Book Review: Young Black Stallion, 5 – The Yearling by Steven Farley

Once again, Danielle must adjust to life without her beloved horse Redman, who's back on duty at the riding camp. She turns to Raven for comfort, but the brash young colt is more full of himself than ever. Although Alec, Raven's trainer, is pleased with the development of his future racehorse, Danielle is troubled by Raven's increasingly aloof manner. Despite her best efforts, he doesn't seem to care whether she is around or not. Alec reminds Danielle that Raven, like the famous Black, will never be anyone's pet. Can Danielle give up her secret hope of being the colt's best friend?




Sadly on this book I have to go back to my former..sadness with the series...*sigh* here we go.

While he has made an appreciated attempt, Steven Farley's books just do not live up to the caliber of his father's work (Walter Farley). I have read 6 of the books in the "Young Black Stallion" series, and I find them more akin to the "Thoroughbred" and "PonyPal" books, sadly lacking the fire and excitement of the original Black Stallion books. Steven Farley has made some glaring errors in his protrayal of Alec Ramsey... How could Alec be only 18 if he found the Black at 15? So the Black has only been racing for 3 years through all 21 books in the original series? Come on! Make Alec 25 or so, and that would be believable....
Also, what makes these books less interesting to read is that they are "dumbed down" a bit, while the original stories were written for 10-12 years olds, they appealed to adults too! (Like myself, who grew up reading the Black Stallion books.)

I think "The Black Stallion's Shadow" and The Black Stallion's Steeplechaser" were much better than the books in this "Young Black Stallion" series. For your money, I think you are better off trying to get some of the original 21 books by Walter Farley...

Book Review: Young Black Stallion, 4 – Wild Spirit by Steven Farley

It's shaping up to be the best Christmas ever for Danielle. With both her dad and her horse, Redman, home for the holidays, the farm couldn't be busier. But Raven, the spirited colt with whom Danielle has been working, doesn't want to share her attention. Danielle knows she has a duty to the colt and to Alec Ramsay, his owner, but she can't help feeling loyal to Redman as well. If Raven is to be manageable as a racehorse someday, he must learn to share territory with other horses--but can he?




The book was good and I think it will be great for younger hores lovers. It has alot of horse talk so you need to really know horses to understand the book. It is a step up from the other 3 books and perhaps in this book the writer has gotten his stride a little bit. I am still leery but as always will keep reading, it shows promise and improvement.

The Move

The Move is taking place soon..infact it wil be happening tommrow..at 8am is when Steve is planning on getting up and getting packed and gone. So I do not know when I will be posting next. We have to get there, get our things into storage and get internet and cable hooked up. I am excited and nervous all in the same breath. I have never moved this far from home, I have always lived in Minnesota in one city or another. Alas life needs changes sometimes, and hubby has been away from his home to long. He needs to be with his kids more and this will enable that. There is also my health, so the move is needed. Things happened much faster and not perhaps in the best way, but it needed to happen. So I will be in hoosierville likely by this time tommrow. Alasa I will ALWAYS be a Minnesota Wild Girl. I will be back to posting as soon as I can.

Book Review: Young Black Stallion, 3 – The Homecoming by Steven Farley

Danielle is thrilled to be helping Alec Ramsay escort a vanload of racehorses from New York to Florida. She'll also get to visit her horse, Redman, who has been earning his oats at a riding camp up north. When an extra stall unexpectedly becomes available in the van, Redman's new owner allows Danielle to take him home for a visit. Danielle is overjoyed to be reunited with her beloved horse, but the trip home turns out to be more hazardous than anyone imagined. Can Danielle and Alec make it safely back to Florida with their precious cargo?



This one is a little bit better than the other two. But it is still not up to the calibre of the regular series. I do not think Steven Farley is a bad author persay but he should have stuck with his own story line to make it more his own and not so fakey sounding. However I guess it was just easier to take his Father's idea.

BooK Review: Young Black Stallion, 2 – A Horse Called Raven by Steven Farley

Danielle is working at Alec Ramsay's stable, but she still has a long way to go before she can buy back Redman. When a dangerous flu virus strikes a neighboring farm and most of the horses are moved, Danielle is crushed to learn she's temporarily out of a job. Then the little black colt to whom she's beginning to grow attached falls ill, and Danielle's priorities begin to change...


I don't know if he's just trying to make money off his father's famous series, but I think he should've come up with his own idea for a children's series. The Black Stallion books that Steven Farley is writing stick out like a sore thumb. This one has no improvement over the first one. Hard to plug along but I made a commitment to do so.