(view spoiler)[Preliminary thoughts *SPOILERS*: I read the edition released in the early 90's with the Pamela Patrick cover as opposed to this edition. The story is mainly about Rashid a young Bedouin man and Shetan (the title character), who survive in the Arabian mountains after Rashid raided the stronghold where Shetan was being kept. They develop a sort of association, I wouldn't say "bond", but they more or less felt comfortable around each other. Rashid looked at Shetan as a means to an end; the end being to sell him so that Rashid could provide for himself and his family (something which did not end up happening, mainly because he and the horse will get separated). We later (in the other books about Shetan in this series) get to see that the way Shetan is viewed is the opposite. Something curious that I noted was how Shetan's parents were portrayed in the story; it's very similar to Jesus Christ's parents: a mortal for a mother and an other-worldly being for a father. In the story, Shetan's father was believed to be the Stallion of the Midnight Sky, and it sounded to me like he was not a flesh-and-blood horse but rather a spirit that came straight from the stars who impregnated his mother Jinah Al-Tayr, Wings of the Bird, and out of that union the young black stallion was born. In this sense, it sounds very much like a legend and only adds to the mythology of this character who we will later get to read more about in these series of books by Walter Farley and Steven Farley. It's great to see that this whole story, although something seemingly true in Shetan's history before he met Alec Ramsay, was something that was dreamt by Alec. This past-life experience Alec had, coupled with the mystery of Shetan's ancestry, are two key elements which add the fantasy element to this story. Will the other books in The Black Stallion series have such an element in them too? We'll find out as we make our way through the series. I reserve the right to edit, including add more to, this review in the future. (hide spoiler)]
This was Walter Farley's swan song to the Black Stallion series. His son Steven helped him write it. The events consist of a flashback Alec has right after the cataclysmic events of The Black Stallion Legend. It's at turns poetic and then downright bizarre. A two year old colt being called a stallion? Hmmm. Also, I liked the fact that The Black looked as if he killed someone right before he was forced onto the Drake. It made him a real bad-ass. Here this scene is rewritten to be more PC. Oh, come on. This book does however help explain why the Black didn't kill Alec while they were stranded on the island in The Black Stallion.
