The Horse and His Boy (here lie spoilers)

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   Since Laudo is far too busy paranoia-killing people and talking about FRIENDS to start this discussion about C.S. Lewis's The Horse and His Boy, I guess I will. Sorry, Laudo. 

Hmmm, where to begin... Okay! This is another Narnia book that I'd
never before read, and since it has never been adapted into a film, the
story was totally fresh to me. Taking place shortly after the events of
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, this installment tells the
tale of Shasta, the adopted child of a fisherman in a savage land
called Calormen. Upon learning he is about to be sold into slavery,
Shasta runs away from home and meets an arrogant talking horse named
Bree who makes a deal with Shasta to head to Narnia together. Along the
way, they meet another runaway human-and-horse pair, only of the female
variety: the girl's name is Aravis and she's fleeing an exchanged
marriage on the back of the talking mare Hwin. Along the way, this
motley party encounters attacking lions, political intrigue, warfare
and the benevolent Pevensie royalty. 

We get an interesting cast of characters here. Shasta is courageous and honest (to the point that he admits to himself he doesn't care when he learns his father isn't really his father, a scene I really liked), Bree is a twit with an inflated ego stemming from being the only horse he knows who can talk (much like Ryan Reynolds being the coolest guy at Shenanigan's in Waiting), and Aravis is a powerful, defiant female of questionable moral certitude. 

What's most notable to me about this book is the recurring theme of arranged marriages and slavery. In addition to the flight of the betrothed Aravis (whose name is strikingly familiar to the French word for greed, a quality she neither embodies nor loathes), we find Queen Susan suffering the relentless pursuit of Prince Rabadash, who wants her so badly that he'd just as soon have her as a slave as he would a wife. Since much of our discussions of this series has focused on the role of women in the Narnia books, I think it's worth mentioning that, of those we've read thus far, The Horse and His Boy seems the most aware of the disparate treatment women often receive and how they can be reduced to commodities. Consider this exchange upon the first meeting of Shasta and Aravis: 

Shasta: Why, it's only a girl!
Aravis: And what business of yours is it if I'm only a girl? You're only a boy: a rude, common little boy -- a slave probably, who's stolen his master's horse. 

Aravis is one of the first females we've seen in this series to object to the type of language Shasta uses when discussing women. She picks up on his implication and calls him out on it. Lewis also creates a parallel between betrothal and slavery with the duel plights of Shasta and Aravis. Susan is lucky enough to embody both. 

Another interesting theme of this book is the divine intervention the protagonist's witness at the hands of Aslan. Throughout the book, they are attacked by several lions, but in each case, the lion attacks propel them to meet or move faster. Because the lions are obviously the agents driving forward the story's plot, it comes as no surprise when we learn that the lions were all actually Aslan, forcing the characters to succeed where they otherwise would have failed. As the book's God-figure, this creates a clear analog for the concept of divine intervention. Personally, my view is that if there is indeed a God, he would either intervene all the time or never at all. I don't see much point of doing any degree in-between: humans either have free will or they don't. In this way, Aslan almost behaves more like the amoral X-baddie Apocalypse in that he creates situations in which only the strong survive. 