If Wishes Were Horses

After reading Anne McCaffrey's An Exchange of Gifts back in August, I bought it and If Wishes Were Horses, which is another of her novellas. I decided to start reading If Wishes Were Horses a few days ago. It's short (only 85 half pages), but I've been pretty busy so it took me a bit longer than I thought it would.

If Wishes Were Horses is the story of the Eircelly family (a noble family made up of lots of children who are almost all twins). Their father is called away to a war, so the rest of the family is left to take care of themselves and their village without him. The war drags on much longer than planned, getting nearer and nearer to the eldest pair of twins' birthday. For Tirza, this isn't much of a problem: she may miss out on getting a traditional Ball, but she knows she's getting a crystal as per her family's tradition. But her brother, Tracell, had his heart set on getting his own horse. With the war still raging, horses are impossible to come by. How will Lady Eircelly make his birthday wish come true?

If Wishes Were Horses was a fine story. I liked that it was about the whole family getting through this hardship. I don't think it was as good as An Exchange of Gifts though, which was a bit of a shame (An Exchange of Gifts was awesome and I'd love to read more set in that world!) But even saying that, If Wishes Were Horses was still a great read. :)

An Exchange of Gifts

I saw Anne McCaffrey's An Exchange of Gifts when I was at work.  I've read another one of McCaffrey's novellas a long time ago and liked it; this one sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a read.

Meanne (aka Princess Anastasia de Saumur et Navarre y Cordova) has a Gift entirely unsuitable to a princess: she can make plants grow and create healing potions and salves out of them.  So rather than being denied her birthright (and being forced into marrying someone she does not know), Meanne runs away, faking her death so no one will come looking for her.  She makes her way to an abandoned cottage she remembers visiting as a child.  Unfortunately she didn't realize just how much work living on her own would be.

Luckily, a young boy named Wisp comes to her rescue.  He has run away from who knows where, having the scars on his back as a memento.  Wisp befriends her, helping to teach her how to survive.  Together, the two build an idyllic life, caring for Meanne's plants and snaring small animals.

But after Wisp talks Meanne into going to the local village's monthly market, Meanne's past catches up with her.  She faked her death too well, and her father has sent his men throughout the kingdom to find her murderers.  But now Wisp knows who she is, too.  Things come to a head between them as he finally reveals who he is, what exactly happened to him, and what incredible Gift he has.

An Exchange of Gifts was an excellent read.  I loved it enough to buy my own copy from Amazon (along with another of her novellas, If Wishes Were Horses).  I can't wait to get them!