Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Horses, The Black Stallion, Walter Farley
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When Alec’s fiancée is killed in a car accident, Alec just snaps. Desperation drives him toward the west. Taking the Black with him, he travels on, looking for answers in the wrong places. Once they reach a desert, Alec and the Black meet a herd of wild mustangs, and Alec turns the Black free. All alone, Alec is in bad shape when a Native American boy finds him and tells him of a startling prophecy. A rider on a black horse will appear at the end of the world, and lead the tribe to safety. Convinced he is not the person, Alec tries to explain who he is, but the boy is stubborn, and the appearance of the Black matches the description of the horse. When a meteorite strikes, Alec must conquer his fears and lead the tribe to safety.
Unfortunately, this whole story is rather unbelievable. It makes interesting reading, but there are a lot of coincidences in it. It dwells a lot on the prophecy part of it, and on Alec’s psychological turmoil. Not to deter you, of course, do please read this. Every series has its highs and its lows. Of course, the Black figures prominently in all things, and there are some interesting things, like the water underground.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review, Science Fiction
Tags:Animals, Horses, The Island Stallion, Walter Farley
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Okay….This book took me completely by surprise. When I picked it up, I was expecting a standard Walter Farley. The description on the back even pointed to it, by saying that Steve gets a chance to race Flame, but has trouble at the races with Flame attacking the other horses. That’s all true, however, it failed to mention that his opportunity is derived from two aliens/men from another planet. Yes, you read that right. Walter Farley goes science fiction. That sort of weirded me out. Actually, most of the story is based around the men from another planet, and the race is only in the last few chapters. I only rated it one star, but if you like sci-fi stuff, (and expect it coming!) it might be worth two stars.
Posted by Ruth
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Horses, The Island Stallion, Walter Farley
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Steve Duncan and his good friend Pitch have returned to their secret hideout on the uninhabited island of Azul. Pitch hopes to continue exploring and documenting the many tunnels of the island, while Steve can’t wait to be reunited with Flame, a wild stallion he befriended, who is the leader of a beautiful band of wild horses. But the trouble begins when Pitch’s step-brother, Tom, discovers their island paradise. Holding them as prisoners, Tom determines to tame Steve’s beloved horse, Flame, by force alone.
I didn’t like this one as much as some of Walter Farley’s other books, and it might not be entirely suitable for younger readers. I found the part where Tom is beating Flame with a whip over, and over, and over to be a bit sickening. However, the rest of it is pretty good.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Horses, The Black Stallion, The Island Stallion, Walter Farley
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On their way back from Europe, Alec and Henry’s plane goes down. Using a life raft, Henry, Alec and the crew make it out safely. The only problem? The Black and several other horses were on the plane with them. As Alec drifts about in the raft, his only comfort is that Henry saw the horses leaving the plane before it went down. Once the life boat reaches the island of Antago in the West Indies, Alec and Henry devote their time to finding the Black, before it could be too late.
This is a fun book. The only problem is the vampire bat. (Excuse me a moment while I go shiver.) The bat is infected with rabies, and plays a large part in the story line. As a heads-up, there are a few evolutionary statements about the bat. If you ever feel queasy about the bat, whatever you do, just keep breathing, it turns out okay in the end. I find it interesting how Walter Farley brought together his two most famous horses and manages to never say which horse is better. There are some tense moments, and, on the whole, this book is fun.
Posted by Rebekah
Categories: All Ages, Fiction, Review
Tags:Animals, Horses, The Black Stallion, Walter Farley
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Our rating:
This book opens dramatically when someone tries to kill the Black, then, while Henry and Alec are still trying to figure out who would want to kill the Black, Abu Já Kub ben Ishak arrives and proves that he is the owner of the Black, finally taking the Black to his home in Arabia. Alec, separated from the Black for what seems to be forever, jumps at the chance to travel to Arabia, in the hope of seeing the Black one last time.
This is the second book in the Black Stallion series. These books are not long reads, in fact, at one point when I was first reading them, I actually read six of them in one day. (Of course, I didn’t have anything else to do.) I enjoy them, and The Black Stallion Returns is very fun. It’s tense in some places, thrilling in others, and yes, occasionally predictable. (But is there a problem with that? At least it’s not “form-written”!) There is some violence. I take that back. There is quite a bit of violence, but it’s not told in a gross way at all. It has almost everything. A great horse (obviously), a really bad badguy, life or death situations. It even has an old feud! A great sequel to a great book.
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