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Blood Red Horse: Book One of the de Granville Trilogy
by K. M. Grant
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (2005-04-30)
ISBN: 0802789609
EAN: 9780802789600
Hardcover: 288 pages
Reading Level: Young Adult
SKU: 080709668
Condition: New
Comments: 0802789609 New, never read, may have minor wear on cover from being on a retail store shelf. New, never read, may have minor wear on cover.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Two Boys. One girl. The adventure of a lifetime. You need three things to become a brave and noble knight: A warhorse. A fair maiden. A just cause. Will has a horse-a small chestnut stallion with a white blaze in his brow. Ellie is a fair maiden, but she's supposed to marry Will's older brother, Gavin. And as for the cause, King Richard is calling for a Crusade. The Knights of England must go to the Holy Land to fight. Will and Gavin will go. Blood will be shed. Lives will be taken. But through it all, two things will be constant-Ellie, and a blood-red horse called Hosanna. . . .
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Customer Reviews
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Something for everyone
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-07-29
This book has a little something for everyone: a strong young female character, two boy protagonists (one more flawed than the other, but both likeable), history, The Crusades, Medieval castles and chivalry and a great horse story to boot! Told from both sides of the conflict during the Third Crusade, Grant weaves the two tales together with a horse as the connecting thread. Overall, this is a well-spun novel that moves along with grace and speed, pulling the reader in from the very first page.
The intelligent reader will enjoy the evocative language and sweeping scope of this novel as it moves from England to Holy Land and back. However, there is one point of contention for me that should lead to some lively discussions for a classroom or dinnertable. Saladin is portrayed as having the greater benevolent nature over Richard the Lionheart, which may or may not have been the case, but in the instance of the book, is posited against the truth of the historical record.
For instance, Richard's 1191 massacre of 1000 unarmed Muslim prisoners at Acre is portrayed as the horribly unchivalrous and brutal act that it was. But no mention is made of the fact that Saladin had done almost the identical thing in 1187, killing about 1000 unarmed Christian prisoners. Instead, Saladin is shown not lowering himself to the barbaric Christian level (pp 160-161). This smacks of PC propaganda attempting to continue the new crusade of portraying Islam (radical jihad) as a peaceful religion.
That said, while there were absolutely horrid atrocities on both sides during the Crusades, it is also true that historians view Saladin in much the same light as Erwin Rommel or Admiral Doenitz of WWII -- that while the enemy per se, they were men of certain character and quality. Keeping that in mind, I found the inaccuracies mostly forgivable in the context of the well-told tale.
Responsible readers should always remember that historical fiction is just that -- FICTION. Get your history from more reliable sources. And teachers and parents should be ready and able to engage in the spirited discussions this book is sure to spark.
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Outstanding
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-04-01
After reading Blood Red Horse, I have passed it on to my ten-year-old grandson, who calls me every night to talk about it. He's a tough customer, and would rather re-read Harry Potter for the umpteenth time than chance something boring. Blood Red Horse has him in its grip. He's learning that people delude themselves, they make good and bad choices, even kings and sultans. They get badly hurt. They change. Best of all, he's learning that war is never holy, no matter how it's justified. He's learning that simple assumptions about our own or other people's religions are rarely right -- beliefs are very complex. He's learning about the value of honor, of mercy, of joining together to save something precious. We are waiting for Green Jasper to arrive so I can read it before he finishes Blood Red Horse!
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A Great Horse Story
Rating (5)
Date: 2008-01-28
The Blood Red Horse succeeds beautifully in bringing the Crusades to life. It gives an important insight into both sides, as well as just plain being a darn good horse story. We are behind the noble Hosanna all they way!
Susan Williams, author of Wind Rider
susanwilliamsbooks.com
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Blood Red Horse
Rating  (3)
Date: 2007-12-17
Blood Red Horse
A review
By Harry Krinsky
When many people put down a historical fiction book they think one of two things. "That was the most boring book I have ever read" or "Wow I really liked that book!" When I put this book down I thought the ladder. I really enjoyed reading this book and learned a lot from it. I don't think I would read it again, or read any more in the series but I still liked it. I think that you should read this book if you like blood and gore, (there is no shortage of that! Like when the book says: "causing Kamil's blow to miss Williams neck and fall instead directly onto Gavin's right arm") you must know a little about the middle ages before you read the book. You will love it if you love multi-perspective stories, and of coarse, if you love a good villain! The main themes are: love, humanity, Christianity, overcoming and war. You should not read this book if you tend to not take in all that you read. (I had to re-read many a chapter.) You will dislike this book if you want immediate action and most importantly, you cannot missed I thing or else you will be lost and bored.
This book takes place in a couple of main places. In Granville: a kingdom in medieval Europe. It also takes place at the Crusades main camp, and the Holy land of Jerusalem. All of these places are real or at least were once real. This book takes place during the middle ages which lasted from about 1100 C.E to about 1800 C.E. during this time a huge amount of the population were Christians. The church was sometimes more powerful then the king! Will and Gavin realize this when they see that the leader of the crusades was more powerful then their father, who was a king. Also there was a lot of magic in the middle ages when it says: "Surely God should protect us on our journey, William said to Sir Thomas God works his own ways" that implies that most magic was thought to come from God.. In this book a magical horse is the key to the story. Knight played a large role in the middle ages and also in this book like when Will was worried that his horse would not stand up to the other knights and he would be shunned.
The main focus of the book is the crusades. Not the glorious heroic warriors of the crusades, but the horrible torture and manslaughter brought on by the crusades. Also, the book is about the effect of the crusades on the Muslims that inhabited the holy land, about how some wanted to fight back but the government wanted peace and the near civil war that almost broke out.
When I first read the title of this book I immediately thought of a story with lots of blood, and a red horse. After having read this book, I think that "blood" stands for the blood that was shed by the crusaders. I also think that the whole title Blood Red Horse is saying that the horse was stained red by all the violence it witnessed, and maybe the simplicity of the title but the complicatedness of the this book can be connected to what new crusaders felt when they first entered the force.
"Two Boys. One Girl the adventure of a lifetime" this dramatic statement is written right above the title on the cover. At first I see this and I get stocked! I love adventures. Also this led me to believe that this book would have the different perspectives of the crusades for each of the two boys and the girl. However after reading this book, I feel miss led by that statement. First of all, the book came from the perspective of four people. Will, the smart, noble and sometimes weak younger brother that thinks he deserves to inherit the throne. Will also really doesn't like the crusades at all. Gavin, the strong, rash older brother to Will. He is very headstrong at times and toward the beginning of the book Will and Gavin hated each other. Gavin loves all the war, Christianity and women that come with being a crusader. Kamil, the Muslim general that wants to go to war with the Christians, and Ellie, my least favorite character in the book. She loves Will and stays behind when he goes to fight. She is in the midst of all the corruption in the kingdom of Granville. Second, the adventure is linked together by a horse and that is not mentioned at all in the opening line.
The main plot of the story is the brothers, Will and Gavin on their trip as knights to the holly land. Also there is a sub plot involving Kamil and another involving Ellie. This magical horse ties together all of the plots in the end. Not much of any of the plots are true however the setting is very real. The crusades really happened, and the Muslims really had mixed decisions on what to do.
After reading this book I would greatly suggests that you try to put yourself in the shoes of the main characters. Why did they do what they did? Is life one big equation? Or is there an unknown power of the human element?
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Realities of War
Rating (4)
Date: 2007-10-08
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is the first book in a trilogy about the de Granville family of England during the middle ages. Recommended for fans of history, religion, romance and even horses - this is a well written, exciting tale of courage, friendship, honor and love. As the back cover explains, "You need three things to become a brave and noble knight: a warhorse, a fair maiden, and a just cause."
Throughout the book, the universal theme is that people are human beings regardless of their birthright, gender, religious beliefs or profession. What resonated with me is how Grant depicted the "enemy." Likable; and yet despicable. The knights of England are off to fight the crusades. The Pope has given his blessing: if a knight dies in battle, he is sure to find a place in the kingdom of heaven (no matter how unscrupulous his life has been). As Grant develops the characters on each side of the battle, the cause becomes less just, and the glory of battle, less glorious. It is the "magic" of the blood red horse, Hosanna, which unites the two sides in a joint effort, and the only real just cause; to save a life.
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