Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Black Curtain Press (2013), Edition: Illustrated, 134 pages
Description
A horrifying masterpiece of science fiction. The Sound of His Horn is a classic novel of the uncanny. Alan Querdilion becomes a prisoner of war during World War II and then awakes, only to find himself in an alternative future in which the Nazis have won the war. Against a sylvan backdrop, the legend of the wild huntsman is revived and genetic experiments have created strange hybrids. Humans are hunted for game, haunted by the sound of the huntsman's horn.
User reviews
LibraryThing member datrappert
A British prisoner escapes from a German POW camp in 1943--only to stumble into a weird netherworld. This short novel presents a compelling picture of a place of madness and slavery. The framework that encloses the story doesn't help a lot, nor does it offer any explanation for the mysterious
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happenings. This is an excellent, dark fantasy that won't leave your memory very soon. Show Less
LibraryThing member DabOfDarkness
This is one of those classics that I somehow missed until I won a copy. I’m very glad it came to my attention. It’s a very interesting mix of alternate history (what if the Nazis had won their war?), time travel, and a retelling of the Wild Hunt. The story starts off slow, with hints of
Alan finds himself in a future world 102 years after the Nazis obtained dominance. He stumbled upon it after having escaped a WWII POW camp, lost, dehydrated, and zapped by something he bumbled into. He wakes up in a German hospital-type place. The two nurses and the doctor try to help him, thinking he is suffering from a bad hit to the head. Eventually, he learns something of the baron whose land the hospital resides on. Slavery is common place for both young men and women. Alan won’t let go of his believe that this place and time is not quite real, but he quiets down enough about it for the doctor to start taking him out and about.
What Alan learns is disturbing. The slaves have been bred or perhaps genetically altered at the zygote level to provide a service or entertainment for this baron. Some are physically altered as kids or teens, such as having vocal chords cut. The baron treats many of these specialized slaves as animals, using them to hunt as well as providing them to be hunted. It’s all rather disturbing and very well written. The book doesn’t get caught up in bigger picture morality issues. Instead, it stays focused on Alan’s tale as he tries to survive this encounter and his thoughts on what is wrong or right.
Alan eventually offends the baron by sneaking about and he is tossed into the fenced forest to be hunted at leisure. This starts the heart pounding suspense as Alan must avoid the Hunt again and again. The moonlit Wild Hunt scenes were absolutely riveting. The plot thickens as he meets others who are part of this hunt and he learns a little of the politics off of the baron’s property.
As you might guess, since Alan is telling this story from the beginning years after the even happens, he survives the event, though not unmarked. The reader is left to decide whether or not Alan truly experienced this event, if it was his hallucination, or if Alan made it up to mess with his friend. It’s an excellent suspense-filled tale.
I won a copy of this book from the publisher (via The Audio Book Reviewer) with no strings attached.
Narration: Stefan Rudnicki was excellent. His performance really added to the tension and excitement and the disgust Alan felt from time to time. His female voices were good and his accents were well done. During one of the hunting scenes, these wild cats (sort of) are being used to hunt and Rudnicki was in the middle of the narrative that explains the wild yowling sounds as they go on the chase when my old deaf cat let out a yowl of her own. I almost jumped out of my skin!
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‘something not quite right’ as Alan Querdilion reacquaints himself with an old friend years after WWII has come to a close. The two find themselves drinking and smoking by a late night fire when Alan relates his odd tale of a walk on the weird side.Alan finds himself in a future world 102 years after the Nazis obtained dominance. He stumbled upon it after having escaped a WWII POW camp, lost, dehydrated, and zapped by something he bumbled into. He wakes up in a German hospital-type place. The two nurses and the doctor try to help him, thinking he is suffering from a bad hit to the head. Eventually, he learns something of the baron whose land the hospital resides on. Slavery is common place for both young men and women. Alan won’t let go of his believe that this place and time is not quite real, but he quiets down enough about it for the doctor to start taking him out and about.
What Alan learns is disturbing. The slaves have been bred or perhaps genetically altered at the zygote level to provide a service or entertainment for this baron. Some are physically altered as kids or teens, such as having vocal chords cut. The baron treats many of these specialized slaves as animals, using them to hunt as well as providing them to be hunted. It’s all rather disturbing and very well written. The book doesn’t get caught up in bigger picture morality issues. Instead, it stays focused on Alan’s tale as he tries to survive this encounter and his thoughts on what is wrong or right.
Alan eventually offends the baron by sneaking about and he is tossed into the fenced forest to be hunted at leisure. This starts the heart pounding suspense as Alan must avoid the Hunt again and again. The moonlit Wild Hunt scenes were absolutely riveting. The plot thickens as he meets others who are part of this hunt and he learns a little of the politics off of the baron’s property.
As you might guess, since Alan is telling this story from the beginning years after the even happens, he survives the event, though not unmarked. The reader is left to decide whether or not Alan truly experienced this event, if it was his hallucination, or if Alan made it up to mess with his friend. It’s an excellent suspense-filled tale.
I won a copy of this book from the publisher (via The Audio Book Reviewer) with no strings attached.
Narration: Stefan Rudnicki was excellent. His performance really added to the tension and excitement and the disgust Alan felt from time to time. His female voices were good and his accents were well done. During one of the hunting scenes, these wild cats (sort of) are being used to hunt and Rudnicki was in the middle of the narrative that explains the wild yowling sounds as they go on the chase when my old deaf cat let out a yowl of her own. I almost jumped out of my skin!
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LibraryThing member irkthepurist
Not nearly as clever as it thinks it is, Sarban's "Sound of His Horn" wobbles perilously between startling modern cosmic horror (the descriptions of the forest, the whole time travel bit which comes across as a sort of modern spin on "The Victorian Chaise Longue") and... er... silly running around
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the woods with cat girls, big Nazis and assorted other nonsense. A bit of decent writing cannot do much to disguise basically ANOTHER version of "The Most Dangerous Game". Shame really - I really had expected a good deal more of this. Show Less
LibraryThing member Novak
A bit strange but not a bad read.
LibraryThing member Stahl-Ricco
The book begins with Alan Querdilion relating the tale of his escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in Eastern Germany during WWII.
He ends up in a slave world, 100 years later, where some slaves have been genetically altered. And hunted for sport. And then he time travels back. Or does he? Actually,
The book cover has this written at the top - “If The Nazis Had Won Their War". Honestly, I didn't really get what that title was referring to, as the action in the 'future' is only confined to the one area that is described, and there is no mention of the Nazi's ruling the world, or running it, or any such thing. Which was a disappointment to me, as the idea of an alt-history "what if" story was part of the reason I bought this.
He ends up in a slave world, 100 years later, where some slaves have been genetically altered. And hunted for sport. And then he time travels back. Or does he? Actually,
Show More
I'm being serious. I don't quite understand the timeline in this story, or why it happens. I was definitely frustrated at the end.The book cover has this written at the top - “If The Nazis Had Won Their War". Honestly, I didn't really get what that title was referring to, as the action in the 'future' is only confined to the one area that is described, and there is no mention of the Nazi's ruling the world, or running it, or any such thing. Which was a disappointment to me, as the idea of an alt-history "what if" story was part of the reason I bought this.
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Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1952
Physical description
134 p.; 9 inches
ISBN
1627553614 / 9781627553612