This installment in the series is often skipped over because no one knows where to put it. It comes third in the series because the timeline occurs during The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Shasta is a boy with a troubled life. He lives in Calormen, the nomadic country south of Archenland, which is south of Narnia. He lives with an abusive man not his father and just tries to survive from day to day. But when a Calormen official comes to stay at their hut, Shasta overhears something dreadful.
He's about to be sold as a slave to the official.
So he runs away on the official's horse. But what he doesn't know is the horse is a talking horse stolen from Narnia. Bree is his name, and he decides that he and Shasta are going to run away to "Narnia and the north".
Along the way, they hook up with another talking horse, Hwin, and her rider, a runaway Calormen girl. The two groups join together under one common goal: reaching Narnia and freedom.
But along the way, lions keep following them...
They go from large desert cities to ruthless desert battles in their quest to reach Narnia. Several surprises are introduced along the way, such as who Shasta really is.
To let past Narnia readers know that this is still a Chronicle of Narnia, Lewis throws the four grown Pevinses in as the four kings and queens of Narnia. They are visiting Calormen to talk about signing a treaty. Tumnus makes an appearance as well.
This book is not a five star book, mostly because there are several boring scenes. However, Bree is one of Lewis' better characters ever created.
4.5 stars
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