{"id":3587,"date":"2015-07-22T10:39:04","date_gmt":"2015-07-22T14:39:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thegreathorse.com\/?p=3587"},"modified":"2017-06-02T17:13:24","modified_gmt":"2017-06-02T21:13:24","slug":"book-excerpt-5-the-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/2015\/07\/book-excerpt-5-the-arena\/","title":{"rendered":"The Arena"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"ECLIPSED<\/a><\/p>\n

This excerpt is from Eclipsed by Shadow<\/strong>, Book #1 of The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong> trilogy, an adventure through history\u2015on horseback.<\/p>\n

The scene is set in ancient Rome (100 AD): Meagan is trapped with prisoners in the Coliseum…<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The peculiar vices of this city, it seems to me, are conceived almost in the mother\u2019s womb \u2026 a passion for gladiators and horses.<\/strong>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n
\u2014Cornelius Tacitus (c. 55 \u2013 120) Roman historian<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

\nTHE WOODEN DOORS groaned back together behind them. Points of spears filled the narrowing gap as it closed.<\/p>\n

\"Parthenon<\/p>\n

New gates opened, tall iron-banded doors that swept outward. The cheering was too loud for any other sound to be heard, but Meagan felt a familiar rumbling. Her stomach chilled to icy jelly as horses thundered from the gates in teamed pairs.<\/p>\n

The dazed woman looked up to the sky, thin arms outstretched. Meagan saw a chariot bearing down on her, and she screamed into the crowd\u2019s roar as the woman went under hooves and iron-sheathed wheels.<\/p>\n

There was everywhere and nowhere to run. People scattered before the galloping horses and their bristling chariots of bronze. Meagan leapt out of the path of an oncoming team. Hooves pounded across her footprints.<\/p>\n

Others tried to climb the smooth mortar walls, but spectators beat them back. A chariot rode along the inside wall, sparks and masonry flying where its spiked wheel made contact. One man climbed high enough to clutch the arm of a spectator\u2014the crowd tossed both over the wall. A woman from the stands threw herself onto the netting, writhing in the passion of bloodlust.<\/p>\n

Meagan saw a chariot fishtail, throwing plumes of sand as it straightened towards her. She turned and ran blindly, hearing the thundering gallop grow distinct from the crowd\u2019s noise as the chariot gained.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Eclipsed by Shadow<\/strong><\/em> (Book #1 of the trilogy) won national awards<\/a> including the Eric Hoffer Award<\/em> for best Young Adult Fiction, and the Mom’s Choice Award<\/em> for best family-friendly Young Adult Fantasy.<\/p>\n

« \u201cThe Scythian Tomb<\/a>\u201d || \u201cThe Poet Gladiator<\/a>\u201d »<\/div>\n
The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong> trilogy is an adventure through history … each section is about a different time period. The above excerpt is from \u201cHome<\/strong><\/a>,\u201d the 1st section of Eclipsed by Shadow<\/em><\/strong>, set in modern-day California.\n<\/div>\n

Eclipsed by Shadow<\/strong><\/em> (Book #1 of the trilogy) won national awards<\/a> including the Eric Hoffer Award<\/em> for best Young Adult Fiction, and the Mom’s Choice Award<\/em> for best family-friendly Young Adult Fantasy.<\/p>\n

\n

__________<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00bb See All Excerpts<\/strong><\/a> from The Legend of the Great Horse<\/strong> trilogy.<\/p>\n

\u00bb Read the 1st Chapter online<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00bb See the Media Kit<\/strong><\/a> for more information about the trilogy.<\/p>\n

\"\" Check out the trilogy’s page on Facebook!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was everywhere and nowhere to run. People scattered before the galloping horses and their bristling chariots of bronze. Meagan leapt out of the path of an oncoming team. Hooves pounded across her footprints. – Eclipsed by Shadow<\/em> (excerpt)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[161],"tags":[118,219,70,376,165,207,208,396],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3587"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3587"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15215,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3587\/revisions\/15215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegreathorse.com\/book-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}