The Year the Horses Came: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Mary MacKey (Author)
Key Phrases: shore people, forest people, twenty tribes, The Year the Horses Came, Mother Asha, Great Chief (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
The author of 20th-century heartstring dramas (Season of Shadows, 1991, etc.) travels back to prehistory (as in The Last Warrior Queen, 1983) to center her exemplary heroine in the Brittany of 4372 B.C.--and in the heart of Earth Mother goddess worship. To the east of the peaceful, creative peoples, however, are the patriarchal tribes of the steppes, where women--and life itself--are little valued. Doom is on the way, and lovers from two cultures find themselves in the thick of horror. It is on her coming-of-age day that Marrah finds and rescues the odd-looking stranger who's lying on the beach, almost drowned, after his boat has sunk. Eventually, the language barrier overcome, Marrah learns that this young, blond man, Stavan, is the youngest son of the Great Chief of the Hansi, horsemen and warriors who roam the Sea of Grass, killing and conquering. Marrah is amazed by the Hansi's lack of egalitarian, life-giving values: ``...slaves, wars, concubines...your people sound horrible.'' Yes, indeed, and Stavan warns that they are on the way west. Now, Stavan, in love with Marrah and respecting her people, offers to try to deflect the Great Chief; Marrah and younger brother Arang will also journey--to warn other of the matristic peoples. The journey takes them through welcoming villages, forests, and religious places, but then disaster strikes, and Marrah and Arang are captured. There's an orgy of violence and cruelty, leading to a (literally) graveside escape. Mackey's message concerning patriarchal bloody swords vs. matriarchal plowshares sounds like a rallying trumpet. Certainly the Earth Mother worship--consisting of ``eating well, singing beautifully, enjoying themselves and making love,'' imagined from rose-colored mists of the past--is appealing. Overall: a competent adventure, with characters chatting easily in a modern idiom, for the Bradley/Auel readership. (First printing of 100,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Description
Marrah, a brave and gifted priestess, journeys across war-torn Europe to the cave paintings of western France to the temples of Sardinia, where she finds barbarism, the brutalization of women, and environmental destruction. 60,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 377 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062507354
• ISBN-13: 978-0062507358
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,320,563 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I was "wow-ed"!, July 30, 2000

By	Ed Mills (Palm Bay, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Year the Horses Came (Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When is the Movie Coming?, December 15, 1999

By	Karen I. Olsen (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Year the Horses Came (Paperback)

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 [e-mail] to discuss.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting, romantic and beautifully written, October 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Year the Horses Came (Paperback)

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.