Blood Red Horse is well written, well researched and has a well thought-out plot. Author K.M. Grant has chosen an exciting period of the past in which to set her first book. Her re-telling of history is faultless and the character creation is solid. So why is it such a dull read?
The problem with historical fiction is where the history ends and the story begins. The right mix is difficult to achieve without tedium setting in. How can an author take a modern reader into the past without boring the pants off him?
Successful historical novels grab the reader's attention with an interesting plot and characters, while the historical details simply provide a setting. Offering your readers pages of plot followed by a staid chapter of historical details will just not do.
Sadly Blood Red Horse misses the mark. At times, the novel reads like a history textbook. While it is not a complete yawn, Blood Red Horse has plenty of boring bits.
When the history kicks in, the story seems to stop and you want to shout 'Come on! Get on with it!'.
The story is set in the Middle Ages at the time of the Crusades between 1185 and 1193. The action moves from a nobleman's estate in England to the battlefields of the Middle East. Soon we are in the middle of a rather predictable plot about two young brothers who go off to fight for God and country and end up heroes.
There is, of course, rivalry between the two brothers and romantic interest provided by an orphaned heiress who is engaged to marry the elder brother, but secretly in love with the younger man, Will de Granville.