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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Assorted future-histories of post-apocalypse humanity,
By M-I-K-E 2theD "2theD" (The Big Mango, Thailand) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Horn of Time (Mass Market Paperback)
Back cover synopsis: `The 20th century played a game of nuclear Russian roulette. And lost. Man must escape his own dead world, raid hostile planets, subdue his human nature to survive in a strange cosmos. Poul Anderson explores the future of this blood-chilling narrative that spins from Earth to distant galaxies as he foretells the ultimate destiny of mankind.'
The Horn of Time Hunter - 3/5 - Planetary explorers discover a seemingly hostile amphibious human-like intelligence. The aliens' reactions must be read carefully as to discern the nature of their being. 16 pages A Man to My Wounding - 4/5 - A counter-spy slinks around Chinatown looking for Chinese assassins in a government sanctioned assassination game. The evolution of war has come to this. 17 pages The High Ones - 4/5 - A non-native subterranean alien species is discovered on a planet but they react in a non-intelligent way. The divided explorers put themselves forward to understand the culture and technology of the aliens. 24 pages The Man Who Came Early - 3/5 - Unwilling time traveler is sent back to 11th century Iceland where he stays in a village though he has no skills to provide the township. A kind man takes him under his wing for better... but not for worse. 23 pages Matius - 2/5 - Coup-minded man confronts the chief to change leadership. When the chief waves the suggestion away, the real racket begins and choices must be made. 13 pages Progress - 5/5 - The seamen (or pirates or spies) approach the Bangladeshi/Indian coast in disrepair hoping for assistance. The tension between landlubbers and sailors is high as information to their origins and benevolence is questioned. 41 pages
3.0 out of 5 stars
Aquatical men, Assassins, Time Travelers, and Indians,
By
This review is from: Horn of Time (The Gregg Press science fiction series) (Hardcover)
_The Horn of Time_ (1968) is a collection of six stories by Poul Anderson spanning a range from 1956 to 1963. They are all well-crafted pieces that will give you good value for your money. But the book is not loaded with a lot of classical or near-classical tales. The stories are: "The Horn of Time the Hunter" (as "Homo Aquaticus," _Amazing_, 1963), "A Man to My Wounding" (as "State of Assassination," _Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine_, 1959), "The High Ones" (_Infinity_,1958), "The Man Who Came Early" (_Fantasy and Science Fiction_, 1956), "Marius" (_Astounding_, 1957), and "Progress" (_Fantasy and Science Fiction_, 1962).
Three of the stories are heavily political, with varying degrees of success. "The High Ones" is about some Americans and Soviets trying to understand an alien race: Is it or is it not intelligent? But the anticommunist theme of the story is a bit dated and heavy handed. "A Man to My Wounding" involves a counterspy tracking down assassins in a future Chinatown. In these days days of terrorists, assassins and suicide bombers, I must say that this story is more relevant than the first. But the theme is still a bit obvious, and the characters are cardboard. "Marius" is a story about some hard decision making in a post-apocalyptic Europe. It balances a toughmindedness about what must be done for the common good against a sympathy for the people who are affected by the results. It is the best of the three. "The Man Who Came Early" is a reversal of a tried and true time travel story. Mark Twain, Manly Wade Wellman, L. Sprague de Camp and others wrote stories of modern men thrown back in time who bring progress to the ancients. Anderson suggests that a modern man in ancient times might be more of a victim than a savior. "The Horn of Time the Hunter" and "Progress" are clearly the best stories in the book. The first is a haunting account of a first contact between humans and an aquatic alien race and of the sound of a hunter "pursuing a quarry that wept as it ran" (26). "Progress" is another post-apocalyptic adventure story that wrestles with the proper course of humankind. This time, however, the renaissance is centered in India rather than Europe. It is one of Anderson's best stories. _The Horn of Time_ is not one of Anderson's very best collections. But it is a good one. It is certainly not a time-waster.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Average Poul Anderson,
By
This review is from: Horn of Time (The Gregg Press science fiction series) (Hardcover)
I was massively disappointing with this collection of Poul Anderson short stories from the late 50s and early 60s. Only two were worth reading: `The Horn of the Time the Hunter' and `Progress.' I guess if you are a Poul Anderson completest it might be worth the purchase but otherwise, stay away. The creepy cover is spectacular!
(3.5/5) `The Horn of Time the Hunter', first published in Amazing Stories September 1963. The Kith, evolved from the early human interstellar explorers, became the space faring links between diverse colonies. However, the Kith fled from the humans after a series of persecutions resulting in many colonies severed from other worlds. `The Horn of Time the Hunter' is about a small group of Kith exploring one of these deserted colony worlds (a secret awaits!). However, this is more than a simplistic "let's explore a strange world" tale -- instead, Anderson examines the loneliness, desperation, and fear of the persecuted and cast out Kith, which manifests itself when they are confronted with strange humanoids. I'm more interested in the the dynamics of the spaceship based Kith society (facets of which are hinted at by Anderson) than planetary adventures. There's enough themes present for a novel... (2/5) `A Man to My Wounding', first published as `State of Assassination' in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine December 1959. Post-World War III devastation, killing has evolved into the art of political assassination. Our nameless assassin hero is on the quest to kill some Chinese. Set in a Chinatown sort of environment in America, Poul Anderson pulls the basic sort of plot strings mixed with the basic sort of exotic local ostensibly to examine the evolution of war -- in short, boring and somewhat predictable. There are some odd tidbits, for example, white women getting eye surgery to look like Asians... (2/5) `The High Ones', first published in Infinity Science Fiction, June 1958. A mixed crew of Soviets and Americans arrive at Tau Ceti and discover an alien race with vastly superior technology. Standard unoriginal fare -- I mean, the psychological screening by the Soviet Controlled Earth authorities didn't work at all (mutinies and hatred between the subjugated Americans and Soviets). Oh, and how didn't they see from orbit city which covered most of the planet? Argh, and why are all super-intelligent cultures so culturally monolithic? I guess it fits into his main argument -- Communism and totalitarianism are bad. Avoid this story at all costs unless you're in the mood for some simplistic 1950s propaganda. (2/5) `The Man Who Came Early', first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1956. American soldier stationed in Iceland is transported back in time to the pre-Christian Iceland of the year 1000. There isn't much redeemable about this stilted caper. Well, Poul Anderson's pessimistic theme that the modern man is unable to function in the past despite his superior technology is somewhat interesting despite the story's poor delivery. (1/5) `Marius' first published in Astounding Science Fiction, March 1957. Post-Soviet occupation of France and the rest of the Western Europe political maneuvering and mutinies with some tenuous Roman analogies... Not much interest or originality here either. (4/5) `Progress', first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1962. This story almost rescues the collection -- a high-tech sailboard in a post-War of Judgment future (odd names for places/peoples/languages derived from modern names) with spies (Maori) arrives off the coast of India. Extrapolated futures about India are almost always worth reading.
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