Black Horses for the King (1996)

Black Horses for the King is an Arthurian novel, but focuses mostly on an original character, Galwyn, as he joins Arthur's men and helps to look after his horses, and eventually becomes involved in making prototype horse shoes for them.

It's a little odd for an Arthurian novel, as it has nothing to do with the now-traditional focus of the stories on Lancelot and Guinevere, and barely even follows the well-known characters -- the minor characters among Arthur's knights are original ones, while Bedwyr, Cei and Gwalchmei are mentioned a couple of times, but no more. The drama of this story is very minor, when set against the usual Arthurian plotline: the main antagonist is a bully of a young man who wants to kill Arthur's horse as revenge for it throwing him.

That might be a welcome change of pace for some, and it certainly served to fill a lazy Sunday afternoon for me, but it fits oddly: I'm not sure I would've cared much to finish it if it weren't for my interest in Arthuriana. In the end, it's more of interest to those who are interested in horses.

The historical research seems accurate, in the sense that nothing in it sits very badly with me. The afterword made me wince: she claims not to include Merlin because Gildas and Nennius, chroniclers contemporary with Arthur, didn't mention him. Do note that Gildas doesn't mention Arthur at all, let alone Merlin. Her research on that front doesn't appear to have been stellar.

It's a quick read, though, in any case -- it took me only a little over an hour to finish it, I think -- and the content is suitable for all ages. ( )

An Arthurian re-telling? By Anne McCaffrey? Why, yes! It was a little weird to read it, especially after having read The Winter Prince so recently; she uses several of the same names and locations. Nonetheless, these are entirely different stories. This one ended very abruptly and I wasn’t entirely satisfied. (Is it part of a series? I’m too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia. A new depth to which I have fallen.) But it’s an interesting look into a particular period of history, especially equine history, and I bet I would have enjoyed it a lot when I was younger. [Jan. 2010] ( )

I happened upon this young adult novel at the library and thought I'd give it a try after briefly looking at it. I tend to like stories about and around King Arthur, especially when they do something different, and this one does that. It focuses on and imagines a way that Arthur (here called Lord Artos) acquired great Libyan black horses for his knights. I found this story to be quite enjoyable. It is primarily the story of a young man, Galwyn, who helps Artos and is told in the first person from his viewpoint. I really got caught up in the adventure and thought this a great book. ( )

First line:
~ 'Galwyn's feeding the fishes again,' the mate called as I emptied the odorous bucket overboard ~

Anne McCaffrey does a wonderful job describing the life of 5th century Britain at the time of King Arthur (in this case, Lord Artos, The Comes Britannorum). This is the story of a young man, Galwyn, who comes into Lord Artos' service as a translator and helps him purchase horses to take back to Britain to train as strong mounts for the armored warriors to fight the Saxons. Written for young adults, but equally enjoyable for this 59 year old, it depicts Galwyn's training as a farrier and the realistic issues of the early development of horse sandals (horse shoes) to protect the delicate hooves of these Libyan beauties. I love Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels and found her writing here to be equally captivating. I really wanted to see what happened to this young man and the horses he is responsible for. There is one nasty character in the book, an 'enemy' of Galwyn and I really enjoyed the way that Galwyn deals with him close to the end of the book. Do not read this looking for knights of the round table or Guinivere and Lancelot. This is about a young man's love of horses his care for them and for the master that he serves. ( )

A very different portrayal and perspective on King Arthur. I've read the book before, and I'm bound to read it again.

http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.com/2011/11/black-horses-for-king-anne-mccaffr... ( )