The Coming of the Horseclans -- reviewed by Michael Newton

The Coming of the Horseclans.
By Robert Adams

“The Coming of the Horseclans” has a great story to tell. It uses strong verbs and, at many points throughout the story, gruesome details. This series of books tells of a chief named Milo, living in the twenty seventh century, post-apocalyptic America. He must lead his tribe back to their homeland near the sea to fulfill the “Prophecy of Return.” He is aided by huge prairie cats and large, vicious horses, who he communicates too using “Mindspeak”, a telepathic bond between man and animal alike. Milo has a condition known as the “Curse of the Undying,” which means he is immune to death by ordinary means. The Ehleenoee people believe he is a terrible spawn of the devil, and have sworn to stop his alliance, and therefor victory, with the other tribes by any means.

This book, while fantastic and entrancing, loses its charm throughout the story at multiple points. The tribes seem to have a great amount of meetings and it is sometimes very hard (for me, at least) to follow along and keep track of what all is being said. There are so many different tribes with oddball names, such as “Ehleenoee,” and “Kahtahphraktoee,” that it is sometimes very hard to keep track of them all. Adams explains the scenes as action is occurring, for instance, as Milo is slaying the Ehleenoee mercenaries, it is describing more of the environment in better detail, so a lot of my mental imagery was proven wrong, which forced me to start that paragraph over again. I found this very frustrating at times. Although this book isn’t a “You can just breeze through it” read, it is definitely worth a shot.

While this book has its problems, it isn’t to be overlooked. The author captures the settings and actions of all the characters very well, and explains them in great detail. Although, as mentioned in my last paragraph, the timing for these details can be off, it definitely paints a clear, and often gruesome, picture in your head. Adams excels at making all of his characters defined, and their constant personality holds the story together nicely. I felt the characters were extremely concentrated. The protagonist is a calm, prestigious man, while the main antagonist is a dirty, perverted monster. 

“The Coming of the Horseclans” is, at times, a very difficult read, but when you start to understand the style of writing, it is an extremely good novel and a story that you will always remember. I am looking forward to continuing with this series.