Horses of Heaven

by Gillian Bradshaw

Book Overview

The marriage of Mauakes, the elderly king of Ferghana, to Heliokleia, a beautiful, young Bactrian princess, unleashes fateful dark omens of tragedy, passion, turmoil, and downfall. Reprint. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385414668
• ISBN13: 9780385414661
• Release Date: April 1991
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

buried masterpiece

It is still my favorite book after 15 years. Babygirl keeps churning out the books on the regular but in my opinion this is still the best, and if she never wrote one that was better it wouldn't matter because this one is a masterpiece. Two things that I love about the writing are the development of the characters -- seamless beautiful transitions from distrust and dislike to love as well as well-crafted shifts on the timeline (flashbacks) that give the reader insight into the situation and the characters. My favorite parts however are when the characters discuss philosophy. Within the content of the conversations b/t characters there are incredibly thought-provoking statements that I haven't seen in any of her other books and is what really sets this one apart. Also, the historical aspect of the plot is fairly simple and easy to follow but still exciting in the telling. Plots in later books get a little complicated and rushed. I've always wanted to see this made into a movie.

Familiar theme beautifully treated

In "Horses of Heaven," acclaimed writer Gillian Bradshaw goes far into the past to tell the story of Heliokleia, a beautiful, Bactrian (pre-Greek), Buddhist queen, and her marriage to the elderly Ferghanan king, Mauakes. Mauakes has a grown son from a previous marriage, Itaz, who detests and fears the Bactrians. This is a fairly typical Tristan-and-Isolde theme: what saves it from the commonplace by Ms. Bradshaw's beautiful writing, her clear, subtle world-building, and her creation of layered, multi-leveled characters. Elements of the supernatural are introduced in a low-key and fairly believable way (insofar as having conversations with ghosts are "believable.") A very good, well-written, engaging story, with intriguing glimpses into the pre-Christian world.