The fifth book in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, The Horse and His Boy is the only one of the seven that doesn't add much (that is significant) to the whole. It's just a story, while the others are vast theological works and each contribute to the larger theme that is Narnia. (OK, I'm exaggerating slightly, but not much.)
You may find that some editions of the series will have this book as the third in the series (Magician's Nephew, Lion-Witch-Wardrobe, then Horse). Please note that Lewis wrote them in a particular order, published them in that order and I truly believe that he wished them to be enjoyed in the original order (through his dying day). With the New Revised Order (Magician's Nephew first), one can never encounter the lamp in its proper setting as Lucy finds it first in Lion. It just wasn't made to be that way.
Regardless of that debate, there are a number of interesting quotes in Horse. Here's my favorite:
They were now in the palace garden which sloped down in terraces to the city wall. The moon shone brightly. One of the drawbacks about adventures is that when you come to the most beautiful places you are often too anxious and hurried to appreciate them; so that Aravis (though she remembered them years later) had only a vague impression of grey lawns, quietly bubbling fountains, and the long black shadows of cypress trees.(emphasis added)
Which is why, when Erika and I were fighting the wind, with little battery power left for the kicker, trying to get back to port in a big blow before sundown, I had her stop and look at the Cleveland skyline on the starboard side and the sky-meets-lake horizon on the other. May she remember it always.
