historical fiction – Page 8 – THE LEGEND OF THE GREAT HORSE trilogy

The Paradox of Horses in War

One thing you notice when researching historical fiction like “Eclipsed by Shadow” is how much human history is owed to the horse. Civilization advanced through adapting to the horse’s outlook.

Horsemanship is a civilized encounter with an alien mind. Horses are a “prey” species whose code is: “he who quickly runs away, lives to run another day.” The horse is perpetually alert, suspicious and ready to flee, and 6000 years of domestication have not changed this basic instinct.

The horse is an unlikely creature to ride into the chaos of battle, yet no animal so conjures the image of war. Horsemanship is one of mankind’s oldest and most perfected technologies, and the battlefield was its testing ground for thousands of years. It would seem an impossible feat to ask a timid, flighty animal to carry men into a smoking, stinking cacophony of fire and noise—yet that is exactly the result needed, and produced.

The Book of Job in Bible has a passage which relates this paradox.

“Hast thou given the horse strength?
Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder?
Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper?”

Of course the horse is only an instrument; war is an invention of man. Strangely, the speed and physical strength of the animal made him a formidable weapon, but the great challenge of horsemanship through the ages was how to get this four-legged weapon onto the battlefield at all. Anyone who has seen a horse “shy” or bolt in terror from a blowing leaf will understand the achievement of enlisting cooperation from what is essentially a saddled rabbit.

Skittishness in horses varies between individuals and isn’t completely explainable, as with Saki’s famous “Brogue,” a horse so named “in recognition of the fact that, once acquired, it was extremely difficult to get rid of.” According to the author’s description: “Motors and cycles he treated with tolerant disregard, but pigs, wheelbarrows, piles of stones by the roadside, perambulators in a village street, gates painted too aggressively white, and sometimes, but not always, the newer kind of beehives, turned him aside from his tracks in vivid imitation of the zigzag course of forked lightning.”

The secret of man’s partnership with the horse is trust. A wild band of equines operates through friendships and roles, and with proper instruction the trained horse learns to place his rider in the leadership position. This trust must be earned through the process of schooling, and can easily be lost, but it is one of the miracles of riding that only through an exchange of trust can the incredible potential of a horse’s ability be unlocked.

Amazon Top 50 Reviewer: “Captives on a Carousel of Time”

This sweeping historical fantasy should have an impact on its reader that penetrates far beyond the boundaries of the usual Young Adult novel. It teaches lessons about history and horsemanship, and what it really means to be ‘civilized.’—E.A. Lovitt, Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer

The following is a review of Eclipsed by Shadow by Top Amazon Reviewer E.A. Lovitt (Starmoth)

E. A. Lovitt “Starmoth”
HALL OF FAME • TOP 500 REVIEWER

This sweeping historical fantasy should have an impact on its reader that penetrates far beyond the boundaries of the usual YA (Young Adult) novel. It teaches lessons about history and horsemanship, and what it really means to be ‘civilized.’

Eclipsed by Shadow reminds me of “The Carousel,” a ballad by Buffy Sainte-Marie: “Flying horses they are just/ Little girls who wish too much…” Teenage equestrienne, Meagan Roberts gets the filly of her dreams, born on the summer solstice of the new millennium. Unfortunately, the foal’s mother dies and the little palomino filly comes with an ancient warning:

“…So born of loss and mother’s grief, the Great Horse takes a mighty leap. Eclipsed by shadow, the golden spark/ Shall wing her rider into the dark.”

When Meagan takes that first ride on her filly, she is swept backward into Time and is forced to experience the dark side of the relationship between horse and human.

The overall vision of Eclipsed by Shadow is difficult to comprehend, because this is only Book I of a projected trilogy. The narrative ends abruptly and reads more like a series of short stories as Meagan occupies brief periods of prehistory and history. Each segment vividly describes our evolving relationship with the horse: slaughter and eat; sacrifice to the gods; kill for pleasure (I wish Meagan could have visited Xenophon’s Greece instead of Trajan’s Rome).

Bad guys are painted with a broad brush, but good guys are delineated with respect and care. I wanted to stay in Rome with Horace, the poet/gladiator. I hated to cut my visit short with Chouchou, the laid-back medieval warhorse. The author’s portrait of Meagan and her equine friends is especially sensitive, illuminated with the touch, scent, and emotion that only a true horseman could know and understand.

Eclipsed by Shadow is the first book of the new fiction trilogy, The Legend of the Great Horse, arriving this Summer with a fresh and original look at the colorful role of horses in civilization. The story follows the time-travel adventure of a modern horsewoman lost in history.

Further information about this unique and imaginative novel can be found at TheGreatHorse.com.

Historical Novel Society: “A Vivid Historical Tale through the Ages”

The first in a trilogy, ECLIPSED BY SHADOW tells the tale of a horse-crazy teenager traveling through time on a horse. This unusual-sounding summary had me skeptical at first, but the story is surprisingly page turning, and it left me yearning for the next installment.—Rebecca Roberts, Historical Novel Society

The following is a new review of Eclipsed by Shadow by Rebecca Roberts of the Historical Novel Society.

Historical Novel Society | Rebecca Roberts

The first in a trilogy, Eclipsed by Shadow tells the tale of a horse-crazy teenager traveling through time on a horse. This unusual-sounding summary had me skeptical at first, but the story is surprisingly page turning, and it left me yearning for the next installment.

On June 21, 2001, when a unique colt is born, Meagan Robert’s life is suddenly and irrevocably changed. This special palomino, Promise, is rumored to be the next “Great Horse,” and when thieves attempt to steal her horse, Meagan leaps on Promise and rides her for the first time. But instead of galloping across the field, Promise takes to the air and flies through time and history. Meagan’s quest to find home takes her from 20,000 B.C. North America to 100 A.D. Rome and then to 1240 Central Asia. Meagan’s only defense in these places is her 21st century equine insight as she is thrust into slavery, mistaken for a Tartar, and accused of being a witch.

The adventures Meagan experiences and the people she meets along the way create a vivid historical tale through the ages when horses were used for work, war, sport, and exhibition. This well-informed tale has great plot and character development, wonderful descriptions of equine history, and a tension-ridden cliffhanging ending that will leave you gnawing at the bit for more.

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Further information about this unique and imaginative ‘creative non-fiction’ novel can be found at TheGreatHorse.com.

Anyone who loves horses or who loves history will love “Eclipsed by Shadow”

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.—Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D., author

The following is a new 5-Star review of Eclipsed by Shadow.

HISTORY IS A TALE OF HORSES

Anyone who loves horses or who loves history will love “Eclipsed by Shadow”

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

“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”

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Further information about this unique and imaginative ‘creative non-fiction’ novel can be found at TheGreatHorse.com.