All the Horses of Iceland, by Sarah Tolmie

[sophia_sol]

Dang I love this book. As I read it I kept on trying to figure out how to articulate to myself what it is about the way the story is presented that I love so much, and it's hard to do but I'll try to explain! It's like....prosaic and mythical at the same time, comfortable to portray mindsets that are very different from the reader's, comfortable to present the characters with all their prejudices and complexities on display without censure or applause, just like, "here's how things are, and how things are is sometimes a little weird to the reader, and sometimes a little weird to the characters, but it's all important and it's all a part of life and I'm going to tell you about it." I love this so much.

I also love the setting: it's fantasy-flavoured historical fiction, where all the characters definitely believe in magic (as many cultures currently do and have done throughout the ages) and magical things seem to happen, but it's not entirely clear whether the magic is really real. The main character is a Norse man from Iceland in the 9th century who goes on a trading journey to Mongolia, an extensive journey largely taken by land, and there's much mixing of culture and much encountering of unfamiliar languages and customs, and I love how the intermingling of peoples is portrayed. It's a complex interplay of alliance and enemy, of trust and mistrust, of people working together and benefiting from each other while still being other.

Also it's about how important a) horses and b) religion are to people!

It's a short book and a quick read and I found it mesmerizing.

Comments

[sonia]

This sounds lovely! Thanks for the review. I put it on hold at the library, and maybe by the time it comes in I will have found my energy and focus for reading again.

[sophia_sol]

I hope you find you have the energy, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[sonia]

Thank you! I will report back.

[yuuago]

That sounds fascinating. Added it to my to-reads. :D Looking forward to it!

[sophia_sol]

hooray! It really is fascinating.

[chestnut_pod]

I cannot cannot cannot wait!!! It's on my holds list SO close to the top. The instant I saw HORSES and RELIGION I began frothing at the mouth. You're the first person I've seen talking about it, and now that you've given it your stamp of approval, I am even MORE excited.

[sophia_sol]

YESSSSSS I look forward to hearing your thoughts about it too!! cannot believe I haven't seen anyone else talking about this book, it is GREAT.

[oracne]

This sounds so cool!

[sophia_sol]

it really is! I love how you can tell how much the author cares about history

[lirazel]

SOLD. Will definitely be reading this one!

[sophia_sol]

I hope you like it as much as I did!

[lirazel]

I will report back!

[sophia_sol]

excellent :)