The son who struggles most finding fiction he enjoys likes the books in the black stallion series

Son of the Black Stallion (The Black Stallion, #3)
by Walter Farley
This one didn't give me the warm and fuzzies as much as the first one did and, to a lesser extent, the second. The first chapter served as a "Last time, on "The Black Stallion..." but relayed to the reader through a couple of guys "remembering" the newspaper stories and such. And the following couple of chapters did a lost of re-hashing as well.
Then there's the horse. Satan. Not as much love there as for the Black and you weren't left pulling for him at all. And Henry!! Yikes! I have to keep reminding myself, different time, man, different time. The first half of the book I was in no way thrilled with. But it finally changed it's tune and got back to what I was looking for.
Satan, the Son of the Black Stallion, is given to Alec as a few month old colt. Fire in his eyes and a killer at heart, and Alec has to win him over and break him in time for the race, the "Hopeful" for two-year old colts.
It was good, but not half as good as the first.

I had low expectations for this book after revisiting The Black Stallion as an adult. (That book is still a unique story and probably one every horse lover should read, but the quality of writing leaves A LOT to be desired.)

The writing in this installment is less repetitive than the original, but only just. The first half of the story was unexpected and interesting, though the second half was both predictable and a little annoying, with lazy storytelling through cheap dialogue.

That said, I think it's a good book for a middle grade audience, especially if you have a short dialogue about the way it portrays motherhood and marriage.

Fast read, and enjoyable as the series has been since I was a kid.

3 ⭐️

Read this when I was really young and loved it. One of my personal childhood classics.

I didn't think I had read this book before, but I remembered a few key pieces of the narrative, so I guess I had. I really enjoyed this book, not as much as the second, but I think maybe more or as much as the first? It's really good if you like the other Black Stallion novels.

Farley always gets my heart hammering when he's writing about a race - I feel like I'm right there with Alec and his horse - I'm always dying to skip to the end, but fighting myself to enjoy the pleasure of the read, it's worth it to hang on!

I really enjoyed the chapter featuring Alec's mother, it brought her character to greater focus, and the reader really got to see what Alec's parents were going through in their struggle to support his racing career. She's conflicted but she loves her son.

I loved the story of Satan, though I thought certain aspect dragged a bit too long. I also wish the characters generally had a bit more depth. They seem to have one defining characteristic (if any), a unique speech pattern, and that's about it. Farley's love for horses clearly shines through as he spends his most meticulous writing on them throughout his books - I love it, I just wish it was a teensy bit more balanced.

I recommend this book to fans of the The Black Stallion, horse literature, or a fun intro to chapter books for young readers. All will enjoy!

I liked this one, for the most part. Satan was a nice horse after he got over the whole 'trying to murder everyone he sees' thing. I could've done without the frantic search for a slip of paper thing; I get that enough in real life!

I'm just not sure I agree with Henry's, uh, 'method' of straightening Satan out. It worked, in the end, but it was pretty much animal abuse, and he could've been killed. It certainly wasn't the 'only' way to tame him, just the fastest. I'm sure Alec's way would have worked eventually, because unlike what Farley seems to have believed, horses can't be 'throwbacks' and be 'inherently wild'. If that were true, even Henry's method wouldn't have worked.

Big favorite of the series. I just really love Satan, that horse is just beautifully written and it's a great bond between him and Alec.