Customer Reviews

The Silver Horn (Eaglesmount Trilogy)

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I am a [person]who loves to read. This book has lots of adventure and detail. It has sword fighting with animals who seem very real. The book ends on a cliffhanger and it's impossible to resist buying the second one.

The Silver Horn is the first installment in the new, semi-promising Eaglesmount Triogy. The book tells the story of Vair, a young pine martin. He and his father decide to travel to the annual Watersmeet Fair, in a nearby village. However, the night before they leave, dangerous vermin kill his father, and take the rodent captive. After visiting the mysterious Lord Owl, who gives the band an assignment, they travel to Watersmeet. While there, the vermin begin their search for a mysterious silver horn, which the Lord Owl wishes to have. When Vair discovers who has the horn, he must protect them-and save the whole village of Watersmeet from the destruction of his captives.
While well-written overall, this book has its flaws. For instance, many of the characters run together, as their names are all similar. Also, the plot, while well-concieved, is extremely reminiscent of the Redwall books by Brian Jacques. Nevertheless, The Silver Horn will captivate younger Redwall fans, as well as those who relish animal fantasy, with its action and adventure!

Vair, a young pine marten, talks his mom and dad into taking the family to the fair in Watersmeet, but on the way, a group of bandits led by Ragnar, a silver fox, attack them and press Vair into their service. Vair soon discovers that these bandits are working for the evil Lord Owl who plans to take over the whole country. The Lord Owl wants Ragnar's bandits to find the legendary and powerful Silver Horn in Watersmeet. Can Vair find his family and stop the evil Owl's plans?

Cherith Baldry's The Silver Horn is the first book in her Eaglesmount trilogy, an anthropomorphic fantasy for children. I'm not a huge fan of anthropomorphic tales because I can't suspend disbelief well enough to feel comfortable with animals with paws holding swords and beer mugs or animals without the proper vocal apparatus speaking, singing songs, and playing flutes. And, really, why would they want to wear clothes and shoes? And why don't the foxes eat the chickens?

But anyway, I knew what I was getting into here, and I had it in mind for my daughter (who has no issues with talking animals) to read, so I won't complain about those things. Instead, I'll report that I found The Silver Horn to be a quick and not unpleasant read, but not particularly inspiring or enjoyable either, mainly for two reasons.

First, the story is unoriginal -- there is nothing here that you haven't read before and the plot is predictable from beginning to end. Even the character names are predictable, with the good guys sounding like nice perky Scandinavian animals (Vair, Riska, Mirra, Flick, Kyria) and the bad guys sounding like they eat sauerkraut and borscht and don't know how to smile (Gorm, Ragnar, Ketch, Konrad, Snarg).

But, most disappointing is that the characters, especially the bad guys, are incredibly shallow. Every one of Ragnar's bandits acts like a middle-school bully, shoving the nice animals when they pass by and snatching their belongings, constantly calling everyone "scum," picking fights, threatening, taunting, cackling, and saying "Make me!" and "What are you going to do about it?" when someone asks them to stop. It was this one-dimensional behavior that ruined the plot for me, making it simplistic and predictable.

Overall, The Silver Horn may be okay for a young boy who wants to read stories about brave animals and doesn't care much about characterization, but parents looking for excellent fantasy for their children can do a lot better. Try Brian Jacques' Redwall series if you're looking for anthropomorphic stories.

I love the fact that a Pine Marten is the main character of this series. Mustelids other than Otters and Badgers rarely get their time in the spotlight. There are also a number of good Foxes.

Each book of this series is short and fun, making them a good series to read at an earlier reading level than more classic Anthropomorphic Animal stories such as Redwall, Watership Down, Wind in the Willows, etc. It is easy to follow, and full of adventure. It would be loads of fun to read out loud to a group.

However it is filled with stereotypical plot devices and tropes. Rats and Weasels are the stupid, brute bad guys as always, though there are a few redeeming instances. There's a prophecy, and the truth is extremely predictable but there was a nice twist. There are strong female characters though the main character is male and the worldview is largely patriarchal, with Monarchy heavily supported. There is a strong theme of friendship, and the main characters are a little too lucky. Of course, the target audience probably won't be familiar with these things yet and will just enjoy the fantasy!

Also there are some nice Illustrations with some minor problems. I loved the fact that the text was interspersed with pictures, and it's great for the intended reading level. The pen and ink drawings were also of fine quality. However the illustrator did not do enough research on the animals they drew, if any. The pine martens are depicted with rodent-like teeth and a squirrellish appearance, and the villain animals can be impossible to distinguish what species they are intended to be. Rats, weasels, and wolves are very different animals, so it should not be possible to confuse them when looking at drawings of them. Pine martens are carnivores, not rodents, and look nothing like squirrels. In fact they actively catch and eat squirrels. I believe that children should be presented with accurate zoological facts and many of the illustrations present false information. As an educator or parent it might be a great learning experience to help an interested child draw these animals correctly and pick out errors.