Customer Reviews

The horse and his boy BOOK 3 (BOOK 3 Chronicles of Narnia),BOOK 3. (The Horse and His Boy, Book 3)

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

 

 

The Horse and His Boy (1954) is a children's fantasy novel, the fifth in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Here, an adopted lower-class boy, a young, independent girl, and two Narnian talking horses attempt to flee from Calormen into Narnia; on the way, they get caught up in international political intrigue.

While Lewis wrote this book fifth, it takes place during the original reign of the Pevensies during the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The only reason for this chronological decision is so that Lewis can bring the Pevensies back in supporting roles, which he does (plus Mr. Tumnus). And it is nice to see them as adults, more mature but still distinctly the same characters.

I trust it will not be too great an affront to Lewis to say that this story reads like The Prince and the Pauper by way of Arabian Nights. Not that there's anything wrong with the story; it's well-told, but it doesn't feel particularly imaginative, and that's what separates the good Narnia stories from the great ones. The Horse and His Boy feels too much like Lewis took a number of trusty old story elements and gave them the Narnia treatment.

This is the only book in the series where children from Earth are not prominent characters (there's not much time spent in Narnia, either), and that alone gives The Horse and His Boy a different feel from the rest. But this isn't Lewis's best set of characters. Shasta is decent enough, but I feel like we've seen him before, in Twain and elsewhere. While the horses have their own personalities, they don't add much to the story. A highlight is Aravis (another character we've seen before), in whom Lewis has the strongest female character in the series. (Aslan, as usual, steals most of his scenes.)

Lewis offers lessons to be learned, of course. The most obvious theme is pride: the Calormenes are a prideful people in general, and several of the book's prominent characters have to learn to practice humility. Another is divine providence, which, thanks to Aslan, is present in all the books in a general way, but here is much more pronounced, culminating in Aslan explaining to Shasta how he has been present and involved at every key moment of the boy's life.

Some critics have pointed to The Horse and His Boy (as well as to The Last Battle) and cried "racism." In a book where most of the people who are good and right are light-skinned and the warmongering villains are dark-skinned, that's understandable, but, I think, taking it too far. Certainly Lewis has populated his other Narnia books with light-skinned enemies, and, while he has done Calormen in the style of the medieval Arab world and set this culture up as a rival to Narnia, there is nothing egregiously antagonistic on Lewis's part here, particularly since he portrays Aravis so sympathetically.

In short, while not Lewis's best, The Horse and His Boy is another quality adventure.

C. S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy (Harper Collins, 1954)

The Horse and His Boy takes us out of Narnia for a bit and into the Southern continent, where a young servant boy befriends a Narnian talking horse who had been captured in battle. The two of them head for Narnia and freedom, but on the way, there are adventures to be had, including some problems with Narnians themselves and a case of mistaken identity. Not a bad little book, this, one that stands up well to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. *** ½

C.S. Lewis's magical world of Narnia enchants young readers with its tales about a magical land full of mysterious creatures. He has written seven parts to his famous series "The Chronicles of Narnia"; The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The last Battle, and the book I read was The Horse and His Boy. These seven books have enchanted readers for the last fifty years. Narnia is a fantasy book including animals that can talk, trolls, kings, queens, princes, princesses, and everything else that would leave you starving for more!
Shasta is a poor, young boy that doesn't really know where he belongs. A rotten fisherman, Arsheesh, takes care of him. But one day a Tarkaan came and bought Shasta. Shasta soon begins to worry about his future while Arsheesh and the Tarkaan settled for a price. Then the Tarkaan's horse, Bree, warned Shasta that the Tarkaan was wicked and will treat him poorly. Shasta ran away with the talking horse Bree and found himself in an adventure to find a free land named Narnia. Later they meet another talking horse, Hwin, and her girl named Aravis. They too are looking for Narnia and join Shasta and Bree on their adventure. They face lions, Tarkaans, scary crypt, vast cities, spoiled princes and much more.
I thought this book was very good. It made a lot of sense and that is good in a book. It also has a wonderful plot that was just awesome. This is a very good book and I suggest it for fifth grade to seventh. But there are a lot of difficult words in this book that you probably won't be able to pronounce.

My son is 8 years old and an avid reader. We read this book together. We both found it most delightful.
Although I did not find the climax of the story nearly as powerful as any of the Harry Potter books, the vocabulary is less deep, making this book excellent for the beginning reader.
The religeous theme is very under stated making this book (and any in the Narnia series so far) suitable for all.
A great thumbs up for CS Lewis!

Young Shasta grew up in Calormen, but always felt a drawing towards the north. When a nobleman rides up one day, and begins negotiating with Shasta's father to buy him, he learns that he is really a foundling from Narnia. Shasta wants to escape, and opportunity presents itself, when the nobleman's horse begins to talk to him! It seems that Bree was also stolen away from Narnia, so the two form an alliance and head north. But there are many adventures and surprises along the way. Plus, it seems that somebody has their eye on Shasta!

I love this book! I gather that there is some disagreement as to the order in which you should read the Chronicles of Narnia, but this one is well placed at #3, falling as it does during the later stages of the High-Kingship of Peter. This book has a wonderful Arabian Nights feel to most of it, and it is filled with adventure and suspense. I enjoyed reading this book to my children, and they enjoyed hearing it. We all recommend this book to you!

The Horse and His Boy (1954) is a children's fantasy novel, the fifth in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia. Here, an adopted lower-class boy, a young, independent girl, and two Narnian talking horses attempt to flee from Calormen into Narnia; on the way, they get caught up in international political intrigue.

While Lewis wrote this book fifth, it takes place during the original reign of the Pevensies during the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The only reason for this chronological decision is so that Lewis can bring the Pevensies back in supporting roles, which he does (plus Mr. Tumnus). And it is nice to see them as adults, more mature but still distinctly the same characters.

I trust it will not be too great an affront to Lewis to say that this story reads like The Prince and the Pauper by way of Arabian Nights. Not that there's anything wrong with the story; it's well-told, but it doesn't feel particularly imaginative, and that's what separates the good Narnia stories from the great ones. The Horse and His Boy feels too much like Lewis took a number of trusty old story elements and gave them the Narnia treatment.

This is the only book in the series where children from Earth are not prominent characters (there's not much time spent in Narnia, either), and that alone gives The Horse and His Boy a different feel from the rest. But this isn't Lewis's best set of characters. Shasta is decent enough, but I feel like we've seen him before, in Twain and elsewhere. While the horses have their own personalities, they don't add much to the story. A highlight is Aravis (another character we've seen before), in whom Lewis has the strongest female character in the series. (Aslan, as usual, steals most of his scenes.)

Lewis offers lessons to be learned, of course. The most obvious theme is pride: the Calormenes are a prideful people in general, and several of the book's prominent characters have to learn to practice humility. Another is divine providence, which, thanks to Aslan, is present in all the books in a general way, but here is much more pronounced, culminating in Aslan explaining to Shasta how he has been present and involved at every key moment of the boy's life.

Some critics have pointed to The Horse and His Boy (as well as to The Last Battle) and cried "racism." In a book where most of the people who are good and right are light-skinned and the warmongering villains are dark-skinned, that's understandable, but, I think, taking it too far. Certainly Lewis has populated his other Narnia books with light-skinned enemies, and, while he has done Calormen in the style of the medieval Arab world and set this culture up as a rival to Narnia, there is nothing egregiously antagonistic on Lewis's part here, particularly since he portrays Aravis so sympathetically.

In short, while not Lewis's best, The Horse and His Boy is another quality adventure.

C.S. Lewis's magical world of Narnia enchants young readers with its tales about a magical land full of mysterious creatures. He has written seven parts to his famous series "The Chronicles of Narnia"; The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The last Battle, and the book I read was The Horse and His Boy. These seven books have enchanted readers for the last fifty years. Narnia is a fantasy book including animals that can talk, trolls, kings, queens, princes, princesses, and everything else that would leave you starving for more!
Shasta is a poor, young boy that doesn't really know where he belongs. A rotten fisherman, Arsheesh, takes care of him. But one day a Tarkaan came and bought Shasta. Shasta soon begins to worry about his future while Arsheesh and the Tarkaan settled for a price. Then the Tarkaan's horse, Bree, warned Shasta that the Tarkaan was wicked and will treat him poorly. Shasta ran away with the talking horse Bree and found himself in an adventure to find a free land named Narnia. Later they meet another talking horse, Hwin, and her girl named Aravis. They too are looking for Narnia and join Shasta and Bree on their adventure. They face lions, Tarkaans, scary crypt, vast cities, spoiled princes and much more.
I thought this book was very good. It made a lot of sense and that is good in a book. It also has a wonderful plot that was just awesome. This is a very good book and I suggest it for fifth grade to seventh. But there are a lot of difficult words in this book that you probably won't be able to pronounce.

During the Golden Days age of Narnia when Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy were the rulers of Narnia. A cabreme fisherman named Shasta takes his master's horse Bree. Shaston finds out Bree can talk, and he is not the son of Arsheesh. He meets a girl with another talking horse and rides into Archenland to find who he really is. I thought this book was very interesting and exciting. I read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe which is the prologue to this book. This book is just as good as the 2nd. If you like Fantasy then this would be an excellent book for you because the land of Narnia is full of talking animals and human/goats! The battle at the Archenland Castle was filled with killing, surprises, and exciting outcomes. If you read this book it would definitely be worth it!

This book was just another GREAT part of the Chronichles of Narnia. Shasta was raised as a slave by a fisherman who he thought was his father. Then when he met the captured horse of a lord of Tashbaan, a talking horse from Narnia, he realized with the horse's help that he really was from Narnia, and was just a captive like the Horse (Bree). On their journey to Narnia Bree and Shasta meet Hwin, another talking horse captive from Narnia, Aravis, a princess running away to escape an unwanted marriage, Corin, the prince of Archenland who Shasta later finds out he has a surprising connection to, King Edmund, one of the kings of Narnia under his brother Peter the High King and Aslan the High King over all Kings of Narnia, Aslan the Lion himself, Queen Susan, who had to escape another unwanted marriage, and Queen Lucy who ended upo having an unexpected friendship with Aravis. Through all this Shasta learns more about his mysterious past, including his real family and Royal Blood line. I loved this book and am excited to read the rest of the series.

This chronicle of Narnia is set takes place during the Golden Age when the Wicked Queen and Winter have been banished--during
the beneficent reign of High King Peter and his siblings: King Edmund, Queens Susan and Lucy. Making brief appearances (sometimes in feline disguise) to rescue or guide the new young protagonists, Aslan himself offers justice and saves Narnia yet again.

Shasta, a ragged, unloved fisher boy from Calormen, yearns to travel to the mysterious lands to the North, but his step father prefers to keep him as little more than a slave. Then a traveling Tarkaan offers to buy the boy for his own even harsher service. When Shasta overhears their plotting he decides to run away and confides in the visitor's horse, which surprisingly can talk, but then he is a native of Narnia where many animals enjoy the power of speech. Horse and Boy decide to escape to freedom in the North.

After learning how to ride, Shasta and his mentor, Bree, encounter other fugitives: a girl named Aravis and her talking horse, Hwin. The four team up (although the kids are somewhat stiff with each other) and have many adventures to accomplish their mission of mercy through the island city of Tashbaan, thence across the vast desert, to reach King Lune at Anvard Castle. Can they arrive before the perfidious Prince Rasbahan and his 200 mounted warriors and their treasonaaous attack?

Some of the plotting is contrived, as much hinges on chance which throws the children in situations where they overhear their enemies scheming. C.S. Lewis' style includes witty asides directed at readers, plus a few modest references to THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. His tongue-in-cheek humor spoofs the British education system, marriage in general and the personality quirks of many types of annoying people. Pre-teens should enjoy this story, but adults may not find this sequel as charming as the original 1950's children's classic.