Customer Reviews
Amazing! 
2008-07-05
"The Horse and His Boy" is my favorite book in the Narnia series out of the first four books (that's how far I've gotten so far). Highly recommended!
Not Quite What I Expected 
2008-07-04
The Horse and His Boy is a great adventure, but is different from the other Narnian tales. Even though it is set during the time when Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmund is in Narnia ruling, it is not really geared towards them.
The horse's name is Bree, and the boy name is Shasta. They run away from their masters to live free in the north. Shasta and Bree do have someone join them on their journey along with another talking horse, but the girl doesn't really like Shasta. Shasta proves in the end to be a braver person, a more selfless person from everyone else. I liked Shasta from the very start, and I was glad to see him become something more than he thought he was.
This is a book of travel and adventure, much like most of the Narnia books. It is good to read about familiar characters. It's like you feel connected to them because you read about them in other books.
Another C.S. Lewis book I immensely enjoyed.
Thanks.
The Horse and His Boy 
2008-04-07
Fifth book printed, third book chronologically.
I began re-reading the Narnia series after coming across a beautiful boxed set of all seven novels. Mainly this was out of nostalgia, as these were favourites when I was young, and I was interested to see how they held up as adults. I found them all to be written very clearly with provocative descriptive prose, and narrative that often draws the reader immediately into the story.
"The Horse and His Boy" stands out from the rest of the series, having little or nothing to do with any of the other characters. The great Aslan makes a few appearances, and his scarcity accentuates the presence that Lewis no doubt felt strongly in his heart. As a total atheist and condemner of religious analogies, even I felt a touch of wonder at each of his appearance!
The story is sound despite being removed from the over-arcing story of the Chronicles. The main character and his companion horse are well drawn and interesting. The features of the countries outside Narnia are bright and interesting, particularly if you've read the other books in the series. The book manages to carry its own weight, which some of the sequels to "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" fail to do. An achievement, and worth picking up!
A Great Side Story 2008-03-19
Though the story in The Horse and His Boy is almost of its own, it is still a worthy classic of the Narnian tales. Involving the Pevensie children and a newcomer, Lewis shows his brilliance in telling stories with great detail.
At times, however, I found that some of his narrative contained racial material, and nowadays would be found quite offensive.
Read with caution.
Good story features some distasteful racism 2008-01-06
Two young people flee their lives in the country of Calormene with the aid of a pair of talking Narnian horses. When they learn of a plan to attack the neighboring country of Archenland, they must race the invading force in order to deliver a warning.
This is a good adventure, though not up to the standard set by "Magician's Nephew" and "Lion, Witch, Wardrobe." The most disappointing (though not surprising) aspect is the depiction of the Calormene people. They are clearly meant to represent Muslims, and C.S. Lewis denigrates every aspect of their lives: their food is terrible, their clothes are silly, they have no sense of humor, and their dark skin is not as attractive as the light skin of the Archenlanders and Narnians. It's a shame that Lewis is apparently unable or unwilling to write his Christian parable without putting down other races and faiths. But if you can look past this aspect, it's a good story.
A Journey into Lost Sonship 2007-12-21
A boy and a talking horse share an adventurous and dangerous journey to Narnia to warn of invading barbarians.
the horse and his boy 2007-11-15
The horse and his boy
xxxxx Author: C.S. Lewis Review by: Adam
C.S. Lewis¡¦s third Narnia adventure in which Shasta who lives with a fisherman will go on a journey with a narnian horse, a calormen princes, and a mare. Shasta will soon discover he is much more than a fisherman¡¦s son.
Best of the Series 2007-11-11
This book was my favorite among the Chronicle of Narnia series. It is a great adventure story with intense chase elements, but it's not all adrenaline. There are also times when the main character is alone in a very scary place. This section is so gripping that it makes you fell almost claustrophobic.
The ups and downs the characters experience are in the end purposeful. This book may be the young reader's first exposure to idea that God will sometimes use trials to get us to mature and that our actions during these times impact others. When this part of the story is told I came very close to crying. Before or since I've never been that moved by a fictional story.
Paging Edward Said... 
2007-10-17
Cool. After the none-too-subtle christianity and toryism of the first two Narnia books, I was eager to see what Lewis would serve up next,and he doesn't disappoint.
In the best orientalism tradition, he tells us, once again not too subtly, just how awful these dark skinned wogs are compared to the light-skinned decent folk of Narnia. Not only do they keep slaves, maintain a depotism (unlike the decent kings of Narnia, no democracy for Lewis!) and worship a false god, their clothes are ugly, they don't have decent jokes, and their food sucks (I am not making these up).
Oh Mr Lewis, you are a credit to your country and your religion, writing this oh-so-enlightened propaganda in 1954! Whatever one may feel about J K Rowling, she's a hell of a lot more evolved sociologically.
Not Free SF Reader 
2007-09-03
Talking horses, plural. Not a single one of them named Ed that I recall, either. That is a pity, as it would have made this book eminently more readable than the pretty lame tale contained here.
This is an overextended fairy tale with the odd Greek mythological reference or two thrown in. Generally not very good.
