Post by tintin on Apr 25, 2013 21:22:58 GMT 1
Mory, a school girl, and her horse, Midnight Dancer, live on a farm in Wales. She has several horsey school friends and the book recounts some of their adventures. The central thread around which these adventures are set is the arrival of a new boy in the area, Felix, and they include not only the fires you might expect from the title (culminating in a dramatic rescue), but also a band of trailer thieves and the sometimes strained relations with a party of urban school kids on a trip in the area. Felix is a troubled boy who we first encounter engaged in backwoodsman type pursuits in his favourite guise, that of a Red Indian. Despite Felix’s very best efforts to prove true US General Sheridan’s unfortunate maxim that, “the only good Indian is a dead Indian”, the children persevere with him, and all are friends in the end.
This is a frustrating review to write as I was not gripped by this book, yet I cannot pinpoint as to why.
Unfortunately I read the book not long after Lynda Kelly’s “The Most Horrible Pony” with which the plot had great similarities (girl on a farm with horsey school friends, annoying new child in the area who has to be persevered with until becomes a friend, a bit of crime and mystery, a sheep dog friend and even the American Indian elements). However, I greatly enjoyed the adventures of Amy and Clown whereas those of Mory and Dancer were a bit of an effort. I accept I am not the target audience, but that applies equally to both books.
The equine characters are more sharply drawn in The Most Horrible Pony which makes a bit of a difference, but I enjoyed Pat Smythe’s books which had the same fault.
I suppose it is down to writing style and some writers appeal to some readers more than others. The charm of fiction, particularly horse fiction, is it allows you a priveliged glimpse into a private world. The author’s burden is two fold – firstly to make that world attractive and/or compelling enough to make the reader not only want to enter, but to return and secondly to make it believeable. I don’t know what the missing ingredient is with this book, but it only just misses the target.
The book does have some nice illustrations, good accounts of stable life and good values. It is realistic and may well be enjoyed by those who want to dream about a rural farming life. There is nothing wrong with the book, it is just to me at least, there are others that do the same job better.
I would be very interested indeed in the views of others who have read the book, or other volumes in the same series.
This is a frustrating review to write as I was not gripped by this book, yet I cannot pinpoint as to why.
Unfortunately I read the book not long after Lynda Kelly’s “The Most Horrible Pony” with which the plot had great similarities (girl on a farm with horsey school friends, annoying new child in the area who has to be persevered with until becomes a friend, a bit of crime and mystery, a sheep dog friend and even the American Indian elements). However, I greatly enjoyed the adventures of Amy and Clown whereas those of Mory and Dancer were a bit of an effort. I accept I am not the target audience, but that applies equally to both books.
The equine characters are more sharply drawn in The Most Horrible Pony which makes a bit of a difference, but I enjoyed Pat Smythe’s books which had the same fault.
I suppose it is down to writing style and some writers appeal to some readers more than others. The charm of fiction, particularly horse fiction, is it allows you a priveliged glimpse into a private world. The author’s burden is two fold – firstly to make that world attractive and/or compelling enough to make the reader not only want to enter, but to return and secondly to make it believeable. I don’t know what the missing ingredient is with this book, but it only just misses the target.
The book does have some nice illustrations, good accounts of stable life and good values. It is realistic and may well be enjoyed by those who want to dream about a rural farming life. There is nothing wrong with the book, it is just to me at least, there are others that do the same job better.
I would be very interested indeed in the views of others who have read the book, or other volumes in the same series.