Year Of The Horse [Hardcover]

This is a terrific book. Justin Allen's Year of the Horse is a fantasy set in the old west. It is also a coming-of-age story and a story about the meaning of America. That sounds like an awful lot to have in one book, especially one that is not especially long, but it all works out in a way that's subtle and enjoyable. The book starts out at a leisurely pace, but gives just enough hints and clues to keep the reader interested. The rich descriptions of the setting and the characters also help make the read enjoyable. Several of the characters start out almost as stereotypes, or better, as set figures, but fill in throughout the book. This works well, as it is much like our experience in real life, where we often meet people and have preconceived expectations about what they will be like based on immediately apparent features, and only learn what they are like as life progresses. This sort of verisimilitude was a great strength of the book.

The book is a story of the meaning of America, but not as it has ever really existed. Rather, it is a story of the idea of America. This could have been a disaster, either being maudlin or jingoistic, but Allen pulls it off with grace, in a way that lets the idea develop through the story rather than making it explicit or beating up the reader with the moral. Allen does this through two main devices. First, it will soon be clear to the reader who knows anything of geography that the story doesn't take place in the world quite as we know it. The way this is done helps make the point in a subtle and interesting way. Secondly, Allen draws on and re-tells many stories from America, from our myths, we might say. Not every bit of this is as successful as every other, but over-all the effect is very satisfying. In this way the writer Allen most reminds me of is Neil Gaiman, at least in his Sandman stories. Like Gaiman, Allen's great strength is his ability to take little bits from familiar and even tired stories and use them to tell new and exciting ones. Many of these references will be lost on younger readers, especially those not familiar with classic American stories and tales. This need not, however, make the book less enjoyable for them, as Allen isn't just looking to make the reader who does "get it" feel smart for recognizing the reference, but is genuinely using these characters and stories to tell a new and exciting adventure. That said, noticing a reference and "getting it" does make reading the story fun for the older reader as well, a way that Allen is again somewhat like Gaiman.

The book has many dark parts and, though the ending is not fully unhappy, it is not completely reassuring, either. Younger readers who are especially sensitive might find some parts of it too dark, but it should be fine and enjoyable for readers at least 12 and over. Though it's marketed as a "young adult" book, I think that it should appeal to older readers (such as myself!) as well, not least because of the rich intermixing of literary and historical detail, and reference to figure out and ponder the meaning of. If Amazon allowed it I'd give it four and a half stars, as it's not perfect, but it's closer to 5 than to four so I'll give it five. It's a great read and highly enjoyable. I very strongly recommend it.

Justin Allen's Year of the Horse is one of the more original fantasy amalgamations I've come across--a mix of fantasy, historical western, and coming-of-age boys' adventure tale peppered with some Devil and Daniel Webster slash Washington Irving slash Mark Twain slash Zane Grey and topped off by a heaping of multi-culturalism. Does it all work? Not in all places, but certainly often enough to keep the reader enjoyably engaged.
The story is told from the perspective of Yen-Tzu-lu (mostly known as Lu), a young Chinese boy living in his Grandfather K'Ung's store in Chinatown St. Frances with his mother and alchemist grandfather. Into the store walks the famous and mysterious gunslinger Jack Straw, who shockingly seems to know Lu's grandfather. Next thing he knows, Lu is the "explosives expert" of a team led by Jack and including Chino (a pistol-toting Californian/Mexican), Henry (a free Black), Jack MacLemore (an ex-Confederate), and his daughter Sadie (a buckskin wearing young woman). They're all heading to the wild west through the dangerous Hell Mouth and deadly Lake of Fire, past mountains and deserts, predators and Indians, polygamists and ghost-riders, all the way to Silver City, where MacLemore hopes to reclaim a pile of hidden gold and gain some vengeance on the mysterious Yankee bandito who stole his house and mine and killed his wife and young son.
The plot is episodic in nature as the group, and especially Lu, move from area to area and deal with the various problems: some caused by humans (racism, old wounds still sore from the recent Civil War, tension between whites and Indians, lust and greed), some part of nature (the perils of journeying over mountains and through deserts), and some supernatural (flaming ghost-riders only some people can see, a strange shape-shifter, and maybe even Old Scratch himself). The tension varies from episode to episode, as does the richness of detail. A segment in a fort, for instance, has little of the rich texture of the scenes in the Hell Mouth, but for the most part the plot holds the reader's attention firmly. The movement through the varied terrain is nicely handled and done so in realistic fashion with concerns over food and weather, with characters having to actually relieve themselves and resort to sometimes-desperate measures to stay alive. The climax at the end, unfortunately, may actually be the least compelling part of the plot, though I don't want to spoil the ending so I won't explain just why. Suffice to say it was a bit abstract and unsatisfying for several reasons. But the "big scene" is only a small part so it doesn't detract much--mostly as a matter of placement than how much of it there is.
Lu is a strong character, an enjoyable filter through which to view his compatriots and those he meets, such as Chief Joseph. He develops throughout the book, learning various skills (most of them nicely detailed) but also coming to a growing maturity and sense of self and others. The other characters are solid enough to varying degrees, Jack the most aloof and thus most abstract, while Chino and Henry have perhaps the best sense of a personality, despite relatively few lines. The multi-cultural aspect may be a bit wince-inducing at the start (let's gather a Chinese, a white, a southerner, a girl, a Mexican/Californian . . .) and historically implausible as a traveling group, but the reader quickly forgets about it and just enjoys them as characters, even when their backgrounds or ethnicities play a direct role in events.
The supernatural/fantasy aspect is, I'd have to say, the weakest feature of the book. It often felt awkward and very thin when it was highlighted, which luckily didn't happen very often. I'm not sure much would have been lost at all were it to be removed wholly from the book, save perhaps for the villain, though pallid and anti-climactic as he was perhaps not even then.
On a final note, Allen doesn't shy away from the less refined nature of the time period. There are racial slurs (though toned down), people die or are wounded (the same is true of animals), references to possible rape, tobacco smoking, and so on. All of this adds to the realistic feel of the story, but parents may wish to take note, especially with regard to younger readers.
Though it lacks the richness or emotional heft of other recent YA books (Suzanne Collins, Kristen Cashore), Year of the Horse is a mostly enjoyable YA read that probably won't have much cross-over adult appeal, an original and often humorous mix of historical western and fantasy with more success on the historical side than the fantasy side, with a strong central character. Recommended for YA readers with an interest in the time period and geographical setting, or for younger readers looking for a break from the usual medieval fantasy setting.

Title: Year of the Horse
Author: Justin Allen
Grade: B
Ideal Audience: Boys & Some Girls, 11-15

Summary: Year of the Horse takes place in the mid-1800s, in what is commonly referred to as the Wild West. When Lu, an adventurous Chinese boy, is invited to join an expedition to find some long-lost gold, he immediately snatches up the opportunity.

Lu is accompanying several others: Jack, Chino, Henry, MacLemore, and MacLemore's daughter Sadie. As their journey continues, all become great friends and experience life-changing episodes together. They grow so close that it seems that, even if they don't strike it rich, the trek will have been made worth it.

But as characters from the past re-enter the group's lives, and mysterious threats and warnings are issued, it seems as if there are only two options: find the gold and distribute it amongst themselves, or be struck down by mysterious and magical beings.

My thoughts: While Year of the Horse started out somewhat slow, it gradually picked up speed and resulted in a thrilling climax and satisfying ending. Mr. Allen did an excellent job of mixing fantasy with a western tale, and there were several nods to other literary stories within the book.

This will be a favorite to anybody who enjoys historical fiction and/or western novels.

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