Book Master

After reading the book’s synopsis I thought I would be in deep trouble; over complicated historic novels have a tendency to click a switch of understanding off in my brain. Weird, long names confuse me. Novels are like my food; if I have to fight with it, then all joy is taken out of it. Feel free to quote me on this.

I won’t say that I was pleasantly surprised because that is so cliche. Oh wait, I just did. Ignore that then.

Seriously, the novel, although appearing to be complex, is deceiving in its simplicity. Although I wouldn’t recommend it for the under teens, age groups up from that would be able immerse themselves relatively easily. So the novel has a distinct cross-over audience than most books in this genre. Of course that is a definite plus.

I’m taking into account that the book has been translated from its native language which can affect many aspects of the completed manuscript. We, probably, all remember the film titled ‘Lost in Translation’. Well, that could easily have happened to this novel resulting in confusing, literal narrative or just a feeling that some passion has been misplaced from the story. At the time of writing this review, the book had yet to be released so what I have here is a proof copy so any grammatical errors are to be expected.

Story and plot-wise the novel is set in Spain at the time of a religious war and it follows the life of Diego and his beautiful, somewhat, special mare, Sabba. During his adventure, he has to deal with bereavement, a feeling of revenge and excitement as he works and trains to become a horse healer. I didn’t dislike the novel; it was very enjoyable to read and it did keep me interested as to the outcome for all involved but I’m still not converted to the genre overall.