I Walked Through The Desert With A Horse Who Could Talk

Continuing with the Great Narnia Re-Read I have finished The Horse and His Boy.  I like this one because it is almost entirely about people who were born and raised in this other world (with some cameo's from the Pevensie children all grown up).  It is set during the reign of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy and takes place almost entirely outside of the actual country of Narnia.

Quick(ish) summary.  Shasta has spent his whole life the son of a poor fisherman in the country of Calormen.  He overhears a visiting soldier offering to buy him, when his father protests about selling of his child, the soldier points out that the fair-skinned, blond haired, blue-eyed Shasta is obviously of no blood relation and is probably not even Claormene.  Admitting that this is true, that he found the boy in a boat that drifted to shore with nothing but the dead body of his guarding in the boat with him, the fisherman starts to haggle for a price for the boy.  Shasta slips away to the stables where the soldiers war-horse is being housed, and much to Shasta's shock the horse begins speaking to him.  The horse is named Bree (short for a very
unpronounceable name) and tells Shasta that he was kidnapped from the fields of Narnia when he was a foal, Bree also points out that Shasta looks like a northerner further confirming the fisherman's story.  The horse and his boy (Ah hey this is where the title comes from) decide to run away to the north together.  Once they have made good their escape, with Shasta starting of as a hopeless rider they are soon chased  by a lion.  Neither Shasta nor Bree has ever seen a lion, but they have heard tales of the demon lion of the north, a popular tale throughout Calormen.  The lion seems to have a partner and drives Shasta and Bree into the path of another horse Hwin and her companion the Tarkheena Aravis (Tarkaans and Tarkheenas being the equivalents to nobles in Calormen).  Aravis is escaping an arranged marriage and Hwin, much like Bree wants to return to Narnia after being stolen away as a foal.  The foursome enter into the great city of Tashbaan and attempt to get through it without notice.  They agree to meet at the Tombs on the otherside if they get separated.  This being a good adventure story soon sees our group split apart.  Shasta is mistaken for a Northern Prince by the visiting King Edmund and his retinue.  Shasta is taken to their lodgings and fed and tucked in to rest.  While resting he overhears the King and his sister Queen Susan discussing her lack of desire to marry Rabadash the eldest son of the Tisroc (that is what they call there King).  They decide to make there escape while they can,
knowing as soon as the Queen refuses the marriage that they will be in great danger.  They leave Shasta alone and a boy who looks just like him climbs in through the window.  The boy, who is the real Prince Corin helps Shasta find a way out to the tombs.  At the tombs there is no sign of his companions and her curls up for the night, with a large cat who keeps him company.  Meanwhile Aravis has met up with her silly friend the Tarkheena Lasaraleen.  After she finally convinces her friend that she must leave Lasaraleen has her groom take the two horses to the tombs while she and Aravis make their way through the castle out to garden exit.  On their way out they overhear the Tisroc and his son Rabadash discussing the escape of the Narnians.  Tisroc gives his son permission to take the country of Archenland, which lays on the borders between Calormen and Narnia to prepare for the capture of Queen Susan and the eventual invasion of Narnia.  Aravis is reunited with the horses and Shasta and informs them of the Princes plans.  They ride long and hard and arrive at the Hermits dwelling, just as they are approaching they spot a cloud in the distance that is the army of Rabadash, a lion suddenly appears, spurring the horses on to even greater speeds.  Once they get into the gates of the Hermit, he sends Shasta on to warn the King Lune of Archenland.  Shasta arrives with the warning in time and is given a non-talking horse to follow the rest of the group to the castle.  Along the way Shasta gets lost and meets again a lion, turns out that their was only one lion the whole time and it was Aslan, the great lion, protector of Narnia.  Shasta continues into Narnia, carrying the news of war to King Edmund, who is joined by Queen Lucy and of course the Prince Corin.  The battle is won, Shasta is revealed to be Cor, the long lost prince of Archenland and Corins older twin who was kidnapped by a corrupt advisor many years ago.  Rabadash, refusing the mercy of the King is turned into a donkey by Aslan and sent back to his home.  He is returned to human form, but may never go more than 10 miles from the temple of Tash or he will revert back to donkey form forever.  Aravis moves into the castle and eventually marries Cor (formerly Shasta) and Bree and Hwin finally return to Narnia and they all lived happily ever after...well for the most part.
This book features children from this other world, unlike all the other books in this series in which the
children all come from our world and must go back home in the end, which gives it a bit more of a long term consequences feel (does that make sense?).  The book essentially tells us the story of Shasta's whole life, from birth to adulthood.  I like that this book uses a hero and heroine from this particular world, it is a good reminder that you can have amazing magical adventures without having to travel to a different world.  By setting the story mostly in Calormen and Archenland we have now seen almost the whole world now.  We have seen Narnia to the West, sailed the Seas to the East, been to the wilds of Etinsmoore to the North and now finally Calormen and Archenland to the South. It gives a sense of completeness to this strange flat world (remeber it is not round and you can sail over the edge).  One could argue that the way the Calormens were portrayed could be in a racist, or at least stereotypical vein, with everybody acting like what one would think Middle Easteners would act if you wrote this in the 1950's.  I give it a bit of a pass because of the time period (but just a bit mind you).  I do like that the author
created a whole culture for the Calormens, complete with their own hierarchy, religion and style of dress, also I really want to go see the city of Tashbaan.  The god Tash will come into play in a later book, and I appreciate the set up of a world where not everybody believes the same thing, nor has the same culture.  I like learning a bit about Archenland (which is mentioned in later/earlier books depending on the order you read them), but I think my favorite little tidbit is that this story was mentioned in The Silver Chair and this (to me) makes the world even richer, to have stories within stories and tales, and mythologies and folk hero's.  A lot of people like to compare these books to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and call them out for being to simple, but I think C.S. Lewis actually does an amazing job with his world building, albeit in a much subtler way then in some of the more epic fantasies.  Ok so this is a true rambling with me just typing random thoughts about this book so I will stop here and tell you that I love this book, just like all the others.  Happy Reading

Do you think things actually written in other time periods is any sort of excuse for stereotypes   Do you prefer simpler short with a straight forward story or do your prefer the more complicated epics with multiple story threads?  Do you like books that reference themselves?  Do I ever make any sense at all?