Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Sometimes I think this book is just trying to confuse the reader. I don’t mean the horse stuff, that’s for the horse enthusiasts whom I assume is the target audience. I mean what started out as a horse trainer who is impatient about having his horse breed with a prize race horse (only to act like a porn director directing his daughter and I’m sure that exists) is bringing in superstitions out of nowhere. Now our hero and his semi-nemesis are searching for the Black and are, according to Captain Philippe, on the doorstep of Kovi, a horse god of sorts. This is just getting weird now.
Chapter 12: The Home Of Kovi
This was more of a mood-setting piece as Alec and the Captain continued searching for the Black. Alec and the Captain are still searching a dangerous part of the hammock with only moonlight (occasionally blocked by clouds) for light. Then something spooks the Captain. Did he see the infamous Kovi? We don’t know, but the sounds of the swamp combined with the Captain’s superstition and paranoia are beginning to get to Alec.
The use of the Captain is confusing me. Like I said, he started out as a man who was used to getting what he wanted and what he wanted was to get Black to mate with Ghost, racing season be hanged. Now suddenly he’s practically comatose thanks to potentially irrational fear (since this doesn’t feel like the kind of series from what I’ve heard of it to involve deities), weakening his status as a villain. Or partial villain. He’s sorry when he accidentally knocked out Alec, there’s respect for his horse (he attacked the Black because he thought he wasn’t treating Ghost properly) and outside of being impatient and sneaky he isn’t evil in the traditional villain sense. This bit with Kovi isn’t helping his reputation in any form and it’s a shame that this was added to the story. Had he simply seen the error of his ways and legitimately tried to help or remained obsessed with breaking Black as breeding material for Ghost (who seems to have been forgotten, with the horse god Kovi possibly taking over the “ghost” role of the title) and been a proper threat I might have taken him more seriously. Now he just seems like he’s wasted as a character.
Considering the title of our next chapter, are we finally going to meet this horse god or at least learn if he exists? Join me next time for the next installment as we find out.
Next time: Kovi
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