The Sound of His Horn
The Sound of His Horn, written under the pseudonym Sarban by British diplomat John William Wall, is a dystopian novel that imagines a future where the Nazis emerge victorious in World War II. The story's protagonist is unexpectedly transported to this alternate timeline where he is held hostage at a private compound where prisoners are hunted for sport.
Hardcover. First Edition, First Printing. Octavo, bound in original blue cloth, blind stamped on cover with yellow lettering on spine. London: Peter Davies, 1952. Pringle, Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels (12). Jones & Newman, Horror: The 100 Best Novels (52). #11125.
Patchy fading to the spine and rear cover, believed to be caused by offsetting from the striped jacket design. Apart from that, the book is near fine in a very good+ dust jacket, with a short tear and some creasing on the lower rear panel. This title is hard to come by in any condition.
The Sound of His Horn (1952), written by British diplomat John William Wall under the pseudonym Sarban, is a dystopian alternate history novel. Set against the backdrop of World War II, the narrative follows Royal Navy Lieutenant Alan Querdillon. Captured during the Battle of Crete, Querdillon escapes, only to be transported into a bleak future where Nazi rule has persisted for over a century. He finds himself on the estate of the imposing Reich Master Forester, Count Hans von Hackelnberg, where a chilling pastime takes place: the hunting of humans.
The eerie blow of a hunting horn signals the beginning of these hunts, with women, dressed and modified to resemble birds, as the primary prey. As Querdillon delves deeper into the Count's barbaric games, witnessing other macabre sports like genetically altered leopard-women hunting deer, he too becomes the hunted. Aided by one of the bird-women, Kit, Querdillon plots an escape, leading to a perilous game of cat and mouse and a climactic confrontation with the Count.
Drawing its title from an 18th-century song about "gentleman farmer" John Peel, a renowned fox hunter, the novel warps its innocent origins into a nightmarish context. Noted author Kingsley Amis highlighted this dissonance in his introduction to the 1960 Ballantine Books edition, pointing out the unsettling shift in the song's meaning within the novel's context.
While the book received mixed reviews at its debut, it has since been regarded as a significant work in the genre. Esteemed literary critic Peter Nicholls praised its clear, evocative prose, and the novel found its place in several lists of paramount fantasy novels, underlining its lasting impact in dystopian literature.