Book Review: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia #5). C. S. Lewis. Collier Books/MacMillan Publishing (1970) (First published 1954). 217 pages. Genre: Classic, Children's Literature.

First Line: "This is the story of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between, in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Narnia and his brother and his two sisters were King and Queens under him."

Summary:  Shasta lives with a fisherman in Calormen.  He calls him Father as he is the only father he has ever known.  When he overhears the fisherman making arrangements to sell him to a stranger, he determines to run away.  He soon discovers the horse he is fleeing on is a talking horse, named Bree.  The two of them begin a journey to Narnia.  Along the way they meet Aravis and her talking horse, Hwin.  As they travel through the desert to the north, they encounter lions, suffer hunger and become separated.  When they learn of the Calormenes' plot to invade Narnia, they are in a race to reach the king before it is too late. 

My thoughts:  I enjoyed getting a glimpse into what is going on in Narnia while Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are kings and queens in the land.  

Shasta has not had an easy life.  The fisherman has given him food to eat and a place to stay, but he treats him as a slave.  Shasta has never been able to love the fisherman like a boy should love his father.  So, when he overhears the conversation with the stranger about selling him, he is excited and thinks that maybe this will be a good thing for him, until he realizes that the stranger could just as likely, perhaps more likely, be cruel.  The decision to run away is not a difficult one.  

Aravis is the daughter of an important man who has been promised in marriage to a base man who has made himself important by flattery and evil counsels.  For obvious reasons, Aravis is not excited about the prospect and feels her only way out is to run away.  Only after fleeing on her horse does she discover Hwin is a talking horse.  Aravis thinks very highly of herself and looks down on Shasta.  In fact, she only speaks to the horses.  

I had a hard time connecting with either Shasta or Aravis.  I am not sure why.  The story is full of adventure and an exotic location.  There is danger as well as fun and the story culminates in a battle.  Aslan makes several appearances, which were my favorite parts of the story. 

Overall, the story is a good one.  But, because I didn't feel a connection to the characters, it is one of my least favorite in the series. 

Quotes:

"For in Tashbaan there is only one traffic regulation, which is that everyone  who is less important has to get out of the way for everyone who is more important, unless you want a cut from a whip or a punch from the butt end of a spear."

"But as long as you know you're nobody very special, you'll be a very decent sort of horse, on the whole, and taking one thing with another."

"'Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?' said Shasta.

'There was only one lion,' said the Voice. 

'What on earth do you mean?  I've just told you there were at least two the first night, and -'. 

'There was only one, but he was swift of foot.' 

'How do you know?' 

'I was the lion.'"