All The Horses Of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie | Novella Review

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A hypnotic historical fantasy with gorgeous and unusual literary prose, from the captivating author of The Fourth Island.

Everyone knows of the horses of Iceland, wild, and small, and free, but few have heard their story. Sarah Tolmie’s All the Horses of Iceland weaves their mystical origin into a saga for the modern age. Filled with the magic and darkened whispers of a people on the cusp of major cultural change, All the Horses of Iceland tells the tale of a Norse trader, his travels through Central Asia, and the ghostly magic that followed him home to the land of fire, stone, and ice. His search for riches will take him from Helmgard, through Khazaria, to the steppes of Mongolia, where he will barter for horses and return with much, much more.

All the Horses of Iceland is a delve into the secret, imagined history of Iceland's unusual horses, brought to life by an expert storyteller.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

I had hoped I would vibe a bit more with All The Horses Of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie. Historical fantasy is right up my alley. I just finished watching The Bachelor which had set the finale parts in Iceland. So, now I feel a bit more affinity with the place — trite as that may sound. Additionally, horses are somewhat interesting to me. Unfortunately, this novella was just a mismatch for my current, somewhat impatient taste.

Sarah Tolmie’s All The Horses Of Iceland is a brief novella set during the time of the Silk Road. It is allegedly a member of clergy recounting information he found about how the wild horses of Iceland came to be. The story starts with a man named Eyvind who is a trader. Eyvind journeys from Iceland all the way to the steppes of Mongolia looking to find a way to build his wealth.

Eyvind is not really one for magic. However, when one of the tribes they come across is dealing with an issue with a ghost, somehow Eyvind ends up solving the issue. In reward, he is given multiple horses including a white mare that is a touch outer worldly. The journey back to Iceland is arduous but that white mare proves her worth and it is said that all the horses within Iceland that are small and wild descend from her.

Well, this 112 page novella took me forever to get through. I am not kidding it took longer than ten days which I couldn’t even get through ten pages a day. Eventually I had to sit myself down and force myself to finish it. Interestingly enough, this book started off well paced. Then I feel like I just got bored and it really started to drag.

It reminded me of the primary sources I would read when writing papers for medieval history classes in college. Right now I am so out of practice with that kind of thing. All The Horses Of Iceland was not the book for my sort of taste. However, I think if you are more academically inclined you will most likely enjoy this book so much more than I did. Maybe at another time in my life I would have loved it, but for now, it subjectively was not for me.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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