Sarah Tolmie's All the Horses of Iceland is beautifully poetic novella which, like the Edda's and the Heimskringla by Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson, lays forth the story behind a national legend. For Tolmie, that's the story of all the horses of Iceland. And like all good legends, there's magic and the supernatural, there's good and evil, and there's a wanderer who encounters many things.

On the surface, this might appear to be a tale of the horse of Iceland. In fact, we open with a poetic moment:

Every horse in Iceland, like every person, has ancestors who sailed here in a ship. What has a horse to do with a ship? In a ship, a horse cannot hold on. A horse cannot row or trim sail or bail out water. A horse has no business on the sea at all. Horses were carried here, cold and sick and protesting, in open boats, frost riming their manes, from Norvegr and the Føroyar, from Irland and Hjaltland and the Suthreyar. Their sturdy kin can be seen in all those places, long-haired in winter, working around farms and fjords. These little horses of the North, strong as oxen, carry tall men in their endeavours of work and pleasure and war, all the way to Garthariki. The mare of whom this saga speaks, she came from a land beyond even these, a great ocean of grass. Her journey here was long and the wealth she brought with her was considerable, but no rune stones speak of them. What are the most important words, after all, that rune stones record?

Names.

But a horse can't tell its own story and as the narrator suggests, a horse had no reason for being on a ship to Iceland. Except for Eyvind. Eyvind of Eyri was a trader who brought the horses to Iceland. Focusing on one mare to whom the ghosts spoke and who was somehow able to command the attention of other hardy horses.

It really is a marvelous idea and the language is so captivating. It is so disappointing, then, that the story itself is so ponderous.

Though barely a hundred pages, this book reads like a 500 page epic. Not because there are so many lofty ideas, but because it moves so slowly and sometimes incoherently ("Who's speaking? That's the ghost? No, that's the horse? No, it's a merchant we haven't met yet?").

I was so eager to read this book, I moved it ahead of all my other books in my ARC-to-be-read queue. It was so disappointing then to be so let down.

Looking for a good book? All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie is beautifully poetic and appears to be not unlike classic Scandinavian myths and legends, but perhaps the story gets lost behind the words.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

On my first visit to the Kentucky Horse Park I saw an Icelandic horse as part of the Parade of Breeds. During this presentation, the announcer shared various interesting facts about the different breeds--their special talents, history, and trivia. I still remember how stunned and sad my child self was to learn that by law, no Icelandic horse that leaves the country is ever allowed to return. While this prohibition has kept many diseases out of the country, it seemed like the sort of banishment I only knew of from fairy tales, and it gave the breed an air of magic and mystery that has lingered in my mind to this day.

So I suppose it was to be expected that a ghost haunted tale of the origin of the breed was right up my alley. "All the Horses of Iceland" tells the story of a 9th century man who by chance and hard travel acquires a mythical white mare whose genes and luck carried forth in her descents. Eyvind spends over a year journeying by horse, camel, and boat to Mongolia where he discovers the small, hardy horses that he will take home to Iceland to sell. He also becomes entangled in a ghost story and despite his own aversion to magic helps to heal a lingering spirit and her family.

I'm an Arabian horse fan who has spent many hours researching the history of these horses and those who love them. And over and over I have been struck by the power of the horse to connect people who are so culturally different. One of the great pleasures of this book is to see the world through a traveler's eyes. As a reader we learn about the societies and people that Eyvind meets right alongside of him, and we learn about him through his reactions to these strangers as well. It was fascinating to see what things shocked him and what he admired about those strangers met. I particularly enjoy stories that push back against the myth that people of the past never set foot of their hometowns and that they lived in terror of anyone different. But people have always been people, curious, adventurous, open minded in some things and deeply prejudiced in others. It was good to see people of the distant past reacting to other cultures in a practical way.

Even in this magic infused tale where ghosts walk and invisible horses slip through dangers unseen the hardship of crossing continents with a herd of animals still comes through. Problems of thieves, wars, and sheer difficulty of transporting horses on boats are detailed. It brings to mind all the trials that people of the past faced to bring our deeply interconnected world to us today to us today. Today we can go online and instantly find Indian spices, Australian textiles, and yes, Icelandic horses. It can be relatively simple (with enough money) to bring these items home. But even the wealthy of history could face great challenges in achieving the items and herds of their dreams.

I also enjoyed the brief glimpses of the narrator of the tale, a Christian chronicler who was preserving a story from the pagan past. So many sagas and legends were famously collected by monks over the years and so it was a delightful detail to have the voice of this narrator come delicately though the story.

Many thanks to The NetGalley team at Tor/Forge for a copy of this work in exchange for my honest review.

All The Horses of Iceland was an unusual little book. Although it did not grasp me from the start, it definitely showed its true potential later on. It is a Historical Fantasy, a genre I have never explored before. It was quite interesting and beautiful and It turned out that I enjoyed it very much.

All The Horses of Iceland introduces the reader to a man named Eyvind. Eyvind is a unique character, one that holds secrets even he did not know he had. We follow him through his travels and stumble across interesting magic and ghosts. Eyvind also learns about different cultures and religions which I found to be quite interesting since I am not familiar with that time. The author even throws in a little bit of humor, at least that is my take on the particular scenes I had stumbled upon. The horses play a strong role in the story especially the white mare you see on the cover. I really enjoyed the Strange magic more than anything. It has a folk lore feel to it which makes it super interesting and it’s definitely what pulled me more into the story.

The prose is very beautiful and the story is enlightening. It was a great pallet cleanser in between reads. I recommend All The Horses Of Iceland if you’re looking for a light fantasy. It is a short novella with a whole lot of story to tell.

I want to thank Tordotcom and Netgalley for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved reading this book! I found the writing to be very insightful and interesting. I was intrigued by the premise and I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.

I had hoped I would vibe a bit more with All The Horses Of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie. Historical fantasy is right up my alley. I just finished watching The Bachelor which had set the finale parts in Iceland. So, now I feel a bit more affinity with the place — trite as that may sound. Additionally, horses are somewhat interesting to me. Unfortunately, this novella was just a mismatch for my current, somewhat impatient taste.

Sarah Tolmie’s All The Horses Of Iceland is a brief novella set during the time of the Silk Road. It is allegedly a member of clergy recounting information he found about how the wild horses of Iceland came to be. The story starts with a man named Eyvind who is a trader. Eyvind journeys from Iceland all the way to the steppes of Mongolia looking to find a way to build his wealth.

Eyvind is not really one for magic. However, when one of the tribes they come across is dealing with an issue with a ghost, somehow Eyvind ends up solving the issue. In reward, he is given multiple horses including a white mare that is a touch outer worldly. The journey back to Iceland is arduous but that white mare proves her worth and it is said that all the horses within Iceland that are small and wild descend from her.

Well, this 112 page novella took me forever to get through. I am not kidding it took longer than ten days which I couldn’t even get through ten pages a day. Eventually I had to sit myself down and force myself to finish it. Interestingly enough, this book started off well paced. Then I feel like I just got bored and it really started to drag.

It reminded me of the primary sources I would read when writing papers for medieval history classes in college. Right now I am so out of practice with that kind of thing. All The Horses Of Iceland was not the book for my sort of taste. However, I think if you are more academically inclined you will most likely enjoy this book so much more than I did. Maybe at another time in my life I would have loved it, but for now, it subjectively was not for me.

This was pretty and I liked the glimpse of - well, not history, but a historical tale, I guess you could say.

I feel like this story was done a disservice by its length. It was written pretty simply, which has a certain matter-of-fact charm to it, but between the length not affording it time to get to know the characters as actual characters and the writing style, I found it difficult to fully immerse myself in it. And to be honest, I would have been happy to read some more, which is a compliment!

The other disservice is obviously that its focus on horses was not <i>nearly</i> as much as what I had signed up for. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie is a wonderfully lyrical novella, ostensibly about the introduction of horses to medieval Iceland, but not really about horses at all. Set in the 9th century, this follows a single man, a trader, as he leaves Iceland for the mainland and interacts with people from cultures foreign to him. Heavily inspired by the accounts of Ibn Fadlan, a 10th century Arab-Muslim traveller, whose accounts shaped our perceptions of Viking traditions such as their funerals, this is an account of travels, of interactions between cultures, of first contacts. Taking a single story, it tells of grander adventures, of genealogies, taking up storytelling traditions found in Norse literature throughout the centuries. It is well-researched, beautifully written and haunting. I am sad I only got to read an eARC of this, and I know I will have to get myself a finished copy of this novella as soon as possible as it is one that I will want to dive into again and again. A true treat for medievalists and enthusiasts of slow, thoughtful stories alike!

Loved reading this book! It was well written, engaging and highly entertaining. I very much recommend this book!!

I feel very mediocre about this one. It doesn't have a driving plot and the main character is pretty unlikable. His only motivation seems to be to bring horses to Iceland and get rich. Meanwhile, he accepts gifts of slaves (including a sex slave) without a second thought.

In its favor, there is a somewhat amusing ghost story that wraps up about three quarters through. The horse descriptions are nice. There is some whimsy.

This story would have really benefitted from a map in the beginning. For all I know, the print editions do have this. (I read an e-arc. Thanks, NetGalley!) I was preoccupied the entire time trying to mentally track their journey and feeling very confused about where they actually were. There are real places and races mentioned such as Iceland and Jews, but then there are other places that aren't named and others that have names I don't recognize at all. I don't know if I'm just ignorant or if they were made up.

On the whole, this was an ok time. And that is all.

Sexual violence? Yeah, sex slave. "concubine" Other content warnings? casual slavery

This was an entertaining way to spend an hour. It's a fictionalized, fantastic account of a Norse trader named Eyvind who becomes part of a trading caravan. He goes all the way to the Mongolian steppe and by doing a service for a tribal chief ends up with a string of the hardy, stocky little horses native to that area. Eyvind sees how strong these horses are and how easy they are to keep and decides that they will be much appreciated in Iceland. And so he brings his string of horses (including a preternatural white mare) to that country and founds a new breed.

You've got to know going in that this book is more about Eyvind and his journey than the horses, although the horses are obviously important. The story is told in the style of a saga. This means that it focuses on actions instead of interior life (in fact, there may be a little too much about feelings even in this book for a saga). So, it's about deeds, not character growth. It also doesn't build narrative tension but goes from event to event like a chronicle. The author does a good job, though, of seeding later developments of the story with bits of information given early on. There's also a neat bit about a glossary of the Mongolian tongue.

You'll like this if you like sagas, like history, and are okay with a style of writing that we don't see much anymore. I liked figuring out the archaic names and cultures that are described. I liked what the author did and plan to read more of her work!

It’s easy to be a sucker for fun, memey marketing. Any opportunity for irony instantly draws me in and lights up the dark corners of my irreverent brain. When I initially saw All The Horses of Iceland, by Sarah Tolmie, I was slightly interested based on its premise. However, I was sucker punched by the marketing of it’s epic chonky horse bois, and this short tale would soon fulfill my innate desire to be a horse girl.

Eyvind’s world is changing. Christianity (not, unfortunately, horses) has taken hold amongst the more influential leaders of his northern home. Some are believers, while others seek an opportunity for power, leaving Eyvind with little choice to leave the slowly developing monoculture. He chooses to travel the lands of central Asia, wandering the outskirts of the ancient land of Rus with Jewish traders. Along the way, he discovers unknown ties to magic, and encounters the herd that he hopes to bring back to Iceland.

All The Horses of Iceland is a bit weird, and incredibly dense for it’s page count. After the initial shock of the lack of “chonk bois” as a real term in the book, I settled into the charming cadence of Tolmie’s writing. It’s not an inherently warm form of storytelling, but I was drawn in as Eyvind journeyed deeper into the vibrant world of 8-900 C.E. eastern Europe and Asia. Modern day nation-states do not exist, their names are yet to be born. Everything feels just as new, strange, and exciting to the reader as it does to Eyvind. We are learning the rules of this world as he is, gaining insights into the constantly shifting landscapes of Eurasia. I particularly enjoyed this lack of grounding, as it forced me to exist in this surreal version of Earth’s past.

It’s also not told with a modern sensibility. Deep internal thoughts that naturally ingrain one to character are not here. Instead, it’s a fairly straightforward narration of events, the people that populate them, and the geographies they exist within. It has an almost mythicality to its historical quality as supernatural events sweep in and out of these small lives. Big events are always in the distance, but their tentacles reach out and interfere with Eyvind’s journey several times.

You might lament the dearth of horses until the halfway point, but for me it made their reveal only more earned. It feels less like a journey specifically about getting horses, and more about finding their inner qualities. While they would materially benefit Eyvind upon his return home, he develops a loyalty to them that strengthens their spiritual quality. This paired with a journey about the strength of difference within a world coalescing around more centralized “states” made it a worthwhile read.

While I went in with a detached sense of irony, I finished Tolmie’s short saga with a deep appreciation for her writing and storytelling. Tolmie clearly understands the form she is trying to portray, and in her acknowledgements makes nods to the changes she made and the history she tries to highlight. It even got me to look up what was interesting about the horses actually in Iceland. All in all, I’m glad I read it, and I hope others take a step back to enjoy All the Horses in Iceland for what it is, a historical Norse love letter to those epic chonky bois.

Rating: All The Horses of Iceland 7.5/10
-Alex

For those who enjoy well researched historical fantasy this book will be amazing for you. I normally don't enjoy traveling stories but watching this man travel from norther Europe to Mongolia to obtain horses for his home Iceland was so engaging while also teaching me a lot that I didn't know about the global state of things in the 9th century. It had a very folklore tone with a wonderful blend of magic, superstition and spiritual. I want to re-read this again just to learn more since I know I missed a lot of references on my first read. I recommend this to people who enjoyed the historical fantasy aspects of Bear and the Nightingale.

The writing was absolutely beautiful, it was written as if the author was telling a really old myth or legend; it felt very ethereal and ancient. However, I just could not get into the story. I found the beginning to be very hard to follow and by the time I was able to get into the story, it was over. I definitely think this could have benefitted from being fleshed out a bit more.

Sadly this one wasn't for me. I found it slow and hard to follow for the first half, and when the story seemed to pick up speed it brushed over all the journey back to Iceland and suddenly it was over. Maybe we just aren't used to this narrative style but it made it difficult to enjoy the story

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of this story but was very pleasantly surprised. This is beautifully written and rich in the old ways of story telling. Having grown up with horses the majority of my life I found this story of the Icelandic horses fascinating. It is a slow paced book with lots world building and history. The character and animal descriptions were thorough and really lent to the story. Though this story is completely fabricated, as acknowledged by the author, it’s done so in a way that I can imagine it being real. I look forward to reading more of her work!

All the Horses of Iceland was not at all what I expected it to be, but I loved it nonetheless. For under 200 pages this book manages to take you on a long and intriguing journey, filled with magic, ghosts and spanning multiple continents. Tolmie manages to pack a novel length adventure into this novella and I absolutely powered my way through it thanks to her descriptive and lyrical writing. It's haunting and truly magical and if, like me, you have been to Iceland and experienced the Horses that live there a special story that will certainly stay with me.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review! I loved the story telling and the prose of this book. I wish it was longer, but I really loved the following the journey of the main character.

This book just was not for me. I did not finish it because I did not enjoy the writing style or how the story was presented. Thank you for the book though.

Epic, poetic style in this saga of the possible first horses of Iceland. the narrative follows an Icelandic man from his homeland to the heart of central Asia, where he purchases a herd of horses to bring home. Interesting for people who like ancient history and can tolerate the more formalized, saga-style pacing. Not a standout, but horse fans will find plenty to enjoy.

Historical fantasy is my all time favourite, it is just the perfect blend of my two favourite genres, and Tolmie has provided yet another gem in this genre. In All The Horses of Iceland, we follow Eyvind, an Icelandic trader, who is deaf in one ear. With Eyvind, we travel across wartorn countries to the steppes of Mongolia where fate binds him to a mystical horse that will have an impact for millenia to come…

As a novella, it does move slowly, but personally, I enjoy all the detail and research that went in and Tolmie gives you plenty of time to appreciate it. In comparison, I found the ending wrapped up just a tad too quickly, compared to the scope and time we were given in the opening of the novella.

Nevertheless, Tolmie brought us into this complex world ever so gently touched by magic, and my only real qualm is that I wish I could have stayed in her world even longer.

If you are a fan of historical fantasy - do not miss out on All The Horses of Iceland.


*I received an eARC from Macmillan-Tor/Forge & NetGalley in exchange for my honest review*