A Blood Red Horse (Paperback)

I am 11 years old and I began reading this book without any preconceptions about how good or bad it would be. After reading the first few pages, I was drawn in and couldn't put it down. This is by far the best book I have ever read and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone over the age of 10. It was spell binding - the story of King Richard's crusade - told through the eyes of the king's right hand knight. It makes you want to know more about that period of history and I hope there will be a sequel although the ending seems very final...

The story is well written and has a definite sense of period - yet without resorting to 'olde worlde' dialogue that would swiftly weary the reader. The three main characters: Will, Gavin and Ellie, are well drawn and have real depth. The reader follows their growth from children to young adults. As they age it becomes ever clearer that there is a romantic triangle of sorts here - Ellie is clearly attached to Will, yet must marry Gavin the oldest. How their emotional stories progress (whilst together and far apart) really holds the story together.

Despite its merits, I felt the story had a few flaws that kept it from being a truly perfect children's novel. It seemed to have a very slow start; on a number of occasions whilst reading the first few chapters I was half-tempted to abandon the book, as it seemed rather pedestrian and dull. I also found the earlier segments about the Sultan and his son distracted me from the story of the three main protagonists, and felt tempted to skip them. I pressed on, however, and gradually my affection for the story and characters grew.

Bizarrely, I found the least well-rounded and convincing character to be the 'Blood Red Horse' himself. I never truly understood what was so very special about 'Hosanna' that captivated everyone who came into contact with him. Apart from his attractive appearance, ability to move well, and a certain steadfastness - I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. I read continually about how everyone utterly adored him (to the rather uncomfortable point of idolization), including the entire Hartslove estate, King Richard, and the Sultan's son. Yet despite this, I couldn't see one single heroic deed or action that prompted their devotion - and as such, I never really bonded with the horse or cared enough about it, in the way that I did about Will, Gavin and Ellie. True, at one point he stubbornly refuses to join in with a mass slaughter - but this subtle distinction of what was honorable seemed unconvincing, especially when he played an active role in many other bloody scenes.

When first told of this story, I had understood that it was a story about the crusades as told from a horse's point of view - so I kind of expected a historical 'Black Beauty.' Sadly, this was not the case. For me, the central character of Hosanna has practically none of the emotional impact of Black Beauty, because we never really get to know him, his thoughts, feelings, etc. This is especially unsettling when he seems to switch his allegiance midway and focus his affections on the Sultan's son, with little evidence of missing his previous owner. This may be how a 'real' horse would behave perhaps, but for me, this central character just didn't work in the way he should. Maybe if we had 'heard' from Hosanna (got inside his head), this story might have had a real emotional impact and might have become a true classic instead of a rather standard historical adventure with a horse that everyone obsesses over thrown in for good measure. Perhaps it all works so much better for lovers of all things equine - but the gruesome deaths of so many of the other horses (though historically accurate), might be distressing.

A sterling debut novel - but it could have been so much more!