Rim-Fyre and the Stones of Time: Book Review

Rim-Fyre and the Stones of Time
Missy Tait-Zeller

Do you miss reading horse books like the ones you read as a kid?  You know, ones with plenty of horse in them, not just where the stable is a setting for all kinds of human problems?  While her book is not really for horse-besotted children--too much danger, excitement, family discord, a little bit of cross-dressing and some commentary on handsome men--Missy Tait-Zeller has written a book for true horse-lovers called Rim-Fyre and the Stones of Time.

While the protagonist, Serena, is an accomplished rider and Westerner who "mourned the loss of the buffalo," she is also a mother, wife, and the owner of Rim-Fyre, an uncommonly well-behaved stallion.  He is just as much a character as she is.  Here's a passage that illustrates their closeness:  "Feeling like she needed to move around and go talk to Rim for a few minutes, she stood up and tossed a few more branches on the fire. . .It took a few seconds before Serena could discern Rim-Fyre grazing nearby.  He lifted his head when she began walking toward him so he met her half way, placing his muzzle in her hands.  Serena ran her right hand under the long heavy mand on the left side of his neck and felt the warmth of him in the cooling evening air."

This is an exciting story--time travel, the West, and well-chosen epigraphs from authors like Neil Gaiman--but the true understanding of horses, and how those of us who love them feel connected to them in ways not bound by time or space, is what truly carries Rim-Fyre and the Stones of Time.