Silver Brumby Stories Volume 2: Silver Brumby Kingdom / Silver Brumby Whirlwind / Son of the Whirlwind

Silver Brumby - Extended #4, 6-7

by Elyne Mitchell

423 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Elyne Mitchell is an Australian author best known for her Silver Brumby children's series, which tells the story of brumbies that roamed the Snowy Mountains in the Australian Alps, in particular a pale brumby named Thowra.

In 1988, she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her services to literature, as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from Charts Sturt University in 1993.

Reviews

[Lone Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compilation volume featuring the fourth, fifth and sixth books in the Silver Brumby series, ‘Silver Brumby Kingdom’, ‘Silver Brumby Whirlwind’, and ‘Son of the Whirlwind’. The first mainly features Baringa, Thowra’s grandson, searching for his mare Dawn, who was swept away in a flood. In the second, Thowra, growing old and mourning his mares (all of whom he has apparently outlived), travels to a new land, where he meets the mysterious, cave-dwelling Yuri. The third follows Yuri and Wirramirra, her son by Thowra, as they go in search of the vanished Silver Stallion.

Horse fans will find plenty to enjoy here. I liked all the books (though disliked the use of human place names by the animals), but ‘Silver Brumby Kingdom’ is easily the best of them. ‘Silver Brumby Whirlwind’ has a slightly depressing feel – Thowra knows his days are numbered and his impending death hangs over the entire story – whilst ‘Son of the Whirlwind’ was a little aimless and boring in places, and has almost no dialogue, which gives a feeling of being kept at a distance from the characters.

It should be noted that despite the cover of this edition (and many others of the series) featuring a white horse, when the author says “silver” or “creamy” she is actually referring to palomino horses.