Thank you to NetGalley for a review copy of this short little novella! This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I am so excited I got to read it early. Unfortunately, this book is not entirely to my taste despite being brilliantly written. That is entirely a me problem--I always think I will like literary, more dry historical works more than I do when it comes to fantasy. I wanted more whimsy, like the cover seems to promise. However, that's not what this book was trying to be. I do not think Sarah Tolmie should have changed her vision to fit my taste. I just am simply explaining why this was a 3 stars for me.

BUT, if you like any of the following things, CHECK THIS BOOK OUT:

1. Folklore, specifically the Icelandic variety. This was probably the thing that excited me most about this book as I was expecting something a la Bear and the Nightingale. And I do think there's elements of that here, but what this book does so well with folklore is it truly feels like an origin story for folklore. It is a retelling of what is quite clearly an origin story of Icelandic horses. If you know more about the Icelandic culture and how important horses are, this is going to resonate with you a bit more. However, I was not super familiar with that, and still got a lot out of the folklore bits. There were times where I wondered, why are we talking about this? But then I remembered--this is retelling folklore, and Sarah Tolmie is probably including all the bits that people know about this piece of folklore. This feels like folklore retold a la Ariadne more than Bear and the Nightingale in a way--this is a straight retelling of a specific story/origin myth, and there's not a whole lot of character dynamics or plot added to it. And that is fine. I think if you liked that book, and like a drier more origin-story-like telling of legends and folklore, this will resonate with you just fine.

2. LITERARY FANTASY. If you like Kazuo Ishiguro's The Buried Giant or Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun, I highly recommend this to you because the literary vibes are similar. This is not exactly LIKE those books in terms of plot, but in terms of the literary quality and the deep look into history, it is like them. If you liked those, this bite-sized literary fantasy may be for you.

3. Horses. If you're a horse person, and want to hear about Icelandic lore about horses, I recommend this.

Overall, I'm glad I read this, but it is not a new favorite. I recommend it, but it's not one I will talk about often.

The writing was gorgeous, but I could not follow the plot for the life of me. Nothing really made sense to me it felt like so much was going on for such a short book.

I really liked this one! It felt like I was reading a myth. I appreciated the magic, and the history, and it thought it was just the right amount of pages. I don't know anything about the history of Iceland and I still liked it very much, but those who are familiar might get even more out of this than I did.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing me with this advance reader copy.

Description from NetGalley:
Everyone knows of the horses of Iceland, wild, and small, and free, but few have heard their story. Sarah Tolmie’s All the Horses of Iceland weaves their mystical origin into a saga for the modern age. Filled with the magic and darkened whispers of a people on the cusp of major cultural change, All the Horses of Iceland tells the tale of a Norse trader, his travels through Central Asia, and the ghostly magic that followed him home to the land of fire, stone, and ice. His search for riches will take him from Helmgard, through Khazaria, to the steppes of Mongolia, where he will barter for horses and return with much, much more.

This was sold to me as a historical fantasy. It’s very light on fantasy, aside from the ghost. It’s told almost as someone else telling you the main character’s story, which threw me off for a moment. It is also slow to get going, which is not a good thing for a novella. The well written story is about how the horses of Iceland got to Iceland by way of Asia and a long, long journey. I think I was expecting more of the story to take place in Iceland.

Overall it was a quick, nice read. 3/5

Set in the 9th century, All the Horses of Iceland is presented as a story about the origin of the Icelandic horses. I know nothing about the background, so I’m completely unable to judge how much of it is based on actual legends, myth, and history vs made up, but it sure was interesting and refreshing. It’s told in a very distant style, with occasional commentary from the narrator, suited it very well in my opinion, given that it’s presented as a legend from the old days, but it does create a distance between the reader and the story. Especially the characters. I’m not sure I would be able to tolerate it in anything novel-length. However, I appreciated very much that the characters don’t read like modern people inserted into the 9th century.

It’s not going to be a novella for everyone – I can see the distant style in particular as a dealbreaker – but in the end, I liked it well enough.

I had no idea about what I would find in this story when I was on the page 1. After reading few pages, I thought it should be some urban legend or mythical story. Deeper I went, more I realized that it was story of man finding himself and his purpose instead of figuring out where all the horses of Iceland came from.

I cannot put my finger on it, but I needed something more from this story. It was missing a bang in my opinion. I know not every book has to leave something behind or resonate with every reader,, but hopelessly I have that expectation from all of the ones I read.

It was flowing; easy to read in one sitting. I was happy to see few words from my mother tongue sprinkled here and there as well. But like I said, I needed bit more from it!

One of my most anticipated books of 2022 was All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie. When I first heard about it last year, I was instantly intrigued by it.

The narrative style of All the Horses of Iceland reminded me of a nonfiction book I read earlier this year called Daughters of Chivalry by Kelcey Wilson-Lee. That book followed the lives of Edward I’s five daughters. In this book, there was a clear narrator, and it was basically written as an autobiography of a fictional historical figure. The story followed a man during his travels and chronicled the people he met, the places he went, the magic he encountered, and ultimately the horses that would give context to the title of the story.

I’m not very familiar with the sources Tolmie used for some aspects of the story. So, I found the author’s note in the back helpful for clarifying a few details I was unsure about after I finished reading.

All that to say: All the Horses of Iceland was a slow and contemplative story, but I enjoyed reading it.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (TorDotCom) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

DNFing this one at 50% because I am incredibly bored. This had some really great writing, but I just could not get into the story at all. It was interesting for a second with the ghost plot, but after that was done I couldn’t stay interested.

I also didn’t like the main character much? He just did not click with me. I am interested in trying out other books by this author though! I hope this finds people who will love it.

This book emulates a historical saga in its prose and fluidity, and I really loved the historical elements of this book. The light fantasy portions that interweave themselves throughout the book are also completely engaging and I found myself really interested in every aspect of the different cultural approaches to magic. Set in the 9th century, I really appreciated the lens of the multicultural and multi-religious setting that this book takes place in, from the far northern reaches of Iceland to the steppes of Mongolia. This reads like a historical travel journal, but the interweaving of fantastic elements keeps the narrative gripping.

Some content notes to be aware of: enslavement, death, decapitation, burial, death of adult child (off page),

Thank you Tor and Netgalley for an eArc in exchange for an honest review!

"All the Horses of Iceland" proved to be an interesting read. It was entirely to my tastes, as I found the writing a little distant and difficult to truly fall into, but I did enjoy this book. It was deeply rooted in lore and history, and while some of it definitely went over my head, I felt that I learned a lot from reading this.

The book had beautiful descriptions of the main character, a horse trader, as he ventures throughout Asia. The writing style was a bit cumbersome and very little of the descriptive narrative stuck with me as I really wanted to enjoy this book. I really didn't feel any emotion or any insight to the character's personality as I continued to read. I was really looking for more beautiful insight, especially with the title of the book, and of the scenery. I didn't feel the magic or whimsy within the book that it was advertised as. I was really hoping for more thorough explanations as the book progressed, but there really wasn't much, so I think it will leave most readers confused and wanting more from the book.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

I love the cover on this. The title and the cover together made me so intrigued, and when I read the premise, I was even more interested. Unfortunately, for me, this felt so bogged down in heavy words, I just felt like I was struggling to get through it. The story felt incredibly slow, and for such a short story, I thought it would move at a faster pace. I didn't get connected to the characters, and it just didn't work out for me.

This novella was very absorbing. After getting used to the writing style in the beginning, I was sucked into a very unique tale of a mans journey after leaving, and eventually returning, to Iceland.

Things I Liked:
-The No Name Horse was so well described and had so much character i could visualize her so clearly
-The magic spoken of throughout the story
- The journey and different people met along the way
-The mythology

Things I did not like:
-The story was at times confusing
- I was not always clear on where they were. I wish there had been a map to reference.

Beautiful story.

Thank you to Macmillan and Netgalley for offering me a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to adore this book so much. The watercolor cover, the rich culture, and the unusual storyline set in a fantastical, magical Iceland. The writing is very fairytale-like, and I absolutely love the setting (more books should be set in Iceland in 2022, right?) This book was one of my most anticipated Netgalley approvals, but I just felt like it missed my expectations. The plot was slow and tedious for the majority of the book, and I found myself wanting to speed along to the end just so I could finish. With so much information and context in such a short story, some of the mythology was hard to follow, and I found myself tripping over some of the history and names that I was trying to remember and digest as the story dragged on. In the end, I did enjoy the fantasy bits and the incorporation of the horses, but I felt little connection to any of the characters and the story.

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

Tor.com has a well-established reputation for their quality SFF novellas. <i>All the Horses of Iceland</i> is an interesting work with excellent writing, yet didn't meet my expectations. Protagonist Eyvind is an Icelandic man exploring the medieval world. In the company of merchants, he explores deep into Asia and finds extraordinary horses--and a powerful ghost.

Foremost, the book has a staunchly literary vibe. It is very slow to get going, and I always felt distanced from Eyvind. The premise of the book is set-up right away: we are reading a tale of events that have happened. Therefore, there's no real sense of urgency as the plot gradually unfolds. The description of the novella had me quite excited. I am HERE for historical fantasies about horses! However, the horses--and the principal horse--played a much smaller role than expected. Really, they don't feature in the novella much at all until about halfway through.

What I found the book excelled in was creating a particular mood. The author obviously put immense research into this work, and the way the diverse characters interact is fascinating. The book feels incredibly grounded in its unique setting.

In all, it's an intriguing read, even if it didn't fully connect for me.

It's not the fastest read despite its short length, but I had a great time reading it. Thank you for giving me a chance to check it before the official release.

I'm not quite sure what it was exactly, but something about this was a miss for me. I wanted a lyrical and poetic story and while they was nothing wrong with the writing it just didn't pull me in. The story dragged, I spent most of it confused. I think the concept is so interesting, I'm definitely going to be researching the horses of Iceland after this.

Lyrical, haunting, beautiful. What a triumph of a story. I didn't want it to end. I could have happily read another 300 pages of this world. What a radical novel, told in such a unique way, that felt dreamy and feverish and poignant.

"Every horse in Iceland, like every person, has ancestors who sailed here in a ship...their sturdy kin can be seen...working around farms and fjords...[these] little horses of the North, strong as oxen...".

In the ninth century, in the city of Helmgard, Norse trader, Eyvind of Eyri, approached a "substantial merchant" named David and addressed him in river-language (a form of Norse-Slavic creole). He asked if he could buy into his trading vessel. David, not a river trader, planned to travel inland along the Silk Road to the grassy steppes of Mongolia. Eyvind elected to journey with David and his crew, hoping to barter for horses thought to be resilient to harsh weather; strong, wild horses that would make him rich upon his return to Iceland.

This historical fantasy novella, written as a saga, describes Eyvind's experiences in his multi-year journey. He would encounter religious differences. "In the matter of religion he was no better and no worse than the rest of his countrymen...". Many trade routes would be controlled and tolls collected. The trip would take between one hundred days and one year, in each direction, depending upon warfare with the Rus or the Khazars. Finally! David and Eyvind view "a great ocean of tough grass. It went on and on to the horizon, waving like the sea. [They] had come to the country where herdsmen and shepherds were chieftains". Eyvind needed to secure permission to trade for some incomparably different horses, ones that were strong and spirited. Why would an occasional horse go crazy and rear?

"In Iceland, ghosts are robust but this ghost who came to speak to Eyvind had a faint, windy voice, lips moving soundlessly." Perhaps Eyvind was gifted with magical powers in his deaf left ear. Might he communicate with the spirit world and help the ghost of Borte, the chieftain's dead wife, find peace? A white horse, kept pace with Eyvind, moving "steadily and purposefully" through the herd. This horse with no name, a small compact horse from the Northern Steppes, would make the long, difficult journey to Iceland accompanied by twenty brown and black horses. And, so ends the saga of a magnificent white horse, the most famous of all horses in Iceland.

Author Sarah Tolmie's extensive knowledge of Norse history and merchant trading along the Silk Road was most informative. Heavy on history and slow to introduce horse trading to the tome, some readers might find this read to be more history than folklore. This reader, however, was delighted!

Thank you Macmillan/Tor-Forge, Tordotcom and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.