The Horse and His Boy book
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The Horse and His Boy
Chronicles of Narnia
children’s fantasy
HarperCollins; (2002 reprint)
1954
paperback, kindle, hardcover
240
Pauline Baynes (Illustrator)
8 and up
The Story
A boy named Shasta is raised by a Calormene fisherman after the fisherman found him as a baby in a boat at the sea.
Shasta overhears the fisherman negotiating to sell him to a Calormene feudal noble. He learns that the fisherman is not his real father, and he runs to the stable where finds a horse.
The noble’s horse, Bree, is a talking horse and speaks to him and suggests that they should escape and ride north to Narnia. In their way, to Narnia, they find two travelers, Aravis, a young Calormene aristocrat, and her talking horse, Hwin. She is fleeing from an arranged marriage to the Tisroc’s grand vizier. The four must travel through Tashbaan, the capital city of Calormen, to continue their journey to Narnia.
She is fleeing from an arranged marriage to the Tisroc’s grand vizier. The four must travel through Tashbaan, the capital city of Calormen, to continue their journey to Narnia.
At Tashbaan they meet a procession of visiting Narnian royalty, who mistake Shasta for Corin, a prince of Archenland, who disappeared from their group earlier that day. Shasta is too scared to protest and goes with the Narnians. He overhears their plan to escape from Tashbaan and Calormene to prevent Rabadash from forcing Queen Susan to marry him. The real Prince Corin reappears, and Shasta manages to escape.
He overhears their plan to escape from Tashbaan and Calormene to prevent Rabadash from forcing Queen Susan to marry him. The real Prince Corin reappears, and Shasta is able to escape.
While Shasta is with the Narnians, Aravis was spotted by her friend Lasaraleen and Aravis asks her to keep silent about her identity and help her escape from the city.
When trying to escape, she has to refuge in a room where she overhears the Tisroc and Rabadash discussing the Narnians’ escape and Calormene plot to conquer Narnia.When she manages to flee the city, she rejoins Shasta and the Horses.
The four of them cross the desert trying to escape from a pursuing Lion (later they find out that the lion was, actually, Aslan) and outrun Rabadash’s army.
Shasta reaches King Lune and warns him of the approaching of the Calormenes. The Archenland army defends the city against the Calormenes until Narnia’s army arrives to help.
King Lune of Archenland recognizes Shasta as Cor, the long-lost elder twin of Prince Corin and therefore heir to the throne. Aravis and Cor live in Archenland and marry years later. Their son becomes the most famous king of Archenland.
Review
The archetypes of this plot are complex and spread over different characters. This is what I've come up with so far:
| Protagonist: Shasta | Antagonist: Rabadash |
| Guardian: Bree, hermit, Aslan | Contagonist: (your suggestion is welcome) |
| Sidekick: Bree | Skeptic: (your suggestion is welcome) |
| Reason: Hwin | Emotion: (your suggestion is welcome) |
| Main Char: Aravis | Impact Char: Shasta |
| Act 1 | Shasta is a hardworking boy living with his adopted father. |
| Trigger/POA | Shasta learn being sold to Taarkan and runs away with Bree. |
| Act 2 | Tashbaan, alone, desert, Hermit, forest |
| Mid Point | Aslan’s explanation |
| Act 3 | Prepare for battle |
| Climax | Battle |
| Act 4 | Final conclusions and findings. |
If you have any suggestions about the archetypes and plot structure, please leave a comment.
read about Dramatic Structure Diagrams
The Horse and His Boy has biblical allusions. The story draws parallels with the story of Moses: both are sent away from their families at birth, both were found floating in the water, and both turn away from the country they are raised in, and both end up being the savior of their real countries.
This is an absolute must-read fantasy book. When you read it, it's almost impossible to wait until the entire “Chronicles of Narnia” saga is over.
Leave a comment with your opinion, please.
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This looks like a great young readers book. My son has always like Narnia. Does this follow with the movie, or is the movie done from the books? Also, this is obviously a series, how many books are in this series and can you purchase more than one in the series? I know that if my son likes a book, I have to get the next couple so that when he is done, he is ready for the next one!
Hello, there,
Thanks for sharing your impressions. It is a seris and this one is not the first book. You should read this article, C. S. Lewis Bio. It has alll the answers about the author and some about the Narnia Chronicles, enough to guide you up.
Cheers!
I have neither read nor seen Narnia, I’m not usually one for fantasy worlds with speaking lions. However, this seems like a good read, and I know that Lewis is a commendable author. One of the Amazon reviews recommended starting from the beginning of the series, what do you think?
Thanks for the great review,
– TBonki
Hello, TBonki,
I read the series following the saga timeline, it was great and I recommend it.
On the other hand, I would never recommend someone to start Star Wars from the Chapter 1. Unfortunately, I don’t have any information about the C. S. Lewis’ intentions. Did he plan the sequence of books ahead? If I knew he did, I would tell you to respect the way he planned it.
Thanks for sharing and have fun in Narnia. (either way you will have great fun!)