The Unicorn's Secret Series, Kathleen Duey, Omar Rayyan

The Unicorn's Secret Series, Kathleen, Duey, illustrated by Omar Rayyan

1) Moonsilver, ISBN: 0689842694
2) The Silver Thread, ISBN: 0689842708
3) The SIlver Bracelet, ISBN: 0689850581
4) The Mountains of the Moon, ISBN: 0689851375
5) The Sunset Gates, ISBN: 0689853475
6) True Heart, ISBN: 0689853718

7) Castle Avamir, ISBN: 0689853734
8) The Journey Home, ISBN: 0689853750

Read November 15, 2013

 

This is the third series of beginner-chapter horse books I've read from this author, and like the other two, the books are entirely unsuited to reading as stand-alone works.  However, that is about the only serious criticism I have of them.  (Other than the name of the character (Heart) which does cause some uncontrolled eye-rolling.)

Minor criticisms I have a-plenty: pacing issues (caused by the serial nature, mostly unavoidable, but still a bit irritating), characters appearing and disappearing from the story or being introduced and then left as plot-movers or ciphers, unrealistic story elements (our girl, somewhere between 6 and 10 years old, it isn't specified, is often shown girding or ungirding heavy equine plate and barding onto the yearling unicorn "in minutes," which is a little eyebrow-raising in more ways than one... ) and a bland overarching protagonist who is often shown as physically menacing, but his actual evil actions (burning books, killing unicorns, starving and jailing his serfs) are left mostly alluded to in the background of the story - despite being an important motivating factor to the heroine!

However, all of those are minor niggles, and for mass-market serial books, these are pretty close to solid gold.  The girl is strong and smart and brave and persistent.  There are older women who are kind and helpful, and secondary male characters who are also friends or allies.  Like in the Mustang series, a bully is given a chance to redeem himself and find a better place in life (in actual fact, those two characters and story arcs are so similar as to be identical except for the choice of vocation at the end).

Unreservedly recommended for anyone horse (or unicorn) mad; just make sure you have all of them on-hand before you get started, because there's no good place to pause the story until the very end.  Also excellent for younger ears as bedtime or regular storytime to be read to them, even before they're able to read it on their own. 

Katie and the Mustang Series, Kathleen Duey

Katie and the Mustang Series, Kathleen Duey
(individual books are untitled)

Book 1: ISBN: 9780142400906
Book 2: ISBN: 0525472738
Book 3: ISBN: 0142400920
Book 4: ISBN: 0142400939

Read October 14-18, 2013

This is the second series of early-chapter horse books I've read by Kathleen Duey.  I have to say that I like the Irish set more than these.  For some reason, the main character in this story struck me as less active and more emotionally fragile than in the previous set.  As the "girl power" themes are part of why I liked the others as much as I did, I found the lack here to be disconcerting.

I also thought that the themes and main ideas here were a little more mature and harder to grasp - Katie is escaping from an abusive home and traveling ALONE on the Oregon trail with a farm-hand she barely knows (problematic by itself), and then as the series progresses, there are issues of "ladylike behavior" and the existence of ignored or persecuted Mormon pioneers, and the presence of a traveling circus (deemed to be dangerously not respectable people).  Further, and more pertinent to the horse-mad reader, Katie refuses to attempt to tame the mustang, despite the hardships of the Oregon Trail, meaning that there are no thrilling instances of the horse being ridden, and the bond between them remains fragile and tenuous, despite the author's best intentions.  This will likely frustrate the seriously horse-crazed, and the postscript of incoming foals who aren't even included in the book will do little alleviate that frustration.

However - because I didn't find them as good as the others, doesn't mean that they're all bad.  I do think that I would prefer to read the other set aloud, and let a horse-mad reader discover these on their own.   If I had to recommend a set from this author, I'd go with the original Irish Hoofbeats Series, or perhaps the Unicorn's Secret Series, which I'll be working through shortly. 

Hoofbeats: Lara Series, Kathleen Duey

Hoofbeats: Lara Series, Kathleen Duey
Lara and the Gray Mare.  ISBN: 0525473327
Lara and the Moon-Colored Filly.  ISBN: 0525473335
Lara at Athenry Castle.  ISBN: 0525473408
Lara and the Silent Place.  ISBN: 0142402338

Juv Historic Fiction: Irish 10 year old girl must fend for herself and her filly against the rest of the world.

I had fun reading these, but the very last one had significant typo and editing problems, which hampered my enjoyment at the last.  I also felt that the plotting of the last one was weak, and the telegraphing of the final solution felt both last-minute and heavy-handed.

Short summaries:

Gray Mare: Larach lives in a poor tuath (holding) where her father is the ri (lord) and her aunt is 15, unwed, unbetrothed, and unhappy.  After a raid, the girls are sent to care for the sheep and cows in the upland, and Lara finds the stolen pregnant mare giving birth.  The book ends with both Lara and her aunt being abducted along with the days-old filly.

Moon-Colored Filly: Lara is at a much richer holding, in the care of the lord that took her and her Aunt.  While the Aunt falls in love with the enemy, Lara continues to scheme to get her own freedom and that of the filly.  She learns of the filly's heritage, and finds her own enemy to begin having feelings for.

Athenry Castle: Lara's filly was taken from her, and now she's in disguise in the "city" around the castle as a boy, and working in the stables.  She's been training the filly to run with her, and that may be key to winning her - if she can keep her identity hidden, and manage to win the upcoming race.

Silent Place: Lara's on the run with the filly, in a different disguise, from the disgrace and chaos of Athenry.  She meets with a party of nuns, but decides to leave them to minimize their chances of being harmed through association with a horse-thief.  Her father captures her on the road unknowing (in disguise) so even though she didn't want to bring the filly (and the danger) back to her home, she is stuck following her father.  Her independence is too much for his traditionalism, and her peace-loving desires don't mesh with his need to war.  It all comes to nothing when Lara and her father are caught and returned to Athenry, where Lara manages to save the day with ancient knowledge.  Afterwards, Lara realizes she can't live at home, and she slips off to return to the nuns. 

I only wish that some of the male characters weren't horrid people.  The only ones worth anything are the men from Moon-Colored Filly, one boy at Athenry, and one man from Lara's hometown.  Nearly ALL of the women are portrayed positively, so that was a slight let-down.  It's possible (and better) to have girl power without slandering the guys.

Otherwise, nice quick moral-but-not-Christian set of books for the adventuresome horse-mad reader.