Customer Reviews

The Year the Horses Came

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have also read the work of Marija Gimbutas, have done pencil tracings of many of her illustrations and am working on a few ceramic miniatures and computer artwork using some of the Neolithic decorative motifs. I have also completed a short story set in Neolithic Europe. Mary Mackey, however, is a far better and more involving storyteller than I probably will ever be. Anyone longing for a better, more peaceful and egalitarian world cannot help but become emotionally involved in all three volumes of the Earthsong Trilogy series. One minor quibble: the front cover illustrations of the smaller paperback editions are utterly absurd. Mackey clearly states that Marrah's (the heroine/priestess') deerskin dress came down to "about mid-calf"; the illustrator has it coming to about mid-thigh, making it awfully tricky if one ever had to bend over. The front covers of The Horses at the Gate and The Fires of Spring are even sillier; nobody could survive a winter on the Ukrainian steppes dressed like THAT (see the cover of Horses at the Gate); and the young woman warrior's costume on the cover of The Fires of Spring owes more to Xena than anything Neolithic people would have actually worn. But the storytelling is marvellous; in fact I would love for these stories to be filmed, and I would like to take part in writing the musical scores for any films that come of these stories. If this may be coming in the future, please contact me at karen@capitolhill.net to discuss.

A great read- one of those books you rush home from work to continue reading. The author gives a poignant account of an Earth-worshipping culture as it clashes with a male-centered culture of destruction and death. As a Wiccan myself, these battles are still being fouight today, so it seems all too real at times.

The book is not without it's problems- it ends abruptly, perhaps to leave the reader hungering for the sequel? Also it seemed targeted at an 18-year-old female reader, who might typically love horses, and be enchanted with adventure and heroic male characters. At times the character development seemed to center around the two romantic characters, at the expense of Marrah's brother and other Goddess figures who seemed most interesting but were not well developed.

All of that not-withstanding, I still found it a great read and I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel from Amazon.

I fell in love with the characters. Her description of the places and events was such, that I could see the places. The story was so romantic and touching. I cried and cheered. Thank you, Mary.. there was one problem with the book.. it had to end. I could have continued reading it on and on.

When I first read this book I found it lacking in depth, the good characters are VERY GOOD and the bad..you get the idea. I was stuck a train station and looking for something to read and low and behold I find a battered copy of this book.
This is a good read, kinda along the lines of Brenda Gates Smith and Joan Wolf. I did like the love between Marrah and Stavan and the dangers they face.
But, I haven't changed my mind on the "memory song", it went on forever and was annoying and only means something to the author.

These novels are an excellent way to show a partnership oriented way of life as part of human history. For those who find historical accounts to cumbersome to read, Mackey provides a superb narrative and vision of a world more peaceful than ours. This is not a mere fantasy, but a reality for much of human history. In an entertaining way Mackey shows how life among the Mother people was peaceful and harmonious and how domination got started and took over the world. As a philosophy professor I freely use her work to bring this precious time of human developement closer to my students. For those who deny that these times actually existed I recommend reading the works of Riane Eisler and Marija Gimbutas.... I enjoyed Mackey's books and can hardly wait to see Marah and Stavan as heroes on the silver screen.

This was an amazing read. I was hooked from the first few pages and I remained hooked the entire novel. Reading about the peaceful, egalitarian ways of the Goddess-worshiping people made me wish that the culture we lived in today was still like that. I would read the book every night before going to bed, and I slept well with the beautiful images of these gentle people in my mind every night. I felt inspired knowing it was possible for humans to actually exist this way.

The book had another thing which I found very striking. Later on in the book when we see how life is like among the nomads (I'm not going into any more detail than this because I don't want to give away any spoilers!) it was really shocking. The violent, anti-woman society was wrenching and painful to read about. I think that in today's culture, we are so de-sensitized to violence and oppression that it doesn't elicit the horror that it should. But after reading the first part of the book and being immersed in the ways of the Goddess-loving people, the violence of the nomads was even more horrific.

This novel seems to be inspired by Rianne Eisler's The Chalice and the Blade, which was another amazing, world-view chaging book. Historical evidence is there to indicate that the change in humanity's course that we see in this book actually did happen, and I lament for the ways and culture that was (mostly) lost.

This was an evocative, exciting book that I recommend to anyone.

What's amazing about these books is their power to invoke a bygone age, and the exquisite pacing. The author takes you on a journey with the characters and you can't put it down. Not only has she done her research into the details of the Neolithic -- but she tells a fine tale.

If only used copies are available, I presume that "The Year the Horses Came" is out of print. This is regrettable.

It is a beautifully written and exciting story with an appealing heroine.

Marrah's world, sadly, is probably more fiction than history. Mackey writes that she was inspired by the work of the late archeologist, Marija Gimbutas. Gimbutas' work, however, has come under strong criticism since her death.

But one still has to ask, why CAN'T human beings live peaceful, creative and joyful lives? And if they did in the past, what went wrong? That's what Mackey's novel attempts to answer.

This book along with "Horses at the Gate" brings the prehistory of Europe alive. I have read "When God was a Woman" and "The Chalice and the Blade", both MUST reads, and this series is the perfect complement to them. Please read my review of "When God Was a Woman". May the Goddess be rethroned in our lifetime! I'm a guy saying this too!

Mary Mackey is an extraordinarily gifted storyteller, and has crafted an enthralling world, at once coherent and diverse. Some may dispute the underlying archeological and anthropological premises; so what (most archeologists and anthropologists can't seem to agree on which side is up, anyway)? They are - although Ms. Mackey herself might think differently - irrelevant to one's enjoyment of this delightful yarn. The more so as Ms. Mackey never preaches, never talks down to her audience - and would be more than welcome to sit by this reader's side at a campfire.