The Grey Horse,
by R.A. MacAvoy

I picked up this book when I was, I think, a sophomore in high school. I was browsing in the sci-fi/fantasy section, and three things attracted me about it right off the bat: one, it was about - at least in part - a horse (first became horse-mad as a kid); two, it took place in Ireland (can't remember a time when I wasn't interested in my Irish roots); and three, it was about an Irish fairy - a puca - who could change himself into a horse (a concept which intrigued me in my role-playing ventures). Just recently I gave it a reread and found it as good a story as ever.

Things aren't exactly picture-perfect in late 19th century Ireland. Cash money is scarce for the common folk, and relations between the Gaels and their English rulers are more than uneasy. Henry Raftery, an aging horse trainer in the village of Carraroe in County Connemara, is feeling the pinch in particular. Not only are his stables operating "near to the wind" at best, but his ne'er-do-well only child, Joe, is a soldier in the British army. And although Henry is delighted when he finds and brings home a stunning native "pony" with a silver coat, he knows the creature won't make him money - not in this day and age, when the aristocrats that keep him in business demand high-blooded, light-limbed racers.

But the grey newcomer is no ordinary native pony. When Henry and his stablehand, Donald, regretfully prepare to castrate the stallion whose seed would bring no pleasure to the wealthy horse-owners of the area, it transforms itself into a man: Rory MacEever, by Granite out of Wind. Rory is a "puca" - a fairy with the ability to transform himself into an animal.

After nearly frightening his new patron into a heart attack, Rory, a less-than-clever but good-natured sort, cheerfully establishes himself as Henry's horseman, rather than his horse. His aim is take on a veneer of respectability that he might woo himself a wife. He has her all picked out, too - Mary Stanton, the dark and surly daughter of a local shipowner, reputed to carry fairy blood in her own veins.

Rory makes it clear that he has returned to a corporeal form to court, not to become enmeshed in the lives of the people of Carraroe parish. Their troubles, he declares, are not his, nor his theirs. But with the influences of his new family and the priest of the parish behind him, as well as that of Mary herself, Rory begins to feel differently, particularly when he realizes that, when it comes to having a wife and a people, he can't have one without the other.

MacAvoy's one fault as a writer, I feel, is a slight tendency to come off sounding like a romance novelist. I'm glad to say, however, that this isn't recurring problem in most of her books. In The Grey Horse all her best assets are displayed: gentle humor, charm, and freshness. The author's use of Gaelic names and references gives a definite period flavor to the book, and her deft touch with the imaginative makes this a truly engaging story to read.

I'd also like to give a high recommendation of two of MacAvoy's earlier novels: Tea With the Black Dragon and it's sequel, Twisting the Rope. I found the Damiano trilogy to be quite bland, and I'd suggest staying away from Raphael altogether (the whole premise behind it seemed to be whether or not this angel-turned-human would be castrated by the end of the book, and frankly, I didn't care). But The Grey Horse, Tea With the Black Dragon, and Twisting the Rope show modern epic fantasy at its creative best, and with a Celtic taste to boot. What more could an American of Irish descent ask for?

July, 2000