#all the horses of iceland

[godzilla-reads]

ALL THE HORSES OF ICELAND is a delve into the secret, imagined history of Iceland's unusual horses, brought to life by an expert storyteller.

#godzilla reads #all the horses of iceland #Sarah Tolmie #books #new books #reading #reads #book blurb #book blog #books and plants #novella #bookish #bookworm #bibliophile

[sixofravens-reads]

Obsessed with this cover 😍

#all the horses of iceland #sarah tolmie #books #books and tea

[lilareviewsbooks]

My December Reading Wrap-Up

I thought I'd do one of these since I don't really do in-depth reviews for all the books I read! I might do some bigger ones for some of the books on this list, but if I do that, then I'll come back and link them! 

Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir - 4/5

This is the third book in the beloved Locked Tomb series, and follows a mixed cast of new and old characters in a - as is common in this series - mysterious setting. I often wondered, while reading this installment, if there's too much mystery in this series. Sometimes I feel like we don't know too much... But I think it's mostly my lack of patience talking. Also, I might just have read this at the wrong time - it was finals week, after all, and I did really, really just want to know.

I think most of what can be said about this series has been said, and all I can add is, it fucking rocks. It's confusing and it's beautiful! And I want to make Daniel Greene's words my own: I think the writing has been becoming consistently better and better at each installment, which includes cutting down ever-so-slightly on the lyricism and finding a difficult balance between that style and objectiveness.

The Hedge Knight & The Sworn Sword, by George R R Martin - 5/5

These are two novellas compiled in the A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms collection. They tell the story of Dunk and Egg, an unlikely pair of squire and knight who journey around the world of Game Of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire having adventures!

This was wonderful! I loved being back in this world after my short break (I was praying for Winds Of Winter) and The Tales of Dunk and Egg are the perfect bite-sized version of my beloved ginourmous ASOIAF books, with just a little more cheerfullness than usual. I'm excited to get to next ones, but dreading finishing up all the ASOIAF content I have left!

A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine - 5/5

This is the second (and final?) installment of the Teixcalaan series, and it was just as incredible as the first one! Full of politics, intrigue and gayness, this one blew me away. It continues to follow the adventures of Mahit Dzamere as she navigates the politics of the Teixcalaan Empire as the envoy of the tiny Lsel Station - whose culture is slowly being swallowed up by the Empire. 

This one, like I've said before in my more-in-depth review of the whole series, plays out almost like the movie Arrival. Adding to the previous themes of culture, imperialism and linguistics, Ms. Martine brings in first contact with alien cultures and different conceptions of language and consciousness. A fascinating read, and one I'd highly recommend to anyone into The Locked Tomb.

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, by Foz Meadows - 3/5

This one has such a nice premise, and one of my favorite tropes: arranged marriage! I thought it would fill my Winter's Orbit-shaped hole, but it only went so far. A Strange and Stubborn Endurance follows Vel as he moves from his homophobic society to a tolerant one for an arranged marriage to Cae, while healing from a traumatic event in his life.

It sounded right up my alley, and although I did find the world-building and concept very interesting, I found that the characters and especially the dialogue lacked some luster. The plot also felt stretched, as if there were 100 pages added on for good measure when they should have been cut. Furthermore, I think the structure - having one of the POVs be in the first person, and the other, in the third - wasn't very smart and only served to distance us from one of the characters. Overall, a mediocre read with very nice world-building -- I'll be on the look-out for Ms. Meadows further endeavours!

Ocean's Echo, by Everina Maxwell - 4.5/5

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022, and it did not disappoint! I loved Winter's Orbit so much, for its characters and for its world-building, and so I was very excited to see where Ms. Maxwell was going to take us next.

This installment was so much fun! It introduced us to new facets of the world, which was so exciting! And Ms. Maxwell really manages to thread a delicate line, keeping a balance between romance and sci-fi really, really well. There was a bit too much back-and-forth with the romance for me, but apart from that, this was amazing!

All The Horses of Iceland, by Sarah Tolmie - 3/5

Pitched as a fairy tale-esque origin story for - guess what - all the horses of iceland, this story follows our Icelandic protagonist as he travels with a merchant troupe of mostly Jewish traders. Although it had its strong moments - which I talked about more in my in-depth review - the story abandons its pretensions and mostly focuses on our main character's personal life, which I didn't find as interesting. 

Binti & Binti: Sacred Fire, by Nnedi Okorafor - 3/5

Binti follows the homonymous main character, the first of the oppressed Himba people to attend the prestigious Oomza University. But her journey there isn't as easy as it might seem...

As an immigrant attending college in another country, it was hard not to relate to Binti. And the world building was interesting and original - such a nice mix between actual cultures and alien ones! But I didn't love Binti, unfortunately. Everything felt too rushed for me (especially the ending of Binti, and the subsequent plot of Binti: Sacred Fire), as if it was almost trying to be a novel in novella format. In short, its just not perfect for this format!

The Genesis of Misery, by Neon Yang - 3/5

The Genesis of Misery follows title-character Misery Nomaki as the people around her decide she is the chosen Messiah, due to her communications with God, which she knows to be a symptom of her hereditary "void-madness".

This was my second shot at Mx. Yang's fiction, and I came out of it, once again, underwhelmed. As with the Tensorate Series, I found the first half of the book and its world-building exceptionally good, -- love a good queer-normal world!! -- and then was disappointed by the second half. The character development becomes wobbly, and the twist The Genesis of Misery relies on for its second half to work is half-baked (though its final twist is pretty nice). I'll probably write more about this in the future, but in general I thought it was half-baked, quite literally.

Mamo, by Sas Milledge - 4/5

This graphic novel follows Jo and Orla, a witch, as they attempt to properly bury Orla's Mamo, her grandmother, in order to help their town. Although quite simple, Mamo features some pretty nice art and character design. Plus, the plot is interesting -- but a bit drawn out, spanning five volumes, and it depends too much on Orla's info-dumping monologues. In general, however, it's an enjoyable read -- and, did I mention? It's gay!

#reading wrap up #fantasy books #scifi books #queer books #queer #queer reads #book reviews #book recommendations #the locked tomb #asoiaf #dunk and egg #a desolation called peace #teixcalaan #a strange and stubborn endurance #ocean's echo #winter's orbit #all the horses of iceland #binti #the genesis of misery #mamo #wlw books #sapphic books #mlm books #achillean books

[whilereadingandwalking]

All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie is a quiet, vivid novella that tells of a trader from Iceland, Eyvind, and his slow travels into Central Asia through the lands of Khazaria and to the steppes of Mongolia, where horse herds roam. Tolmie evokes extremely well an early world where nations are well-established but where it's quite possible not to know their shape, where faraway lands and their animals are mysterious discoveries, where religions are spreading across continents. She gives a land that we think we know a fog or mist that blurs the edges and better evokes Eyvind's own ignorance and wonder. She tells the story of how the wild, small horses of Iceland came to live there, drawing on research and classic sagas to craft this short story of sorcery, ghosts, and cross-cultural discovery. This novella was rich and lovely. The prose was fluid and poetic, and the story was interesting. I will say it felt like it lacked stakes. It's fine for the stakes to be quiet, but I didn't quite feel emotional rise or fall as the narrative went on—it felt otherworldly, and it was clearly meant to read like a sort of historical account of events, but I still wish there was a little more emotional investment and attachment to our protagonist. Content warnings for animal cruelty/death.

#all the horses of iceland #sarah tolmie #novella #fantasy books #fantasy releases #my book reviews

[eileenmaries-blog]

“At home in foreign lands I am not lost this night,

Night journeys are true though plains are not crossed this night.

True home is absolute and high and everywhere,

A green oasis I could not exhaust the night.”

A poem in the novel All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie, Tor 2022.

#all the horses of Iceland #Sarah Tolmie #historical fantasy #horse stories #medieval Central Asia historical fiction #home

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie

Review: All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie

Author: Sarah TolmiePublisher: Tor.comReleased: March 1, 2022Received: NetGalleyWarnings: Slavery, sex slavery If you love horses, magical tales, or stories stemming from Iceland, then you’ve got to look into All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie. Admittedly the title of this story is very on the nose, but that is far from being a bad thing. Follow a Norse trader as he travels through…

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#All the Horses of Iceland #All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie #Book #Book Review #Books #Fantasy #Fiction #Literary #Literature #Net Galley #NetGalley #Review #Sarah Tolmi #Tor #Tor Books #Tor Publishing #Tor.com

[briteboy]

heard y'all were talking about horses

#literally took all of these pics in one play session this past weekend #sims 4 can try but they will never achieve the chaos that was sims 3 horses #the spaceship is what's actually sending me klgjdfsjkfj #only the sims 3<3 #the third pic.........what are they discussing #for years i've been so confused because i turn horses off in the in game settings AND in nraas so truly what is going on #they haunt me #actually since aurora skies is based off iceland it's pretty accurate that wild horses are just roaming everywhere

[whywishesarehorses]

We competed a 9 mile poker ride yesterday with almost a hundred other riders! Thea was the best behaved horse in our group

#blm mustang #mustang horse #thea #equestrian #horseblr #mustang #I did not win poker but my BO took the grand prize with a royal flush #there were so many Icelandics #number 54/100 was a 9 mile poker ride!! #all four gaits. stopping and banking while her friends ran away. up and downhill. over obstacles. she’s a saint

[equinesandeducation]

Líf photos!!! She’s three now and doing very well despite all the… ehh… gestures vaguely to everything

#she’s coming home January or February if all goes according to plan #happy!!! #Líf #lif #icelandic horses #icelandic horse #horses #equines #tolt #trot #nature #wild horses #free

[salem-the-silver]

Horse Stimboard

#therianthropy #icelandic horse therian #horse therian #horse moodboard #horse stimboard #sorry bout the cruchyness #Pinterest be lackin nice horse gifs fr #made me sad😭 #all the running ones were slow mo #like broo I need the energy #also it’s water related cause for some reason stepping in puddles really makes me go horse #idk what it is #but yeah trotting and running really make me feel horse #so do environments like these #hope you other horses enjoy fr fr #and non horses #this is for anyone fr

[thatonceandfutureprat]

My mom, who visits Iceland every year, really wants to go with me too. I, on the other hand, don’t because she already goes every year.

She’ll start acting like a tour guide and knows exactly where she wants to go, which takes the joy away for me.

Whiiiich is why, when a friend went ‘hey I’m putting something together, wanna come with?’ I was like ‘brb, buying a ticket!’

See, I’d much rather take her to Denmark, something I’ve wanted to do since last year but she keeps finding excuses (like ‘wouldn’t you rather go to Iceland?’). Neutral ground for the both of us! Yay!

#first my eye operation in two weeks #and when I’ve healed it all over for you bitches #no wait wrong meme #but yeah #now I can actually manipulate her into FINALLY going to Denmark #I’ve got a hotel lined up and everything #dad’s offered his car #let’s go alreadyyyyy #Iceland is also really exciting BUT I don’t know what we’re doing yet #apparently so far it involves hot springs #sheep and colouring wool #baking bread in the ground #and we’re also riding horses somewhere #not certain yet #and if it fall through somehow….well! I’ll still have a ticket so 👍 #I’m going either way #I say the riding horses so casually but you need to know that we’re friends BECAUSE of them #important detail

[scorpionqueenao3]

The fact that it's 70° in November makes me want to commit a felony

#It's almost too hot for jeans and a sweater dude #It's gross #Once my horses die I'm moving to iceland so I can make someone fall in love and marry me for citizenship #I just want it to be cold and dark all the time

[shiroselia]

After having dug through my archive a solid three times I have come to the conclusion that I probably never made a Horses of 2022 post, which is a shame because they are undoutedly my absolute favourite set of horses I’ve ever bought, so here they are a few months later

Sunshadow > Strawberryfield > Snowowl > Sweetrose > Flowerfield > Witchcraft

Literally all of these were unexpected favourites (Especially Sunshadow and Strawberryfield) and even though I bought the last three mostly just to stick to my plans because I wasn’t actually really playing, they are definitely also Huge favourites of mine, good horses all around :3

#I am very happy with what 2022 did to my general horse purchasing mentality #It was a necessary down low year after two years of horses in the double digits #And as I said literally all of these except the Icelandic are some of my favourite breeds #The Icelandic is in the tier just below favourite with the Haflinger #Love them all so so much #Also the only year my affinity for brown to the left has dominated my colour picks #I mostly do these year in reviews for my own archival purposes so here we be #Also the only time I've Ever bought more gelding than mares because I keep track of that and I make a solid 90% of my horses mares #4 out of 2 to be more precise #Comparative to this year where Every horse I've bought is a mare!

[lilareviewsbooks]

All The Horses of Iceland - 3/5

Rating: 3/5

Pages: 112 (paperback)

Includes: horses I guess; vengeful ghosts; lyrical writing

Novellas are my favorite format exactly because they're not that easy to write. A good novella doesn't shrink and doesn't stretch itself to fit into the format, it just is supposed to be that big. Usually, I think the problem is that stories shrink to be novellas -- AKA, the plot is rushed. 

All The Horses of Iceland suffers of the opposite problem. The plot is too slow! It's like making dough and stretching it out so much until it becomes thin and breaks. The plot points stay for too long, it refuses to move foward to next adventure for our character.

When it does move quicker, it's masterful. Ms. Tolmie follows the journey of an Icelandic merchant who begins travelling with a Jewish trading group, which eventually culminates in the origin story of - you guessed it - all the horses of Iceland. Right there in the middle, though, while our main character is in what I'm assuming is the Mongol Empire, the story moves at a better pace, and it's so engaging! It's brimming with culture and magic, and watching our main character navigate that is incredibly entertaining.

But I think All The Horses of Iceland loses its sparkle around the half-way point. It was mostly pitched to me as a magical story, with fairytale vibes, but I struggled to see that, especially after this mark. Sure, the writing is lyrical, but the story mostly focuses on the character's personal life, instead of weaving an intricate account of the origin of - say it with me - all the horses of Iceland. It's also not that atmospheric at all, which I think is essential to a good fairy tale, as the writing's lyricism is more focused, again, on our protagonist. And the magic, both literal and metaphorical, disappears from the page after we leave the Mongol Empire.

In general, I think All The Horses of Iceland doesn't truly commit to its own mission. It tries to be a fairy tale, and succeds for about half of its page count, but then becomes more of a narrative of our protagonists life - which isn't particularly interesting - than anything else.

Reminds me of...

- The Book of a Thousand Days: deep dive into Middle-Age Mongolian culture and religion, specifically, BUT this one is YA, bigger, and has a romance subplot (which slays, btw)

-  The Greenhollow Duology: fairy tale-esque vibes; lyrical writing; novella, BUT I thought this was one was better; it's gay; and also it's not an origin story

#all the horses of iceland #novella #fantasy books #books books books #book recommendations #book review #tor #historical fiction #the book of a thousand days #greenhollow duology #mongolian history #bookworm #books #fantasy #books and reading

[wornkindness]

in relation to that last post, any gift that's a horse or horse related doesn't count

#currently that has happened all of twice #padme gifts her a swamp horse #and then in canon she's also gifted an icelandic horse #who i still have to give a name too #BUT IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OFTEN #&. ABOUT #&. verse : star wars

[savvawilf]

Most of you have probably caught on to Star Stable nerfing the pintabian so it isn’t the fastest horse to compete with anymore. (I’ve heard that the Morgan is a contender now bc it has a fast start, but i digress)

I think we can all agree that it shouldn’t matter which horse you ride on in order to get the best time in competitions, or to win championships. Your skill as a player should matter the most. 

In the aftermath of the pintabian getting nerfed, I had a look at the icelandic horses again. The icelandic race (or “the competition for gaited horses” as its actually called) is just like every other race. You can beat your personal best, and you can get the best time of the day, week, month, etc. And there is also, of course, the payout of jorvik shillings for getting the best time. 

Like with any other competition, I don’t think it should matter which horse you choose. You should still have equal chances to get the best time. As you all know, the generation 3 icelandic has a much slower tölt than the generation 2. Yesterday I tested out how much slower the gen 3 icelandic was in the icelandic race compared to the gen 2, and there was a difference of ca 36 seconds. 

36 SECONDS

The horses were equally happy, I used the exact same clothes and gear for both, and I switched gaits at the exact same spots. The gen 3 was still 36 seconds slower than the gen 2, only because ot its slower tölt. Someone who is better at the icelandic race short cuts than me could perhaps get a shorter time difference, but still. 36 seconds is a HUGE difference.  

I don’t care if Star Stable nerf the gen 2 tölt so it gets slower, or speed up the gen 3 tölt (which I personally hope for bc I hate the slow tölt), but the two should still be equally fast when they tölt. It doesn’t matter that the icelandic race is one of the competitions people compete in the least in the whole game. The gen 2 icelandic still has a very unfair advantage that they shouldn’t have.over the gen 3 icelandic, and I hope star stable will correct this some day.  

#starfam #star stable #star stable online #starstableonline #sso icelandic horse #36 seconds slower is unacceptable when all horses are supposed to be equally fast