The Horn of Time

Maurai

by Poul Anderson

Paperback.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Collections, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy

144 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Pseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.

Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]

Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.


Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry

Reviews

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t often gush over a book, but I really liked this one.

The Horn of Time is a 1968 collection of previously released short stories by science fiction grandmaster Poul Anderson. It is a cross section of why he is awesome; there is science fiction, time travel, fantasy, historical and mythic storytelling. The quality of his writing is superb and Anderson demonstrates that he is a peer of Ray Bradbury in his mastery of the short work.

The Horn of Time the Hunter – Science fiction in Anderson’s Kith universe. This idea was later expanded in his novel 1999 Tor novel Starfarers.

A Man to my Wounding – A futuristic thriller in a state of assassination.

The High Ones – Interestingly in this future Anderson populated the far ranging spaceship with citizens of the World Soviet Republic, where the Soviet Union has conquered Earth and has gone a spacing. Our comrade heroes meet a highly advanced race who reveal more than is expected.

The Man Who Came Early – My favorite by far, and one of his finest short works (period). Two of Anderson’s most endearing themes are time travel and Norse history / myth and he blends these two together beautifully. Set in Iceland and narrated from a conversation between a priest and a Norse pagan this is Poul Anderson at his storytelling best. This short story, first published in 1956 in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, follows the same track as Anderson’s classic novel Three Hearts and Three Lions, published in 1953. Boiled down to its most fundamental elements, The Man Who Came Early represents all of what I love about Poul Anderson’s writing.

Marius – First published in a magazine in the 50s, then later as a part of the fix-up novel The Psycho-technic League, this is an intense tragic conflict between two old warrior friends following an alternate World War II.

Progress – reminiscent of the world Paolo Bacigalupi created in The Windup Girl. A Maurai story, where peoples of the Pacific Islands, following a collapse of the world powers, have begun the next civilization of Earth. When this first came out in the 50s, the idea of Pacific Islanders taking over the world following a western civilization collapse may have seemed far fetched, but the green bio-tech centered Maurai civilization seems not too alien now.

All in all a very good collection of short stories and an excellent introduction to his canon for a new reader.

[Paul Weiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

"... in point of blunt, regrettable fact, human life has always been a rather cheap commodity."

If you're a fan of late Golden Age sci-fi then, at a mere 144 pages, THE HORN OF TIME will prove to be a pleasant if unmemorable four or five hour diversion that will sit well inside your reading wheelhouse. Poul Anderson has penned a diverting series of half a dozen short stories that tick a number of boxes that sci-fi fans have come to know and love - war and space opera; interstellar travel; planetary colonization; evolution; and time travel, for example. He has even dropped in a passing tribute to Isaac Asimov's creation of Hari Seldon and the field of probabilistic psychohistory.

Recommended to be sure as a diverting, interesting read but it's not enough to send me out into the streets whooping with admiration!

Paul Weiss

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Horn of Time is an early collection of Anderson that serves as a short sampler of many of his worlds, though without anyof his top-tier classics. It has three short stories and three novelettes from the genre digests of 1956 - '63; two from F & SF, and one each from Amazing, Astounding, Infinity, and Ellery Queen's. Several are parts of other series (Maurai, Psychotechnic League, Kith) and a couple were later expanded. A Man to My Wounding from EQ is a very Cold War-themed piece, as is The High Ones from Infinity, and The Man Who Came Early is one his Norse Legend parables. Signet first released the book in 1968 as a mass market original with a melted-clock cover by Don Ivan Punchatz who was getting on with his inner Dali.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reader needs to be aware that the stories in this collection were products of the Cold War, and some of them read very much like it. Also, the cover blurb is a tiny bit misleading, in that these stories are linked thematically, rather than being part of any one of Anderson's series. In the 60's and 70's, there were several collections of his short stories grouped in this kind of way.
The theme here is sort of tricky, in that all of the stories deal with sort of "alternate futures," but one of them is an alternate future as envisioned by a man who has been dragged into the past. He is so far out of place that he can't understand the rules, and can't figure out how to "modernize" things for his own benefit.
The writing of the stories is good, whether you agree with the author's political points. Frankly, those are all over the map, ranging from standard "the Communists are evil" to a truly unusual post-nuclear war story involving restraints on technological development. I have been a big fan of most of Anderson's work for years, but somehow had never read most of the stories in this collection. The whole thing was worth reading, and the collection is a small one that won't take up much of your time, even if you don't like one or two of the stories.

[Andrewcharles420 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Six unrelated stories (despite wording on the covers to the contrary): 1) The Horn of Time the Hunter: Interstellar travelers return to a colony planet after tens of thousands of years of travel, wondering if humanity still exists. 2) A Man to My Wounding: Future political thriller where assassination games keep running down the chain of command. 3) The High Ones: Anti-communist political space opera, where the remains of a mutinous settlement crew, light-years from earth, has to deal with a uniquely advanced pseudo-communist race. 4) The Man Who Came Early: A 20th century soldier finds himself in 10th century Iceland; as told by a native viking farmer. 5) Marius: Post-apocalyptic political allegory retelling the tale of Roman emperor Marius. 6) Progress: Post-apocalyptic story, where a loose-knit trading society subtly controls the redevelopment of the world.

These stories weren't generally very engaging--they felt like excerpts from larger narratives--like they each came from a much more developed world, and that I didn't know certain contexts or backgrounds. I probably would have enjoyed many of these if they were longer stories, so if these were selected chapters from six novels I might read 1, 4 or 6. The more politically natured ones came off as heavy-handed--perhaps what random late-50's sci-fi magazines were looking for? Another cultural artifact in the stories is the role of women: there occasionally, to serve drinks, or fall in love with the main character.

I've seen this author's name a number of times so let this book rise to the top of my reading stack--and I liked the unrelated Dali-esque cover image--but I'm not moved to seek him out again soon. Not a bad story collection in particular, but nothing in it to recommended.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly excellent collection of 1960s science fiction short stories by the master, Poul Anderson. The anti-communism of a couple of the stories dates the collection a little, but overall this is great and varied stuff. You want to read this one.

[Durval Menezes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard-to find book but can be borrowed and read online here, for free: https://archive.org/embed/hornoftime0...

It's a collection of short stories that for some reason is listed here on GoodReads as being part of the "Maurai" series, despite having only one Maurai story, and that one being also featured in the book "Maurai & Kith" which is the first one in that series.

So, if you came here for the Maurai, don't waste your time -- read that other book and call it done.

Here's my individual comments and ratings for each story on this book:

#1, "The Horn of Time the Hunter": read it already as part of "Maurai and Kith", and it was not great, so just skipped it here.

#2, "A Man of my Wounding": quaint little spy tale with a touch of 60s. Really dated but kinda interesting. 3 stars.

#3, "The High Ones": the only thing dumber than communism is anticommunism... this story reads like it was custom-ordered for the latter. My rating: 2 stars, and then only because of the (moderately well thought) twist at the end.

#4, "Marius": a very near future (actually, given some historical facts mentioned, in our current -- 2023 -- past) about mutiny, a new "psychosocial" science, and the futility of war. Very dated, but despite that, surprisingly good. 4 stars.

#5, "Progress": the only Maurai story in this book, which I had already read as part of the book "Maurai And Kith". That's why I don't understand this book being classified as part of the Maurai series... it's at the same time a very small part, and redundant. The story itself is good (4 stars) but reads better inserted with the others, as part of that other book.

My rating for this book as a whole is 3 stars.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a collection of 6 short stories.

The Horn of Time the Hunter is a fantastic story that does what any great short story should -- builds a deep world in a very short amount of time. The story involves a group of explorers discovering the fate of a group of colonists.

A Man to my Wounding lays out an alternative to war, where assassins compete to defend and attack governmental leaders.

The High Ones is one of the weaker stories of the collection, with a very hollow female character, but still makes an interesting point about the dangers of relying too much on algorithms. This wasn't the original point of the story, but fits modern times well.

The Man who came early is the reason I was interested in this collection. In my mind (and the author's) a more realistic story than The Connecticut Yankee that it draws inspiration from.

Marius doesn't build enough of a world around the mutiny against a battered but victorious European general.

Progress tells the story of a resurgent Oceanic civilization who promotes balance to prevent the reoccurrence of a devastating nuclear war, and the strange contradictory actions that must be taken to preserve that balance.

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 (Bad)

I was massively disappointed 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 [...]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

[Patrick Conner · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few decent stories, but on the whole none of this is Anderson's better stuff. And the final two stories had appalling morals. Pseudoscience used to justify either fascism or Luddite nonsense. He got better later in life, but still... I regret reading this.

[Jan vanTilburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

“How much sense would a mind which is not our own make to us?”

Short stories about the clash of cultures, ideas and way of life. How to react meeting aliens? What to do when one does not understand the other?
Compassion? One would hope so! Action? Could well have adverse effects. Violence?
Sure that would be the last resort! All these reactions pass in these stories.
I gave them all 3*, but almost the whole bundle is 4*, as the whole is more than the sum of the parts. They are a good reflection of life’s choices when encountering species, humans one does not understand.

* The Horn of Time the Hunter (1963)
Space faring survivors look for remnants of ancient civilisations on a faraway planet. They do find traces. Ancient crumbling cities. But no traces of inhabitants. Where are they? And how did the downfall happen? 3*

* A Man to my Wounding (1959)
A world where war is replaced by assassinating each others leaders. Not the common man is slaughtered on the killing fields, but the people in charge. Seemingly a step forward? Regarding WWI and WWII one could think so. This story was written in the middle of the cold war. But where does that end?
We follow one of the secret government hitman on his quest to prevent an assassination. 3*

* The High Ones (1958)
Man’s first voyage beyond the sun. When they encounter a different, seemingly highly advanced species, things go wrong.
p.49: “How much sense would a mind which is not human make to us?”
Or, how far can a species (d)evolve? 3*

* The Man who came came Early (1956)
What to do when you’re transported back in time almost a 1000 years? How do you adapt? If at all.
Interesting in the sense that going back in time and meeting those people is simular to meeting alien cultures on far away planets: prone to misunderstanding and mishap.
A time travel story. 3*

* Marius (1957)
How to govern after you’ve won the war? Are generals the ones best suited to lead devastated countries out of misery? Or should it be left to the men with vision?
Two war generals, old friends, now on opposite sites, have a dramatic dispute which will decide the future. 3*

* Progress (1962)
In a post apocalyptic world, where civilisations start anew and are sort of isolated, a solution to prevent a cold war to even start, is narrated.
A plea for sustainability. More is not better.
p.144: “If industrialism was satisfying, why did the industrial world commit suicide?”
But is it not presumptuous to think that one knows best? 3*

[Bent Andreassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this collection of short stories 4 minus. Three of the stories are very good, especially "The Man Who Came Early". The other two are "The High Ones" and "Progress". "Progress" is part of the 'Maurai and Kith' series; I mention this because the novel "Orion Shall Rise" (part of this series) really is an excellent sci-fi novel.

[Joel B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really great short stories. A couple OK short stories.

[Tim Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice bit of classic sci fi

[Carlo]

Begun Athens, GA

[Pat Belford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Geeze Louise. I wonder if this guy hates communists?

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a big fan of science fiction/fantasy writer Poul Anderson (1926-2001) and I read a lot of his stuff when I was in high school and college. This is a collection of six of his stories, only one of which I had read before. They are:
(1) The Horn of Time the Hunter (1963)--A good space exploration story which leads to a first contact with aliens and possible conflict. 4 stars
(2) A Man to My Wounding (1959)--A real Cold War tale in which the two Blocs engage in assassinations to win the Cold War. I didn't care for it, so 2 stars
(3) The High Ones (1958)--The World Soviet Union ( the Commies won!) sends an expedition into space which encounters apparently superior aliens. 4 stars
(4) The Man Who Came Early (1956)--The only story I read before--and the best in this collection. An American soldier finds himself back in time in medieval Iceland. Things don't work out well. 5 stars
(5) Marius ( 1957)--It's post-World War III and the hero looks like he wants to be a dictator like the Roman general Marius. OK, the story could've been much more developed. 3 stars
(6) Progress ( 1961)--another post-WWIII story, focusing on the Maurai (Maori?) who are a power in the world supporting green biotech and opposed to nukes. 4 stars
4 stars overall

[João Sousa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very much disappointed by this book, I was expecting a lot more from such a famous writer (I had read before only a short story by Poul Anderson and the novella "The Queen of Air and Darkness").

Anyone who reads "The Horn of Time" can immediately smell the Cold War. This book is an ethnocentric pamphlet trying to mock the Soviet Union in all ways possible. Anderson makes a huge effort to write here and there the word "communist", stretching the limits of his stories into something completely absurd, where many times there is no connection whatsoever between the plot and his personal beliefs. This is by far the most propagandistic fictional text I have ever read, and sadly done in a very much poor way.

I have never rated a book with one star, and this will not be my first only because of two reasons:
1) the story "The Man Who Came Early" is clearly above all others here;
2) in the end - and without knowing it - the author left us a window to a certain vision of the world that existed in a very specific period. And that might be interesting per se.

[GW · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read this book so many years ago I heard a small voice in the back of my head say, "You can read many books" I recently added 350 classics to my facebook "books I've read list" powered by goodreads. Sometimes it takes years to discover what reading a particular book can do for you. It all started with this book for me. Maybe you can appreciate the magic of this book, or not, but for me this book has a special place in my reading history. This book is not about great sci-fiction with all the accolades of a prize winning tradition. It's about not giving up on you dreams. Now, I'll have to reread it 35 years later.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Man Who Came Too Early was awesome.
-m

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of Anderson's short stories. Not generally his best but Anderson always wrote well.

[SciFiOne]

No grade. Short stories.

[Marko]

II have the german edition: Das Horn der Zeit