Beast Quest 4 – Tagus the Night Horse

Adam Blade's Tagus the Night Horse is a galloping Beast Quest adventure for 7 year olds about a half-man, half-horse Beast stampeding the cattle of the plains.

What happens

This is Tom's fourth Beast. He's already set a fire dragon, a sea serpent and a mountain giant free from the evil wizard Malvel's spell, and his shield carries a token from each of them. Now he and his friend Elenna ride down to the plains, with Storm the black horse and Silver the wolf running beside them.

Things go wrong almost straight away. A thousand cattle come stampeding towards them with a prairie fire right behind. Tom jumps down and hacks a firebreak through the tall grass with his sword to save the town of Dareton.

And how do the people of Dareton thank him? They drag him off to jail, covered in soot, because they think he started it!

A boy called Victor has gone missing from a cattle drive, and everyone's heard whispers about a mysterious horseman who attacks the herds at night. A stranger with a horse looks very guilty indeed.

The jail escape is brilliant. Tom spots a patch of stone worn soft by a dripping leak, begs the guard for food, and stuffs a strip of his shirt into the gap as the door opens. Elenna turns up on Storm under the window with a rope.

Then there's Tagus himself, huge and furious, with a glowing enchanted collar round his neck. Tom has to get close enough to unlock it, which means a lasso, a river crossing and a very bumpy ride on the back of a Beast who doesn't want him there.

If you've got a reader who wants action on every page, this is exactly that. Victor breaks his leg and Tom takes some hard knocks, but it's exciting rather than gory.

It's also very easy to read. Short, punchy sentences, a hero who's brave and fair, and friends and animals who never let him down.

What to read next

Want to see where it all started? Ferno the Fire Dragon is where Tom leaves his village to ask the king for help.