Minna's Quest

Roman Pony Adventures #1

by K.M. Peyton

Strong-willed Minna is just a blacksmith's daughter, yet she raises a sickly abandoned foal to become the pride of the Roman cavalry. And when her fort is threatened by blood-thirsty pirates, the fate of her people depends on Minna and her beloved horse alone, as they set out on an impossible journey to fetch help.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Horses, Historical, Fiction, Young Adult Paranormal, Romance

185 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2007

About the author

Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton MBE, who wrote primarily as K. M. Peyton, was a British author of fiction for children and young adults

Reviews

[Jill Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minna and her brother Cedrick had a happy childhood playing with Theo and other local children in Othona. The Roman fort in an isolated part of Essex. The fort is there to fight off pirates.

As they grew up Cedrick could roam wild but Minna had to work the rough fabric into garments for the soldiers. She had little time to herself and resented Cedrick his freedom. Theo had taken over the reins of running the fort since his father had died. Minna adored Theo and hoped he would understand she loved him.

Minna had sharp eyes and knew the coastal land well. She heard the soldiers leave with some commotion and wondered why. She spied a lump out on the saltings it was barely moving. She ran down to see what it was. A foal was left to die on the rising tide. Minna carried the small creature to their shelter, kept it warm, and fed it. When the patrol returned the mare knew her foal was near and shied, tossing around. Minna was not welcomed when Theo realised she had rescued the foal but the mare was able to suckle the starving creature.

Minna called the foal Silva after the Roman god of wild nature, uncultivated land, forests, and hunting. She was a strong-willed girl and resisted Theo when he claimed the foal. She insisted Cedric have it, believing he wouldn't claim it.

When the thick fog drew in along the coast over the fort and the village, Cedric was a soldier and sent on a terrible task. Minna found him riding Silva and terrified to be attempting to cross the water to raise ships to help the fort fight off the marauders. Minna took his place because Silva would ride into danger for her, but not Cedrick.

Would she make it across the water and convince the doubting soldiers that she was tasked with a message the tribune, the high ranking commander must receieve? Would Cedrick be disgraced for not performing the task he had been given.

This is a wonderful book and at its heart is the love Minna has for her horse, and Cedrick has for his dog.

Beautifully written by K M Peyton, I'm already started on the next book in the series.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Doesn't live up to what I know this author is capable of. Was too much a mixture of action, character based, historical and love story and wasn't satisfying in any of them. Didn't make me feel anything much for any of the characters. Even though I'm older than the intended audience for this book, that's never stopped her before. Will try the next one but disappointed with this.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having loved horses from childhood, I have read many of K. M. Peyton’s horse and pony books, however I was delighted to discover this historical horse book because I also love Roman history and thought it was a magical combination of two of my passions. The book will probably appeal more to history lovers than fans of pony stories as the focus is more on an historical adventure in Minna’s quest to save her village and the local garrison. The story is set just after Constantine’s death and the writing successfully evoked the time and the place of the setting

As far as I could tell the history was accurate and where things were slight different to the norm Peyton highlights the fact. For example it was clearly explained, how, at times, Minna was acting contrary to what would be expected of a typical Roman young lady .This combined to make the story more realistic. As might be expected, Minna is a strong feisty female lead character. Peyton excels at writing strong female characters and more sensitive male characters. The relationship between Minna and her brother Cedric is developed nicely over the course of the story. Furthermore the animal characters (the horse Silva and Cedric’s dog) are beautifully portrayed as is their relationship with their respective masters, however the animal characters are not as central as they are in some of Peyton’s other works.

The book ended with some unanswered questions, however I personally felt the ending was pitched right, bringing the story to a satisfactory close, whilst making me keen to read the next in the series. I think if I had read this when I was younger I would have been put off by the focus on the romance, however as an older reader I enjoyed this as a quick and easy read. This book is very niche and I don’t think it will appeal to a huge amount of people and whilst it is not her best Peyton’s worst appears to be way above many other author’s best.

Rounded up to four stars, partly because of the beautiful cover.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, although the ending left a lot of unanswered questions so I am really looking forward to reading the other two books in this trilogy. :D

[Kaeli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how it shows you that promises are important. Even when they are foolish promises.

[Jenna Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable short story

[Christina Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book 📖. I gave it 4 stars. I don't think I want to read the other ones.

[Ranee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great adventure! A little repeated sentiments and not quite the fairy tale ending but still very good. A type of historical fiction

[LeAnne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book for my grand daughter, but as a lover of ancient Briton, I had to read it myself before passing it on. Minna’s Quest introduces young readers to life in fourth century Britain. The power of the Roman Empire is waning and northern pirates plague the coast. Minna, daughter of a British blacksmith, must swim the two-mile river mouth with Silva, the horse she has raised from a foal, to bring help to the Othona fort. There is a bit more romance than I would choose for a ten-year-old (Minna is in love with her childhood playmate Theo, now commander of the fort), but the action and adventure will undoubtedly hold her attention, plus insights into a Britain before even King Arthur, when England is a backwater of civilization, not the center of empire.

The publisher maintains a site designed to stretch curious young minds with links to lots of information on Roman Britain. (http://www.usborne.com/quicklinks/eng...) I would have liked to see some info more specifically linked to the story itself, but these links have much to offer.

Although the writing could have used some tightening, the book will appeal to horse lovers as well as lovers of ancient Britain like me. However, as one reviewer said, Peyton is not Rosemary Sutcliffe.

[Jacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slight book in every sense of the word. Aimed at YA but the very low end of that spectrum, I think. Set in Roman Britain at the latter end of the occupation. Minna and her brother find a newborn foal dumped on the shore of the small garrison town where their father is a blacksmith. Minna saves the foal and raises it - though her brother lays claim to is for huis mount when he joins the Roman legion. A few years pass and all that happens but Minna is still given permission to ride the horse (Silva).

Minna's childhood friend Theo is promoted to temporary command the small garrison and when the village is attacked by pirates Minna's brother is ordered to swim Silva acroiss the estuary to alert the garrison at Colchester, however he fails and Minna does it instead. Her brother in the meantime - afraid to retirn to the garrison and face punsihment finds a way to cut the pirates off from their boat. It's a won-win situation. Theor gets his promotion ratified.

There's a romantic subtext between Minna and Theo but it's not resolved. I like K.M.Peyton but I wasn't impressed with this. It's not a patch on the Pennington books or Flambards.

[Jeanette 📚🦊🏹 justjeanettelee_reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally got around to finishing this book (hooray for interstate travel with nothing to do!).

Honestly, this book was a beautiful read for any age. Sure, it's targeted more 10-16 or something like that, but it was historical fiction (in a sense) and I'm not going to pass up on that no matter the age bracket.

It was a nice blend of history and fiction - taking place not long after the death of Emperor Constantine, which provides a great time context. All historical terms were used appropriately and Peyton made sure to check her facts and ancient geography, which is outstanding!

And of course, the book is also about the love between a girl and her horse - of course I enjoyed it! I may have "gotten over" my horse phase when I was like 12 but I still care deeply for the animals and yeah.

It just worked for me.

Minna is a little too in love with Theo to be honest though and Cerdic is a snooty little self interested brat, and Theo is so bloody blind. Those are really my only criticisms.

[Shayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Minna's Quest is a fast paced, exciting novel about life in Britain during the end of the Roman Empire's rule. It's a smart novel aimed at middle school girls. The description of life at the fort and what it was like to be a Roman centurion was well done - blended into the story and it didn't feel like a history lesson. There were several words I had to look up and I feel like I have a pretty good vocabulary.

Minna is a strong and smart heroine. Her love and devotion to Theo, the commander of the fort, is a little ridiculous and over the top but that's my only complaint about the book. I'm also not typically into horse books and almost didn't read it because of that, but I liked this one. There is a lot of devotion between Minna and her horse so horse lovers will be happy.

There are two more books in the series which I plan on reading. The story concluded nicely so I'm not really sure where they will go from here.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book more being a horse person. I just had a hard time with taking minna seriously. She comes across as narcissistic. I think she should have had far more concern and compassion toward her brother even if it would not have changed her actions. The love story undertones were a little too strong for my tastes also. (I really wanted this book to be more about the horse, so perhaps I was prejudiced against it for that.). Also it may be delightful for a young adult or middle schooler to read, I just found it lacking some depth. That said I will most likely read the other two books in the series.

[Aldi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read a bit younger than expected but it was a fun, undemanding adventure story. As usual, K.M. Peyton can do no wrong with horse stories, the characters were lively and well-drawn, and the setting (Roman-occupied Britain) was interesting. My one complaint is that the map really should have been in the front of the book instead of the back - I spent about an hour hunting down Roman-era maps of Essex so I could better visualise Minna's journey and was very proud of myself when I'd finally worked it out, only to find it all neatly laid out at the end of the book when I finished (doh, self!).

[A Colleen Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. There was a reasonable amount of historical detail, and the characters were compelling and likeable. Being a fan of horse books, I enjoyed this adventure and am hoping to read more as I see from one reviewer that there are two more books. Nicely done. I've read some of K.M. Peyton's other books, and enjoyed their depth and sweep, but I didn't find this book slight or lacking at all just because it's not as big as a brick. I found it a pleasant and exciting book and look forward to more about Minna and her world.

[Abra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am really, really sad to give this two stars, because I love K. M. Peyton as an author. I will read the two follow-ups in this trilogy, which is about a young horse-mad (surprise) girl in Roman Britain at the close of the Empire, but only because I am a bit of a completist. This is a weak pastiche of Rosemary Sutcliff's territory, and K. M. Peyton is better than this. I need to add all the very many EXCELLENT books I have read by her, to take the taste of this poor novel out of my mouth.

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really impressed with this book - had a lot of elements I consider to be top picks in a YA book. It was super readable, has a really strong female protagonist, and still manages to have some great vocabulary with some good SAT prepping rare words thrown in for good measure. Plus, I love the setting - Roman occupied Ancient Britain, pretty unique. Will be reading the rest of the series just for fun. Well worth the couple of days investment it took to read it.

[Charty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty disappointing for a Peyton book. The story line is not very fluid and there's quite a bit of unnecessary repetition on some plot and characterization points. I like the idea of it (the adventures of a young Briton girl during the waning days of the Roman Empire) but this was definitely not up to Peyton's earlier works, even cutting it some slack for being a children's book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. I was checking the level for my children to be able to read it. I sell Usborne Books & More and this is one of the titles and it's listed as 12 and up. I would say even younger might like it. I'm looking forward to continuing the trilogy.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not that good of book. I was very sad that the cover of this book make it look like a very good book. I give it three stars because the end of the book was better than the beginning. I was going to give it only two stars.

[AshleyA2007 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book was really good but I wish I had read it when I first got in back in 2010. I enjoyed it but I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I was reading it when I was 10 or 12 instead of 17.

[Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice enough book, but needs a lot more detail. It's not very believable.

[Rhiannon]

LOVED THIS BOOK!

[Varsha Seshan]

The good part about this book was that it kept me reading. The open ending made it all the more believable, but reading it was not as pleasurable as it could have been.

[Cally73 · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay children's book. I struggled a bit with the characters - I didn't find them particularly likeable.

[Em theglitterybookworm_ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3/5.0 that was so weird.

[Christina Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was good, but I don't want to read the others. I gave this book 4 stars.

[Selah Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice enough book, but needs a lot more detail. It's not very believable.