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.
Your mileage may differ from mine if you’re reading along (anyone?) but I’m having trouble getting into this book. We’ve gone from the story of a horse trainer who wants his horse mated with a champion racehorse whether the owner wants to or not to a story where a horse god may or may not exist but the stories are scaring the horse’s owner as he tries to find his horse at midnight in the swamps of Florida. One thing I like about the Weekly Reader Book Club is that it offered numerous styles, but maybe in all the time it took me to finally read this book my tastes have been formed and I can’t get into this book.
Or this wasn’t one of The Black Stallion‘s better installment. We last left our hero in a daze worrying that Kovi the horse god was coming for him. As I read today’s chapter I notice this and the next chapter were so short I might as well combine them.
Chapter 14: The Bridge and Chapter 15: The Way Back
Whatever heck I may be giving Walter Farley regarding the chapter titles or not being able to follow things as a non-horse person (I have nothing against horses but I don’t know a lot about them) or how the story has shifted in direction from the prologue, he does a good job of visualizing Alec’s fear. The sounds around him are one thing but now there are lights all over the place. My theory is that a search team came out for Alec and the Black from the stable they were vacationing at. I have not read ahead so if I’m right don’t tell me. Remember the rules!
It’s finding the Black in 15 that stabilizes Alec. The “bridge” of 14 was Alec thinking he bridged between the natural and unnatural world, pushing that out of his mind once he was reunited with Black. Going back for the Captain all they find is his figurine. The search is on for the villain-turned-loon and considering the title of the next chapter we aren’t done with the supernatural stuff.
Next Time: Kovi Strikes
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