A review by inkhearted
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

4.0

The Pevensies (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) return, but are only briefly featured as Narnian Kings and Queens. The heart of the story really belongs to the two pairs of runaways: Shasta and Aravis and their talking horse companions. If good and evil were at play before, this focuses on freedom and captivity, with most of the characters captives (sometimes in prisons of their own making) or former captives, like Aravis and Shasta. The pacing is a little inconsistent, but the interplay between the characters is solid. Once again, the protagonists are a boy-girl pair. Although the narrative begins with Shasta, Aravis becomes the more compelling character. Fierce and headstrong, she is a driving force, making things happen while Shasta tends to be the one things happen to. It's no accident that the book is called The Horse and His Boy and not the other way around.

Sticking with the precedent we saw in The Magician's Nephew, rash behavior like Aravis's has its consequences. Also, Lewis foreshadows here a bit by having the characters put through the wringer for what is supposedly for their own good, and by Aslan's own hand (paw?). It won't be the last time we see this, but in the meantime, we're at least given one of the happier endings of the series when it all shakes out.