Finished rereading March 2024! One of the best books I have ever read, I think. I want to think about its parallels to TWHF and the idea of the beatific vision. It is also, probably, one of the strongest points in Ward's Planet Narnia thesis. Even if Lewis didn't intentionally set out to write a Mercury book, he certainly did. The Lord of Language, Aslan swift of foot, is vivid and terrifyingly beautiful on these pages.

2022 review:

Do not by any means destroy yourself, for if you live you may yet have good fortune but all the dead are dead alike.

I am in awe. After being let down by LWW, which didn't quite match my memories of greatness and left me confused, I was afraid I didn't like Narnia anymore. Or if I did, it was only a mixture of nostalgia and appreciation for Lewis, not a real love for the stories and world.

After one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn't say anything but then he didn't want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything.

Then in burst this book to remind me of CSL's brilliance. The Horse and His Boy has me nearly in happy tears. I was grinning so widely the entire time I listened to it (in the car to and from work) and could not stop talking to my family about how wonderful it is. From the perfect beginning (just enough setting without info dumps, then an inciting incident) to the thrilling conclusion (the scene where Lune welcomes Shasta home is so beautiful), I loved it.

Please, you're so beautiful. You may eat me if you like. I'd sooner be eaten by you than fed by anyone else.

Other things to love: the marvelous characterization! Each person is unique and memorable and oh so very fallible, but never beyond forgiveness except by his own choice. So many good scenes with Aslan. Aravis is an amazing character; having chosen life because of trust in a land she has never seen, she fights as hard as she can to get there. When she realizes she is in the wrong, she admits it. She is fierce and lovely and loyal. And then the chase across the desert and the mountains?? I couldn't stop listening. I volunteered to drive places and do dishes just so I could finish. (How on earth did they stay awake that long? Shasta is up for at least 40 hours, sleeps for less than 10, then is up for another 24 or so. A hero indeed.)

No one is told any story but their own.

A few random thoughts: I saw echoes of The Blue Sword this time through (or more properly, TBS reminds me of this book); if you like this one you might like the other (and they're both marvelous). Also, are all the Narnian lords Telmarine/Archenlandian immigrants? How else would there be humans there? And finally, does Lune have a brother named Lunin? I must know.

Even a traitor may mend. I have known one that did.

I don't think I'll ever be over how wonderful The Horse and His Boy is.

The King's under the law, for it's the law makes him a king.

Sarah Sparks' Shasta song :)

Who are you to question me?
Do you command the mountains or calm the raging sea?
For I am the current, there to save your life.
A man may find his eye deceiving, a fool holds on to trust his sight;
A wise man knows that his own feeling may not with the truth align.

And you think that you have never seen my face,
But every moment you’re alive, you know my grace.
For only death in this whole world is justly deserved
And you say that I never answer, just because you have not heard
But you don’t know yet how to listen or to understand my words.