“The floor rolled sharply and Meagan fell hard against a wall. A tide of cold water sloshed over her feet. All around in the darkness were piercing screams of horses and the thudding concussion of hooves. The floor rolled the other way and Meagan felt herself sliding. She leaned to stay against the wall…”

So begins “The Golden Spark,” John Royce’s 2nd book in “The Legend of the Great Horse” trilogy. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the 1st book in the series, “Eclipsed by Shadow” as the author provides a special note to those who haven’t in the beginning of the book. He gives a brief summary and then reprints the last chapter of the first book so that those who are unfamiliar with the tale can get caught up. I found this to be a nice touch.

Another helpful addition is the seven page glossary at the end of the novel. Being that the story is set in time periods long ago there are many unfamiliar terms used throughout the book. The glossary is extremely helpful in deciphering the meaning of these words that are not used often today.

“The Golden Spark” is a tale that will appeal to young readers of fantasy and particularly readers interested in horsemanship. The story is magical and enchanting and the writing moves along at a nice pace as we follow Meagan on her journey through history. I think that it could easily be turned into a movie. I look forward to the continuation of Meagan’s story in Book 3. — Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads

The Golden Spark is the 2nd book of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy, an intriguing and fun time-travel adventure through history — on horseback. (Published Spring 2011)

Book I: Eclipsed by Shadow won national awards including the Eric Hoffer Award for best Young Adult Fiction, and the 2010 Mom’s Choice Award for best family-friendly Young Adult Fantasy.

All you need to enter is a (free) LibraryThing membership … scroll down linked page for the entry!

Giveaway #1 ends December 17, 2011

Giveaway #2 will be open from Dec. 18 – 23rd
(link will be posted once available!)

Clothed with Thunder
By E. A. Lovitt “starmoth”
Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer | Top 100 Reviewer

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Nov 29, 2011 |  See all Reviews on Amazon.com

Book II of The Legend of the Great Horse continues John Royce’s sweeping historical fantasy about horses and horsemanship, and I am very much looking forward to learning why 16-year-old Meagan Roberts was flung backward into time. Don’t listen to anyone who tries to label this trilogy as a work of juvenile fiction. It is much more than that.

In this middle volume, Meagan travels to Mexico with Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, the Spanish Conquistador who brought about the fall of the mighty Aztec Empire, partially through his employment of horses, which the Aztecs had never seen. Meagan wins the approval of the Spanish Captain by caring for his war stallion during a storm at sea.

Her next time-jump lands Meagan in the court of Louis XIV of France, the Sun King. His Manège du Grandes Ecuries du Château de Versailles (the Riding School of the Grand Stable of Versailles) influenced the development of equitation in 17th Century Europe. Although the author accurately portrays Louis XIV’s passion for elaborate equestrian performances, the King’s relationship with Meagan, who is posing as an English stable-hand, is scarcely believable. Although Louis spoke French, Latin, Spanish, and Italian, I don’t believe he ever learned English (he had no reason to), and he was an absolute monarch who distanced himself from ordinary people behind an impenetrable thicket of court etiquette. One had to be a nobleman just to empty the King’s chamber pot.

However, Meagan’s relationship with Nero, the high-strung dressage gelding is the highlight of this adventure in time. The horses are the true nobility in this book, not their sometimes cruel and ignorant masters.

John Royce saves the best for last: Meagan’s final time-jump in The Golden Spark lands her in with the family of a horse trainer in Regency England. The description of our heroine’s participation in a neck-or-nothing foxhunt is alive with the colors, scents, and sounds of a spectacle that has now been voted into extinction in the country of its origin. This author’s narrative is the next-best thing to actually saddling up and following the hounds.

Announcing a new series of short posts tracing the chronological history of horsemanship. The series will be published daily on both Facebook and Twitter as short ‘tweet’-sized posts.

The series will trace earliest horsemanship up to the modern era, completing just before the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games in London … as part of the countdown to publication of Book #3 of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy next Summer (June 21, 2012).

“Trapped in time, all she has is her will and her equine knowledge to try to guide her home.

“Book II: The Golden Spark is the second book in John Royce’s series (The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy) following a young teenage girl who is lost in the Renaissance and trying to put it all together to find her way home.

“With a good focus on history and horses, The Golden Spark is a fun and enjoyable read, highly recommended.”

The Golden Spark is the 2nd book of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy, an intriguing and fun time-travel adventure through history — on horseback. (Published Spring 2011)

Book I: Eclipsed by Shadow won national awards including the Eric Hoffer Award for best Young Adult Fiction, and the 2010 Mom’s Choice Award for best family-friendly Young Adult Fantasy.

Advance reading copies for Early Reviewers will be made available … for 1st notifications sign up for The Great Horse newsletter.

» Press Release 11/11/11 [PDF]

BOSTON, MA – November 11, 2011 | Into the Dark, the third and final book of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy by John Allen Royce, arrives next Summer 2012 to conclude the journey of a modern-day teen lost in history.

Publication is scheduled for the Summer Solstice (June 21st). Into the Dark completes the award-winning series, which offers a fresh and original look at the colorful role of horses in civilization. The tale follows the struggles of a young woman carried unwillingly through history, who uses her knowledge of modern horsemanship to survive humanity’s past.

The trilogy’s first volume, Eclipsed by Shadow, earned a Library Journal recommendation and won national awards including the Eric Hoffer Award for best Young Adult Fiction. Recently-released Book #2: The Golden Spark (2011) has already been named an Independent Publisher Highlighted Title and nominated for a Written Arts Award.

The author is a horseman over 20 years of experience in competitive riding, training horses and coaching students. Mr. Royce explains the enduring popularity of horses: “Horses have been with mankind since the beginning—the history of horses is the history of civilization.”