Don't let the overly cutesy cover fool you - this is not exactly a children's book, although there is a certain fable like quality to it. It is a charming tale, with the typical Kidd-ish battle climax (although he writes them well and not in huge detail, so they're not hard going or anything) that I would guess is set in his "Lace and Steel" universe, with Centaurs, or half-horses, as they're called, being the dominant race. There are also Satyrs, Pixies, Harpies and Humans.

It begins with a Satyr called Pin-William capturing an ordinary mouse and making it extraordinary, forcing upon it intelligence and sapientism so he can manipulate it as a spy. Alas, things go wrong for him when the mouse breaks free of its control and befriends the person it has been sent to assassinate. The "person" is Miriam, a half-horse heiress whose kingdom is currently at war against the fierce and bloodthirsty Queen Aelis. Aelis reminds me a lot of the "Whisper of Wings" antagonist. Miriam christians her small friend "Mus" and his noble and valiant nature soon becomes obvious, along with an appealing naivette, that will time and time again get him into trouble. Together and with the aid of the ferocious stallion, Retter, the foppish William and the pretty wee satyr, Frielle, along with a great many men and half-horses, must save Kerbridge, the only city that stands between Aelis and her dominance.

There were two things that rankled with me - one is that as far as I can tell, Pin-William is killed within the first couple of chapters, and yet he isn't dead. I could never find anything to indicate that he had survived his apparently mortal wound or any explaination as to why he might not be dead. The other was that I could never work out how Mus found out his (Pin-William's) name, since noone ever actually told him. But when he was given the intelligence, he also inherited a number of the Satyr's talents and memories, so that might explain that, but damnit, I know I saw him die!

All in all, a cute and charming story that unfortunately has rather a few too many sexual references and comments re: Miriam's cleavage (what is it with guy writers and centaur fillies?) to make it entirely suitable for children, which puts it in the uncomfotable limbo of looking too much like a children's book but reading too much like an adult's book. ( )