A fantastic author, but I couldn't get into this one. Maybe its me or my style preferences, but it felt wordy or difficult to read.

’Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses, so they run.’ - Joel 2:4

If you have not read a book by Andrew Krivak, you are missing out- BIG TIME! Like the Appearance of Horses is a gripping and masterfully told story of one family and their century of war.

Jozef Vinich settled in the small town of Darden, Pennsylvania after World War I. One day a young man, Bexhet Konar, arrives after his grandfather helped him escape fascist Hungary and traveled to America to find Jozef Vinich. Jozef saved Bexhet's life when he was an infant and delivered him to his grandfather. He is told that Jozeh saved him once and will do so again. There he learns English and falls in love with Jozef's daughter, Hannah. Their son, Sam will fight in Vietnam and come home with addiction and scars. Sam's son will be a Marine on his way to Iraq.

This sounds like a lot to fit into 278 pages, but Krivak does so beautifully and with skill. He tells the story of a family that has fought in many wars and how it affects their lives. It is also about family, love, duty and serving your country. Readers will read as the characters experience love, loss, grief, hope and show strength. If you have read The Sojourn and/or The Signal Flame, you may be familiar with some of the characters.

Andrew Krivak is such a gifted writer. He has written such beautiful and moving passages in this book. I found myself highlighting many passages and putting the book down so I could savor the words. His writing is so beautiful, vivid, and descriptive.

This is the third of the Dardan Trilogy. The first book, The Sojourn, tells the story of the formative years of Jozef Vinich; the second, The Signal Flame, begins in 1972 after Jozef’s death and focuses on his widowed daughter Hannah and her son Bo. This installment returns to 1933 while Jozef is still alive.

Bexhet Konar arrives in Dardan, Pennsylvania, looking for Jozef, the man who saved his life at the end of World War I. Jozef welcomes Bexhet (Becks) into his family; eventually he marries Hannah and they have two sons, Bo and Samuel. The second part of the novel is about Samuel who has served two tours of duty in Vietnam where he becomes a prisoner of war.

The unifying theme of the trilogy is the effects of war on those who serve and those who are left behind. Jozef fought in World War II, Becks serves in World War II, Samuel serves two tours in Vietnam, and Jozef’s great-grandson Burne is mentioned as being in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Men return from battle changed people, unable to reconnect with their families – if they return at all. The family members left behind worry and grieve. There is heartbreak for everyone. And there seems no end to war: the last chapter is from Hannah’s perspective and she thinks, “Yes. There is a war there. Another one the boy has gone to. Isn’t there always a war?”

There are some sections which are problematic. Becks’ wartime experiences, especially his trek from France to Hungary, are described in too much detail. Then his arrival at the kampania site stretches credulity; not only does he manage to find it, but the timing seems contrived. The episode involving Sam and Kira is strange. She takes him to a place that “is not a good place, but it is the only place I know”? Mystical elements seldom appeal to me, and the ones in this novel don’t. Certainly, the mythology that the Romani create around Becks also seems incredible. Sam’s meeting with Doc Moore is so coincidental as to be “astounding.”

The style is similar to that found in the previous two books. The author has several very long sentences whose meaning is sometimes lost in verbosity. 100+-word sentences are not unusual. Though grammatically correct, these convoluted sentences require the reader to stop and re-read. Readers must also be prepared for some challenging vocabulary like fossorial and obliquity.

This is not my favourite of the trilogy, but now that it is complete, it might be interesting to re-read all three books in order.

See my review of The Sojourn at https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/2017/01/review-of-sojourn-by-andrew-krivak.html and my review of The Signal Flame at https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/2017/01/review-of-sojourn-by-andrew-krivak.html.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

Like the Appearance of Horses by Andrew Krivak is a complex but tightly focused multi-generational saga of war. As the third book in the Dardan Trilogy, it continues the narrative of the family of Jozef Vinich, an American-born transplant to Austria-Hungary who becomes a sharpshooter in WWI before eventually finding his way back to the U.S. to build a home in Dardan, Pennsylvania. The backstory is trickled into the current story, so that Like the Appearance of Horses works very well as a standalone novel. While jumping back and forth in time, this novel primarily focuses on the next two generations of men (in the Vinich family) going off to war – first WWII and then Vietnam.

Jozef, now a patriarch, has a daughter, Hannah. She marries Becks (Bexhet), the boy who, as an infant during the war, was saved by Jozef, a story told in the previous book.

Becks goes off to war in turn. When he is separated from his company during the Battle of the Ardennes, he is rescued by Roma – his people – and guided back to where he hopes to find his grandfather. The journey is an epic in itself. And what comes of it is tragic.

Becks and Hannah have two sons. The eldest stays at home on the family farm while the younger, Sam, is forced to enlist in the army after an arrest. He is very good at soldiering, but that doesn’t prevent his capture, imprisonment, and torture. While he is MIA, his fiancee and brother back home fall in love and become engaged. When Sam finally returns home, addicted to heroin, he must make an epic journey of his own.

The saga wraps up in the next generation, when Sam’s son has gone off to war, not to return.

The writing is lush and dense. It is a moving story of how war damages not only the men who fight it, but all those who live within war-torn landscapes and all those left at home.

Drawn once again into the town of Dardan the third book in this trilogy moves us further into the bonds and understanding of this unique close family. The cost of war on families, souls and the world are laid bare here and make for an emotional read,

LIKE THE APPEARANCES OF HORSES
BY: ANDREW KRIVAK

I am always thrilled when one of my all time favorite Authors writes a new novel. Andrew Krivak has accomplished another astonishing addition to his trilogy when returning to the two thousand acres Jozef Vinich has amassed in Dardan, Pennsylvania. "Like the Appearance of Horses," is Literary fiction, and Historical fiction of the highest order. It is the third of this gifted Authors trilogy beginning with, "The Sojourn," which was a finalist for the National Book Award. I absolutely fell in love with this gifted Author's novel which I discovered in 2017, called, "The Signal Flame," which was the second novel in this powerful trilogy, but can be enjoyed as a standalone, as with all three of them. Andrew Krivak's latest effervescent, and third of this trilogy is called, "Like the Appearance of Horses," is also a magnificent addition with the same beautiful writing that is breathtaking throughout everything he produces.

This third of the trilogy I found to be epic in scope and multifaceted in that it begins with returning to Jozef Vinich, the patriarch of this family, and his wife Helen. They inhabit a large homestead that their daughter Hannah inherits that is two thousand acres of orchards, rivers and mountains in Dardan, Pennsylvania. Helen and a young Hannah get sick from the flu, which Helen sadly dies leaving a bereft young Hannah who recovers missing her mother. Bexhet Konar whom Jozef saved as a baby, emigrates to Dardan in 1933, with Jozef welcoming him treating him as a son. In May of 1940, Bexhet marries Hannah whom they have been deeply in love with one another for years.

One of the things that I appreciated about this latest installment is that it reintroduces these characters so that it refreshed my memory so that as I said earlier they all work brilliantly well as a standalone. Even though the main focus is to delve more deeply in details about Bexhet Konar, which I appreciated, because he was one of my favorite characters from, "The Signal Flame,"in which he had previously played a minor role. His gentle nature imbued with a pure heart is really a peace loving man whose circumstances broke my heart. So I was enamored that this novel's aim was to place most of its focus on Bexhet, and his youngest son Samuel Konar and, feature their stories as the main emphasis.

I really loved Jozef, Hannah, and Bo from, "The Signal Flame," but their roles served more of a back drop in this novel. This newest novel definitely seemed geared towards the greater in depth roles with the character developments of Bexhet Konar, and Samuel Konar. My favorite being Bexhet feeling as though he ended up still with much more of my sympathy at the tragic events which were explored. I guess Samuel's circumstances were also heartbreaking, but I felt he was responsible for the choices he made. I didn't like any member of the Younger family. I didn't like Paul Younger, even though the novel deals with what he did was an accident. I understood Hannah's dislike for Paul Younger. I also understood her not wanting either of her sons getting involved with Paul Younger's daughter Ruth. I didn't like what Ruth, and Bo did to Samuel. I felt that Ruth Younger and Bo Konar were selfish which most likely contributed to Samuel leaving his home. The text even states that when Samuel was a POW his thoughts that made him a survivor were his memories hunting, and fishing the land he grew up on with his Grandfather, Jozef. I'm even disappointed with Jozef leaving the two thousand acres to only one grandson, which was Bo. I didn't see that as fair to Samuel, seeing as Jozef had two grandsons.

My favorite parts of the novel revolve around the family, and their relationships. Even though I thought that Bexhet, Hannah, and Samuel had been dealt with more than their fair share of heartbreak, I admired each one of them for how they handled their situations. I think that this is another example of how skilled and psychologically astute Andrew Krivak has proved himself to be. This is another outstanding literary masterpiece carefully crafted by him. His ability to elicit such strong emotions from me towards his characters are one of the reasons why he is one of my favorite Authors. His use of language is exemplary. I love all of his books, yet I feel that this one was the hardest for me to review. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that this novel has a large part devoted to both, the Second World War, and the Vietnam War. While I still found myself interested, understanding why they were necessary for the Author to include, I do think Bexhet's section about World War II, could use some editing. It was excessive with too many details making it dense. I don't think that a blow by blow recounting of every single conflict needs to be included for the reader to understand Bexhet Konar's reasons for his actions. I don't feel as though this review does this book justice, but it is not for the lack of trying.

My review for "The Signal Flame," can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review for "The Bear," can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Publication Date: May 9, 2023

Thank you to Net Galley, Andrew Krivak and Bellevue Literary Press for generously providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#LiketheAppearanceofHorses #AndrewKrivak #BellevueLiteraryPress #NetGalley

4.5 stars

This is a story of men who go to war, a multigenerational story spanning decades. It moves around in time, telling of the family first introduced in The Sojourn and The Signal Flame. Jozef Vinich is a man I was happy to meet in the first novels. This one is focused on the wars fought in by others - the Romani boy he saved years before and who is taken in by Jozef and later marries his daughter and the second is about their son. It’s heartbreaking and moving reflecting on the wars, the losses, what it does to these men, to the family they leave behind. It’s also about saving lives in one way of another, about the things that life is made of - family and friendship, belonging, of where home is, what the land they built theit home on means, of love .

If you’ve read the first two books , a lot of what happens here is already known, but here I found the more in depth intimate story of what happened to these two men . I was most glad to meet Jozef again. If for nothing else, read it for the writing. It’s the kind of writing that has me at times rereading sentences and paragraphs just to experience them again. Of course, with Andrew Krivak, in addition to the stunning prose , there is always so much more .

I received a copy of this from. Bellevue Literary Press through NetGalley.

I am sorry to report I could not get into this book. I tried several tines to read the book but it was a struggle. Ultimately, skimmed the book.

This was good..
However I was hoping it would be more of a continuation of this family that just enthralled me in The Signal Flame which I absolutely loved!
The beginning of the book I thought was excellent.. focused on the members of the family, then a lot of the rest of the book involved two of the family members during World War II and then later the Vietnam War.
The writing was excellent of course, this author really is great, but I kept hoping as I was reading it that the story would take up again with the family’s story.
4 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bellevue Literary
Press for the ARC!

’Their appearance is like the appearance of horses,
and like war horses, so they run.’ - Joel 2:4

This is a story of family, the wars fought through the generations of this family, as well as the impact it has on family.

This story begins in 1933, as an eleven-year old girl is standing in front of the window watching as a boy is approaching their property, hunched over with a pack on his back, dressed in men’s clothing, but unlike the clothing the men wore in Dardan. She watches as he approaches the house and climbs the front steps, and knocks on the door. She waits, and after a time, he knocks again. And still she waits. When her mother comes from the kitchen, none too pleased to be interrupted and begins to chastise her, but Hannah whispers to her that the person outside is a stranger, but she doesn’t believe they need to be afraid of him. ’Rather (and she could not say why), he was someone she had been waiting for.’

’He had come from someplace unlike any she or her mother could imagine, and she wondered if it was the place her father had spoken of, in a story told before she fell asleep one night, about a kingdom of people dressed like this boy, a kingdom so vast, its borders of mountains and rivers could not be crossed by foot in four phases of a moon.’

Her mother goes to the door and opens it, and he looks at the mother and then the daughter, and asks the mother if Mr. Vine is home, a question he’s practiced. The mother tells him he is not home, but invites him in to wait for her husband. ’To je v poriadku’, she tells him - ‘it’s okay’, ’Si hladný?’ she asks, - are you hungry?

Not long after, Hannah’s father returns, and when he sees the man he’s traveled all this way to see, the words tumble out of his mouth in a rush, how and why he had traveled all this way to find him.
This story begins in Dardan, Pennsylvania, where Jozef, Hannah’s father, came to live after the first World War. This is also the place where Krivak’s ’The Signal Flame’ is set. The story does go back in time and place, and shares the family stories related to the wars that followed. While war is a theme throughout this story, this isn’t a story as much about war, as it is a story of how it affects the lives of those who served, as well as the lives of those waiting, praying for their safe return. Affecting each generation involved in World War I, World War II as well as Vietnam.

This is a story about family, and the impact these wars have on this family over the generations, as well as different responses to these individual wars by the families and those who wait for their return. But, it is also a story about love, loss, the impact on those who served, and the army values of honor, duty and loyalty.

Despite the topic, this is a beautifully shared story written as though Krivak has thoughtfully chosen each word, each sentence, each paragraph. He writes with a quietly atmospheric beauty, and a passion and compassion for these people whose stories he shares.


Pub Date: 09 May 2023

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Bellevue Literary Press