Official Review: The Lightning Horse by N.L. Holmes
• by AmyMarie2171 » 21 Jun 2020, 09:58
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Lightning Horse" by N.L. Holmes.]
Historical fiction tends to focus on periods that might be familiar to readers. We so often become intrigued by what famous historical figures may have thought and said, and authorial liberties allow us to view history in more color than a textbook would provide. In my experience, books written by N.L. Holmes veer away from the norm of familiar times and people, and they are increasingly interesting for that fact. The Lightning Horse is no exception.
This book takes place around 1250 B.C. in Hatti Land, a nation that encompassed what we recognize today to be Turkey and parts of Syria. It follows the story of Tiwatipara, a charioteer in service of the Hittite king. Charioteers hold high positions in the royal court, and everything appears to be working in Tiwatipara's favor until a horrendous accident tears his family apart. Convinced that the mishap is his fault, Tiwatipara spends years punishing himself. When new information comes to light, he finds the potential to be the man that grief had destroyed. However, his path is littered with obstacles, and he runs the risk of losing everything and everyone that he loves.
The Lightning Horse is a book of treachery, royal secrets, and political maneuvering that kept me hovering on the edge of my seat all the way through. The characters are easily distinguishable by their personalities, even though many have similarly hyphenated names in the ancient Indo-European style. There are quite a few long and complicated names to commit to memory, but because the narration is so descriptive and rich, it is not a difficult task to master. Ancient Asia Minor truly comes to life through the setting, which is described all the way through the story in gorgeous detail. For example, on page 15, the author writes, "Only an occasional ruffle of equine breath or the scrape of hooves disturbed the heavy golden quiet of the place, with its straw-covered floors and mote-filled air."
The only issue that I found in this book was related to character dialogue, but it could be interpreted in two different ways. The author's occasional use of words like "vehicle" and "siesta" (which were not invented until the seventeenth century) seemed oddly out of place in the otherwise immersive world. Of course, it can be argued that since the ancient Hittites would not have been speaking English, their words are only equivalent to the English language. Therefore, the inclusion of modern English words could make perfect sense.
The Lightning Horse is a remarkably complete book. A colorful and fast-paced plot is filled with twists and turns, and the characters are easy to relate to. I found only a single typographical error in the entire book. Because the only problem I encountered is subjective, I have decided to give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. The sexual activity is minimal, though the characters do tend to talk about sex a fair amount. The profanity is heavy due to the conflict-filled circumstances of the plot. Readers who crave historical fiction full of intrigue will love The Lightning Horse, and they might learn something new about one of the more obscure parts of humanity's past as well!