The Princess and the Horse

The Hound Saga #4

by Mette Ivie Harrison

Fierce's mother has left her pack to become a human. Left behind, Fierce is determined to have nothing to do with humans. But one day she finds a woman who reminds her of her mother in the forest. She hesitates for a moment, just long enough for the woman--Princess Jaleel--to turn her into a human with the wild magic. Soon Fierce is dragged into human concerns about the effects of the misuse of wild magic by Princess Jaleel. Will Fierce choose to be human and save the world or to be a hound again and save herself?

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Tales, Romance, Fiction, Magic, Royalty

171 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2011

About the author

My name is pronounced "Metty" like my mother's "Betty." It is Danish, and we were all named after ancestors. I guess by the time they got to number nine (out of eleven), it was getting tricky. So I got the funny Danish name no one knew how to prounounce. In Denmark, it should be "meta" like "metaphysical." It's from the Greek for "pearl." And no, it's not short for anything. Not even Mediterannean.

My first book, THE MONSTER IN ME was accepted for publication in 1999 and was published in 2002. My second book, MIRA, MIRROR was published in 2004. The latest book, THE PRINCESS AND THE HOUND , was published in 2007. A sequel, THE PRINCESS AND THE BEAR, came out in April of 2009.

I now live in Utah with my husband and 5 children, ages 5 to 14. I write during nap time, or at 4 in the morning, or while the broccoli for dinner is burning. Whenever I get a chance. I love to write the kind of books that I love to read. And I love to discover what is going to happen next, just like a reader would. I also do some racing in triathlon.

from http://www.metteivieharrison.com/myli...

Reviews

[Kimber Briant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This whole series is amazingly well wrote. I'm not sure I worded that right, but it is!

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series and the stories just keep getting better! This fourth novel did not disappoint! The sweet love stories as the characters battle between whether animal magic is truly worth having or not are so pure and self-sacrificing. I loved Fierce and Red's relationship and how they came together in the end was just perfect! 100% recommend this series and I can't wait to get my hands on the finale of the series!

[Brita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this four stars compared to all books, not compared to the first three books. I gave the first two books five stars, and I gave the third book four stars. The Princess and the Horse was still a great novel, but it paled in comparison to The Princess and the Snowbird, which wasn't quite as perfect as The Princess and the Hound and The Princess and the Bear.

This book tells the story of Fierce, who is the hound daughter of Chala. From the best of my understanding, it's in the same time period as George and Marit.

The good: Like her other books, I loved the protagonist, her love interest, and the way they fall in love. I also enjoyed the magical battles. It was nice finding out how Fierce felt when she was abandoned by her mother.

The neutral: A benefit to this book is that it can be read without having read the first three, if you happen to come across this one first. It's not necessary to know who Fierce's mother is to enjoy this book. In fact, due to the bad I'm about to mention, it might be better to read this as a standalone novel.

The bad: The rules of magic seem to change with each book. With the first three books, it made sense. We learn a little bit about the magic in the first book. The second book explains even more about all of magic. The third book, I think, is another battle of the magic and unmagic in the future, way after George and Marit's time, because Chala and the Bear (sorry, forgot his name) extended magic in time. All of this I could follow and figure out in my head.

But in this fourth novel, I have no idea how the magical battle matches up with George and Marit's time. But it must be during their time, because Fierce is Chala's hound daughter, who we briefly meet in the first novel. The magical battles are cool, but I don't understand how they mesh with the rules created in the first three novels. Maybe the fifth novel will clear things up.

Overall, it was still a great book, and I recommend it. Just be prepared to be confused if you've read the first three.

[Hollie Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how this book ended. This book was slow for me in the beginning but that was back story, it story and character building. Then the story became very interesting. I liked how she shown growth in her characters, and this series itself.

The characters are easy to like, and to hate. In this book it was a fight to save the world, and restore the magical balance. It is a good book and easy to read. This book right now is free on Amazon.com, but for how long I don't know.

[Kristen]

I really tried, I got 14% into it and that was really pushing myself to keep reading it. It just wasn't interesting enough for me to keep reading. Just bizarre...don't think I will be reading any more of this series.

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very strange! The wild magic the princess uses makes for weird imaginations of these characters she writes of. A book I finished, however I read five in between finishing it. Not one I would bother with again but I'm glad I finished it to its interesting conclusion.

[Elise · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was very disappointed in this book as I have rather enjoyed other books by this author.
There was such a focus on the bad things/a bad feeling from the book that I didn't like reading it at all.

[Calli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd probably give this one a 3-, as it didn't appeal to me nearly as much as the previous princess books. I didn't feel much connection to any of the characters.