The Horse and His Boy - CS Lewis

Published in an omnibus edition with the full Chronicles of Narnia series: "The Magician's Nephew"; "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe"; "The Horse and His Boy"; "Prince Caspian"; "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"; "The Silver Chair"; "The Last Battle", by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 2010. Originally published 1954.

 The only real 'spin-off' in the Narnia series, The Horse and His Boy doesn't focus its attention on any children from our world, instead telling the story of Shasta, a foundling boy raised in Calormen (near Narnia), and the talking horse Bree (or more correctly, Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah) who befriends him. The duo attempt to escape from Calormen to Archenland and Narnia, and on the way encounter a girl (Aravis) escaping an arranged marriage with her talking horse Hwin, are caught up in a prince and the pauper-like scenario, meet the Pevensies (reigning as kings and queens in Narnia at this time), and even have encounters with Aslan.

I really like this book. It takes a different slant on the Narnian series, and shows the potential for the world to hold numerous stories that are 'less connected' to our world that the 'main' stories. Shasta and Bree are a fun duo, with Bree particularly stealing the show as a horse that looks down its nose at humans, and who also considers himself 'above' the behaviour of non-talking horses. There is also a race across the desert to prevent an invasion that raises the stakes above that of some of the 'lesser' Narnian stories. It would have been interesting if CS Lewis had chosen to write other books in this vein within the Narnian world.

Completed with Elise, 22 August 2019.

(Elise Books)

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