Emily Hinton for the US Review of Books

“Meagan heard shouting behind her as Promise reached for the safety of speed… Wind rose in Meagan’s ears, and time stretched into a series of still photographs as the young thoroughbred gathered and stretched. The ground blurred and together they lifted into the air.”

Eclipsed by Shadow, the first installment of Royce’s Legend of the Great Horse trilogy transforms a majestic beast into a thrilling and intelligent fantasy. The story focuses on Meagan, a twelve-year-old girl, and her foal, Promise. As the two grow older, it becomes clear to Meagan that Promise is a horse of legendary potential, and when ridden, Promise takes Meagan on a journey through time. Meagan must use her knowledge of horsemanship to survive as she joins in periods of remote human history and sees the roles horses have played. The Great Horse is actually a Pegasus who drops her into ancient history to fend for herself. Perils await a young girl with no money, no family, and only her wits and knowledge of horses to help her survive as she battles to return to her own time.

Royce is targeting teens, but the story is accessible to a wider range of readers. The action and thrills of the story are subtly interspersed with colorfully drawn history lessons perfect for engaging readers, and the writing delivers such elegant turns of phrase as to keep teens and adults intrigued. Royce is even makes a quiet ploy for the mainstream teaching of Latin, but in a way that makes the language vibrant. As the summer gets underway, Royce has provided a great blend of academic and adventurous reading that is beach-ready.

Eclipsed by Shadow is the first book of the new fiction trilogy, The Legend of the Great Horse. The second volume, The Golden Spark, is due to be published in the summer of 2010.

Contact the Publisher:

Micron Press
www.TheGreatHorse.com
inquiries@MicronPress.com

US Review of Books | Emily Hinton

“Meagan heard shouting behind her as Promise reached for the safety of speed… Wind rose in Meagan’s ears, and time stretched into a series of still photographs as the young thoroughbred gathered and stretched. The ground blurred and together they lifted into the air.”

Eclipsed by Shadow, the first installment of Royce’s Legend of the Great Horse trilogy, transforms a majestic beast into a thrilling and intelligent fantasy. The story focuses on Meagan, a twelve-year-old girl, and her foal, Promise. As the two grow older, it becomes clear to Meagan that Promise is a horse of legendary potential, and when ridden, Promise takes Meagan on a journey through time. Meagan must use her knowledge of horsemanship to survive as she joins in periods of remote human history and sees the roles horses have played. The Great Horse is actually a Pegasus who drops her into ancient history to fend for herself. Perils await a young girl with no money, no family, and only her wits and knowledge of horses to help her survive as she battles to return to her own time.

Royce is targeting teens, but the story is accessible to a wider range of readers. The action and thrills of the story are subtly interspersed with colorfully drawn history lessons perfect for engaging readers, and the writing delivers such elegant turns of phrase as to keep teens and adults intrigued. Royce is even makes a quiet ploy for the mainstream teaching of Latin, but in a way that makes the language vibrant. As the summer gets underway, Royce has provided a great blend of academic and adventurous reading that is beach-ready.

Eclipsed by Shadow is the first book of the new fiction trilogy, The Legend of the Great Horse. The second volume, The Golden Spark, is due to be published in the summer of 2010.

Reader View Literary Awards | Danelle Drake

“Auburn–haired and with a streak of tomboy, Meagan Roberts was not an unusual girl of twelve – except for the lucky fact that her family kept horses.” … John Royce introduces us to one of those works that you will remember forever.

In the past few years I have read several series that have really captivated me; this story is like these great series in the fact that it has the reader drawn in, but different in the fact that most all of the facts, times, and places in this book are not fiction. The places you visit in Eclipsed by Shadow were really times in our great history. “The Legend of the Great Horse” series will have you wishing the tales were never-ending.

When Meagan Roberts first laid eyes on Promise, she knew the horse was special. A little old lady from down the road tells Meagan that Promise is the “Great Horse.” She says that the powers Promise possesses are suppose to be dark but that no one will know until the owner of the horse rides it. Meagan and her mom don’t know if they should believe the old woman. When thieves try to steal the horse, we find out, and away we go. As Promise gains wings she enables us to gain understanding into the history of the horse.
We learn how the horse was used in many ways throughout history. All of the ways are not pleasant, but not all aspects of life are. As Meagan tries to help others understand her great love and respect of the horse we see inside her true soul.

Eclipsed by Shadow is a book well-worth reading. What a wonderful way to get factual history into a great readable fiction novel. I have passed it along to my twelve-year-old daughter and she loves it. Personally the Glossary of Terms at the end of the book was of great help as I originally knew very little about horses. When I came to the final sentence, “The sounds of the angry scene slipped into the wind of the gallop as the ground faded to a blur” I knew that I would anxiously await the next installation of “The Legend of the Great Horse” by John Royce.

Eclipsed by Shadow is the first book of the new fiction trilogy, The Legend of the Great Horse. The second volume, The Golden Spark, is due to be published in 2010.

Midwest Book Review – Bookwatch | Shirley Johnson

Meagan, like her mother, loves horses. When a new foal is born and the foal’s mother dies Meagan begins a bond with this horse that will take her on an adventure of a lifetime.

A mysterious neighborhood lady shares with Meagan and her mother a legend, one of “The Great Horse,” a horse that has been part of history since the beginning of man. A horse that is supernatural, one that was meant to help Adam and Eve. She tells them she believes Meagan’s horse may well be the next “Great Horse.” Meagan’s mother dismisses this tale as just a myth, but Meagan is not so sure.

It seems others are interested in her horse as well and plan to have him at any cost.This puts Meagan and the horse in grave danger. While trying to escape from a horse abduction, Meagan mounts her horse and to her surprise is taken to flight above the earth, and travels in time, and so Meagan and her horse begin the ride of their lives and the adventures begin. We are taken from prehistoric America, to Rome and medieval times, and are introduced to characters both cruel and tender as Meagan desperately tries to piece together what is happening and bring both herself and her horse safely home. Quite a ride!

I enjoyed this book. I really had no idea of the extent the subject matter would have in educating me to the history of the horse. I truly admire horses, although I have never been one to ride them, I have always enjoyed their beauty. In this book I learned so much about their past and what an important role they played in the development of mankind. Some of the events left me disturbed, others were intense, but each episode was definitely a learning experience. The characters were well developed and the locals were defined in an exceptional way, definitely bringing you right in the center of the action.

Final analysis: Well written, exceptional story, interesting characters, and a learning experience. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Eclipsed by Shadow is the first book of the new fiction trilogy, The Legend of the Great Horse. The second volume, The Golden Spark, is due to be published in 2010.

Amazon.com | Tyler Tichelaar

| Eclipsed by Shadow is an epic history of horses, complete with time travel, and educational material, but best of all, it is strong historical fiction.

The plot is pretty simple. Meagan learns from an eccentric neighbor lady that her newborn horse may well be “The Great Horse” of legend that has reappeared over the centuries. The Great Horse first originated as a horse meant to help Adam and Eve when they left the Garden of Eden.

I knew from what I had already heard about the book that it would include time travel and Meagan would experience how horses were used throughout the centuries by mankind.

When I started, I was a bit disappointed to see the first section went on for so long. I wanted to get right into the time travel, but once I started reading, I was thoroughly captivated by the plot and how well the author, John Royce, built up suspense in the first section. I actually think this was my favorite part of the book as Meagan learned about the legend of the Great Horse and also avoided having her horse stolen.

As for the time travel sections, the scene in prehistoric North America was brief and not quite as interesting as the later ones because after all it was prehistoric history, but I thought both the Rome and the medieval section were well done. Even though the book reads like a collection of short stories because of the different time periods that the characters do not cross over into, Royce successfully created some believable characters in each section.

Throughout, the book successfully blends fiction, character and plot with history and more than solely the history of horses. I am not interested in horses, but historical fiction, but I did come to appreciate the history of horses without ever being overly bored by the book containing too many details.

Anyone who loves horses or who loves history will love Eclipsed by Shadow, and readers will be impatient to read the next two volumes in this trilogy about the Great Horse.

- Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D., and author of “The Marquette Trilogy”

Eclipsed by Shadow is the first book of the new fiction trilogy, The Legend of the Great Horse. The second volume, The Golden Spark, is due to be published in the summer of 2010.

Contact: Robert Hall
Email: R_Hall@MicronPress.com

“Eclipsed by Shadow”: New Hardback Edition

October 20, 2008 | Micron Press is pleased to announce the release of the new library hardback edition of Eclipsed by Shadow, the first volume of the new historical adventure trilogy, The Legend of the Great Horse.

Horseman and author John Royce has crafted a page-turning mix of history
and horsemanship. His engaging writing combines action, suspense and
humor in a journey that brings to life our ancient partnership with the horse.
Readers travel back to a time when primitive man stalked horses as prey,
and witness the fascinating development of horsemanship in ancient and
medieval cultures.

Eclipsed by Shadow has been named a Heartland Reviews GRREAT
(Gifted & Reluctant Readers Explore Amazing Titles) book, and is a
Independent Publisher Highlighted Title.

Further information about The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy can be found at www.TheGreatHorse.com. For questions or other requests, please contact:

Robert Hall
R_Hall@MicronPress.com