The Black Riders

Looking down from his cliffside house at the road and the river and the forest one day, eleven-year-old Dick—otherwise known as Richard Otho Fauconbois—sees the fabled Black Riders passing, and shortly thereafter, a man in a cart with a lame horse. Stopping the cart, he meets its owner, Far Away Moses—so named because when his enemies sought him, he was always far away—and becomes caught up in an adventure beyond his imagining. For this new friend and master is the leader of an underground political movement within the Empire—the Confederation—and is always on the move, always one step ahead of the police, and of Jasper the Terrible: Governor, leader of the Black Riders, and right-hand-man of the Emperor. Soon an errand boy show more for Far Away Moses, Dick undergoes many hair-raising adventures, and remains true to his chief and to his word, even when all seems lost, and both he and his leader are imprisoned. Have the adventures of the Stormy Petrel—Dick's nickname in certain circles—come to an end, or is there more yet to come...?

I have been aware of the work of British author Violet Needham for many years, but have only recently come into possession of her books, mostly in editions reprinted by the wonderful Girls Gone By Publisher. Said to be a master of the Ruritanian romance for younger readers, she is particularly known for The Black Riders, the first of the eight-book Stormy Petrel series, as well as such books as The Woods of Windri and its sequel (also Ruritanian tales), and a number of others. I found this one a marvelous introduction to her work, and mourn the fact that it is out of print, and mostly unavailable to today's young readers. A rousing adventure story, it is also beautifully written, and features a cast of wonderful characters. Faithful Dick—so true, so loyal, so moral—makes an outstanding young hero, and the people around him are always interesting. I appreciated the fact that, while there are clear factions here, and our hero cleaves strongly to his side, the opposition is not evil, and neither is their leader, in the form of Count Jasper. Indeed, while in some ways the story here is quite naive—the way in which Far Away Moses and Dick are treated, while in captivity, for instance, or the role of Jasper's young daughter Judith in winning a last-minute pardon for Far Away Moses from the Emperor—in other ways, it is a very sophisticated book, addressing complex moral questions in an intelligent way, and never talking down to its young audience. This is apparent very early on, when Dick has just met Far Away Moses, and asks him whether Count Jasper is a bad man. Far Away responds by saying: "No, not bad; he is a great man and I ask for no better enemy." When he asks Dick if he understands, the boy nods and replies "I think so... You mean it isn't you and it isn't he that are fighting—it's your ideas." This is not an outlook one meets with much today, to our grave detriment, I fear!

As much as I mourn that this book is not currently in print, I also regret that it does not appear to have been published here in the states—our loss, I am sorry to say—and that I did not encounter it in childhood, as I suspect it would have been a favorite. In some ways, it reminded me of the Dutch childhood classic from Tonke Dragt, The Letter for the King, which also featured made-up kingdoms and a young boy flung headfirst into adventure as a messenger of sorts, although the hero there was somewhat older than here. In any case, I strongly recommend this one to young readers who enjoy that sort of adventure story, or intelligent, well-written and entertaining tales in general. show less

The hero of this book is 11-year-old Dick, an orphan in an unnamed empire, presumably somewhere in central Europe in the early part of the 20th century. He befriends a mysterious man who is part of a political uprising against the current governor, and finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement where he passes on messages, walks many miles, risking his life, and stays strong to some important promises.

It's not really my kind of book, but it's one my mother loved as a child and re-read as an adult; I've only just read it for the first time and found myself enjoying it very much. This was Violet Needham's first novel, but the writing is fast-paced, the characters well-drawn. If the plot is a little confusing - I wasn't show more entirely sure of the political ramifications, or why the resistance movement had to be so secret - it doesn't actually matter too much, since the story is about adventure with a strong theme of loyalty under pressure.

Undoubtedly there are stereotypes and caricatures; yet the 'good' people have their faults, and the 'bad' ones don't all turn out to be quite so bad after all, even if their motivations are sometimes a bit dubious.

All in all I thought this a good read, which would probably appeal to adventure-loving children from the age of about nine or ten upwards, if they read fluently; it could also make an excellent read-aloud, as adults can enjoy it too. show less

One of my top ten favourite childhood books.

I happen to have a copy of this analysis of Needham's work:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81064541

which I don't need any more. If anybody would like it, please leave a comment.