.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book was absolutely spellbinding!!!, October 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Horse Goddess (Mass Market Paperback)

I first read this book when I was 15 and could NOT put it down! The characters and their struggles and triumphs were so unforgetable that I finally bought a new copy (I lost my original), and once again got caught up in all of the history, mysticism, and romance of the characters and the time period! A MUST READ for anyone!!! Anyone who reads this would agree that Epona and Kazhak are two of the most absorbing characters ever set to paper. Highly recommended!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lest you be misguided by AllieKat's review below..., April 28, 2003

By 

Linusbooks (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Horse Goddess (Paperback)

...none of "The Horse Goddess" takes place in or anywhere near Ireland. The context clues alone are enough to tell you the story is not set in Ireland, but just in case you don't pick that up, read the Afterward. It is here that Llywelyn gives us more detail on Epona's alpine home - Hallstatt, in the Austrian Alps.
More than anything this book shows just how far ranging the influence of the ancient Celts was, long before the word "Celt" became synonymous with the word "Ireland". While not as good as "Bard", "Lion of Ireland", or "Finn MacCool", "The Horse Goddess" is a good book - well worth reading, if for no better reason than to get background for Llywelyn's later books.