I really liked The Fourth Island by this author so when I saw this was her next book, I was excited to read it. It has another beautiful cover–and horses.

The novella is told like folklore, and I read it in one sitting. It’s a fictional tale of a mare who is the ancestor of all horses in Iceland and the man who traveled far and back to bring her there.

You can tell a lot of research went into the writing, and it made me curious to learn more about these hardy Icelandic horses. Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan/Tor-Forge, and Tordotcom for my copy.

This is a dreamy novella that combines mythology with closely-researched history. There's very little plot. The book recounts the journey of Eyvind, a Norse trader, through Eurasia (from Iceland to Mongolia and back), where he encounters many different cultures and languages. The book is more atmospheric than narrative, with evocative prose. Recommended for when you want to curl up inside on a cold day and read about a world that might have existed once upon a time.

I really expected and wanted to love this book. Yet, although the story itself is intriguing, it seemed to move at a snail's pace. That said, my rating is possibly more on me than the author or story itself. Myths, after all, do tend to move forward haphazardly and occasionally very, very slowly. Hence, if you're more attuned to that pace and perhaps have some background in Old Norse mythology, this fantasy may be right up your alley. As a forever horse lover, as noted, I found the story intriguing but slow. It took awhile for the unfamiliar names and terms to sort themselves out in my mind, too, so wished there had been a tad bit more explanation. That may have been by design, of course, to reflect main character Eyvind's same unfamiliarity with many of the different languages he encountered on her journey.

The story itself is simple. Eyvind leaves his home to journey to, well, he really isn't sure where he's going for sure. Along the way he encounters a diverse population, most suspicious and even unfriendly toward those unfamiliar to them. In the process, he discovered magic within himself and, yes, found the magical horse with no name. He soon acquires a small band of horses that seem strangely bound to him via the horse with no name's mysterious powers. I had to smile as on his journey homeward, he meets a follower of Mohamed who is riding a beautiful mare, one whose breed he discovers is so prized that they are kept in their owner's tents at night and largely pampered. Surely an Arabian. This is in contrast to the sturdy, tough soon to be Icelandic horses that Eyvind has acquired.

Although this book didn't quite live up to my expectations, the fantasy was interesting and I spent some time researching the breed. I was somewhat familiar with the breed as there are some of these horses scattered about Alaska in remote areas, so even knowing this was a fantasy story, I wanted to know more. In other words, the book had done perhaps what was intended, making me curious. These horses toughness and intelligence are well known. The Icelandic horse is noted for having five paces rather than the three more common horse gaits. The tolt was mentioned in the book but never fully described. According to my research, in this pace the horse keeps its back level, head up, neck arched, and lifts both feet high in a four beat, lateral motion. They can reach the speed of 20-35 mph at this gait. Amazing. I wish the book had been this amazing and given more detail but if you're into mythic lore and have some background knowledge, you may find the book fascinating.

Thank you #NetGallery and #Macmillan, #Tor/Forge, for the ARC. While it didn't quite live up to my expectations, it was still intriguing and I learned a great deal about the mythology of the horse.

Set in early ninth century, this historical fantasy novella details the journey of Eyvind as he journeys on the Silk Road. Along the way he comes into possession of a small herd of horses that he intends to bring home to Iceland. One of these horses is a white mare with magic and has no name. I was really interested in this story, but found myself slightly disappointed in the final result. The prose, while gorgeous, still fell flat for me as there was not a lot of character development or additional settings or worldbuilding. The historical origin of horses on Iceland did intrigue me and we did we learn a lot about history. If you’re a reader with pre-existing knowledge of Norse or Slavic history or are familiar with the locations mentioned in the story, you may enjoy it much more. Overall, I think the story was a good one, but the more simple, straightforward text just wasn't for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with this Digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a historical fantasy novella detailing the journey of a man named Eyvind on the Silk Road in the early ninth century. He encounters people of various cultures and beliefs, conflicts that alter his path home, and new phenomena such as written language and fabric-making techniques. He comes into ownership of a small herd of horses that he brings back to Iceland, one of which is a white mare with a magical quality.

The synopsis promises gorgeous prose, but I found it to be devoid of personality or emotion. The sentence structure was very simple, and there wasn't anything lyrical about it. I was hoping the story would have a greater touch of magic and whimsy to it, but instead it read like a history textbook. Unless you're familiar with the early history of Khazaria and Judaism, and Norse, Slavic, and Mongolian cultures, this novella will be very confusing for you. There were a lot of terms and locations given without explanations for the reader, and it felt like an extensive background in ninth-century history was required for enjoyment.

I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t love it either. Although there were some lovely turns of phrase, the style was mostly quite dry; the conceit is that this story is being set down in writing by a Christian monk or priest, and in fairness it very much nails that vibe, the style of a historical chronicle. The problem is that it’s not a style I enjoy; it felt impersonal and distant, and was very… It’s like a bare but elegant wooden carving; I can understand why others like the aesthetic, I can tell that a great deal of thought and skill went into its crafting – but it’s not for me.

It didn’t help that I didn’t especially like or admire or enjoy the main character, and the characters I found most interesting we barely saw at all.

This same story would have been one I deeply enjoyed if it had been written in a more descriptive style. I’ve seen this book described as dreamlike, poetic, folkloric – I disagree. The fantasy elements are treated in a very no-nonsense, practical manner, very matter-of-fact, and I appreciated it – it did a lot to underscore how the various peoples saw magic, that it was a known and accepted part of life, only strange in the way that any specialised craft is strange to those who are not trained in it. But the trade-off of that approach is that there was never any sense of wonder or beauty attached to the magical aspects of the story – really, there wasn’t much expression of wonder anywhere. Setting up the story as a historical chronicle is very different from framing it as a fairytale or myth, and while I’m sure there are going to be people who majorly enjoy this framework, I’m not one of them.

That said, Horses does have its own quiet grace. It flows like a cool mountain stream – sharp and bright and crystal clear, and if it’s bare and lacking in the flourishes and curlicues I was hoping for, well – it doesn’t need them, any more than a mountain stream requires decoration. There is no question that it is exactly what Tolmie intended for it to be, or that it does what she wanted it to do very well.

This one is more an issue of me being the wrong reader for this book, rather than the book itself being flawed.

Such beautiful writing, the words immediately flew across the page in a poetic manner. The story itself though was not as riveting or as captivating as I had hoped that it would be. However, if you appreciate Nordic or Icelandic tales and backgrounds, then I would still suggest this book. Thank you Macmillan-Tor/Forge for the advanced reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review an advanced e-reader's copy of this title in exchange of an unbiased, honest review.

ALL THE HORSES OF ICELAND - Sarah Tolmie
Pub Date: 01 Mar 2022

This short historical fantasy story about one man's journey back to Iceland with a herd of wild horses was beautifully written but completely unexciting. I loved the premise of this being a historical origin story of Icelandic horses, but the sluggish pace and lack of intriguing plot points made it fall flat for me. The plot itself, which held so much potential, moved at a glacial pace and ultimately left me feeling like nothing had ultimately happened by the last page. The characters, while well-crafted and believable, added only variety to the story and not much else. If you're looking for something heavy in mundane dialogue and historical references, this may be for you. If this was a longer book I likely would have DNF'd simply because it was so slow and lacked the exciting substance I was looking for in a short fantasy tale.

This book was a little confusing; since it was so short, there wasn’t much room for a lot of exposition, and it was also very plot-based rather than character-based.
However, I love horses and I liked that this was a story of the white mare more so than of Eyvind. I didn’t particularly like Eyvind, but I did like the story of Bortë and the mare with no name.
The writing was really excellent as well. 3/5 stars

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. I will update Netgalley once I read & review a physical copy.

My review will be based on the physical ARC I read.