Do You like book Blood Red Horse (2006)?
This adventurous book is about the journey of two brothers, Gavin and Will de Granville, their father, Sir Thomas de Granville of Hartslove, and a horse, Hosanna. It takes place in the third installment of the Crusades. It starts when Gavin and Will are young, and Will (the younger of the two brothers) is finally able to choose his very own stallion. The young men soon fight in the Holy War led by King Richard the Lionheart. The journey to the Holy Land is tough and harsh; knights and horses lose their lives along the way. After a two year Crusade, the two brothers return home to find that things are not how they left them. Gavin finds that the steward who was left in charge was trying to seize control of the estate, so they release him of his duties. Will is made an earl and Gavin becomes a count and marries Ellie, to whom he was betrothed.Tweens and adults alike can relate to this book in one way or another because at one time or another everyone has felt like an outcast. Hosanna the horse is the unsung hero of the story. Gavin and other trainers considered Hosanna an outcast because he was smaller than other stallions and seemed incapable of carrying out a horse's duties, but Will sees something special in Hosanna. It isn't until a jousting tournament that the people realize exactly what Hosanna is capable of accomplishing. Tween, as well as almost anyone, can relate to being underestimated and then proving people wrong when they come through with flying colors.
—GenreGroup
Will is a young noble growing up in England, where he knows two things: he must follow King Richard in the Crusades, and he needs an amazing warhorse to accomplish that. When his father finally gives him the chance to pick a charger, something draws him instead to a small red horse. No one expects this horse, named Hosanna, to be much of anything; some mock him for making the choice to take such a puny horse into battle. But time and time again Hosanna saves not only Will but those around him. He has a miraculous quality about him, one that calms and soothes the spirit as well as gives courage to men going into battle. The English warriors look to Hosanna for strength, until one day he is taken from Will. My brother suggested this book to me, since he knows I'll read almost anything and I'm a sucker for a medevial adventure. This book will not disappoint for those fellow lovers of all things medieval. However, if you're looking for much romance or anything like that, I wouldn't read this book. Although the blurb suggests some romance between Will, Ellie, and Gavin, there isn't a whole lot in this book. The sequel gives more strength to the relationships. I really did like this book. It's not a favorite; not one I'm going to be buying anytime soon. I couldn't help but fall in love with Hosanna, or the title's blood red horse, just as everyone in the book has their heart's softened by the creature. He really is unbelievable, but he never does anything totally out there. I thought Hosanna would be saving people left and right, talking, and whatnot when I went into the book, but he never did anything out of the ordinary for a horse. The power he sent people, however, had me wishing for a horse like him. Hosanna is probably the best character in this book. Will and Ellie are both very likeable, with more depth than I expected from a Young Readers book. I even came around to liking Gavin towards the end, but I still have mixed feelings about him. He never is just one sort of person; I can't categorize him, and he never does what I think he will, so Gavin was also a nicely developed character. This book is more plot based than character based. Blood Red Horse moves constantly through with action. Not many parts (and those aren't very long) are filled with Will hanging around, being bored. It shifts constantly between battle to battle, from Ellie back home in England fighting her own wars with enemies at Hartslove, and from a young Muslim man who enters the story once the Crusaders enter the Holy Land. Even though the story was meant to be 'non-stop action', there were times when I felt bored especially with the fight scenes. It got a little old after a while. Maybe this is just me, because I can easily get bored with any battle. 300 and Gladiator don't impress me much. If you enjoy lots of details of war without too much gore, Blood Red Horse is definately for you.
—Meredith
William and Gavin de Granville are adolescent brothers who live in Hartslove castle in England. Destined for knighthood, they both love riding horses and have natural competition between them. When William, the younger of the two, finally gets the chance to choose a Great Horse—a horse used in battle (Gavin already has one named Montlouis)—he ends up choosing a beautiful smaller horse instead. Everyone is shocked by this decision, as William has wanted a proper battle horse forever. However, Hosanna, as this horse is named, is not quite the typical horse and everyone begins to feel a special bond with him.Soon, William, Gavin, and their father Sir Thomas must leave behind sweet and mischievous Ellie (who is to marry Gavin when they’re older yet gets along better with William) to join King Richard I on the Third Crusade. They battle the Muslim leader Saladin and one of his young emirs named Kamil. Kamil manages to steal the magnificent Hosanna because he is so beautiful and renames him Red Horse. Later Kamil realizes that Hosanna isn’t the typical horse (just as William had realized).Blood Red Horse is the first book in the de Granville Trilogy. The author shows the reader how futile war is as she shows us the parallel lives of the de Granville boys and Kamil. The unique link between them all is Hosanna, the Blood Red Horse.
—Sarah
