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Huntsman #1
The Huntsman
An unusual foundling who has grown up as the adopted son of a huntsman sets off on a quest to rescue his family from alien begins.
132 pages, Library Binding
First published July 5, 1982
4 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Arthur Hill
81 books33 followersDouglas Arthur Hill (6 April 1935 – 21 June 2007) was a Canadian science fiction author, editor and reviewer. He was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of a railroad engineer, and was raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. An avid science fiction reader from an early age, he studied English at the University of Saskatchewan (where he earned an Honours B.A. in 1957) and at the University of Toronto. He married fellow writer and U. of S. alumna Gail Robinson in 1958; they moved to Britain in 1959, where he worked as a freelance writer and editor for Aldus Books. In 1967–1968 he served as Assistant Editor of the controversial New Worlds science fiction magazine under Michael Moorcock.
A lifetime leftist, he served from 1971 to 1984 as the Literary Editor of the socialist weekly Tribune (a position once held by George Orwell), where he regularly reviewed science fiction despite the continued refusal of the literary world to take it seriously. Before starting to write fiction in 1978, he wrote many books on history, science and folklore. Using the pseudonym Martin Hillman, he also worked as an editor of several anthologies, among them Window on the Future (1966), The Shape of Sex to Come (1978), Out of Time (1984), and Hidden Turnings (1988). He is probably best known for The Last Legionary quartet of novels, supposedly produced as the result of a challenge by a publisher to Hill's complaints about the lack of good science fiction for younger readers.
Hill and his wife had one child, a son. They were divorced in 1978. He lived in Wood Green, London, and died in London after being struck by a bus at a zebra crossing. His death occurred one day after he completed his last trilogy, Demon Stalkers.
A lifetime leftist, he served from 1971 to 1984 as the Literary Editor of the socialist weekly Tribune (a position once held by George Orwell), where he regularly reviewed science fiction despite the continued refusal of the literary world to take it seriously. Before starting to write fiction in 1978, he wrote many books on history, science and folklore. Using the pseudonym Martin Hillman, he also worked as an editor of several anthologies, among them Window on the Future (1966), The Shape of Sex to Come (1978), Out of Time (1984), and Hidden Turnings (1988). He is probably best known for The Last Legionary quartet of novels, supposedly produced as the result of a challenge by a publisher to Hill's complaints about the lack of good science fiction for younger readers.
Hill and his wife had one child, a son. They were divorced in 1978. He lived in Wood Green, London, and died in London after being struck by a bus at a zebra crossing. His death occurred one day after he completed his last trilogy, Demon Stalkers.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 16, 2014
This is 'The Huntsman', not sure why Goodreads only has the German cover... anyway, formative books for me when I was 8 or 9, like all Douglas Hill's stuff. I doubt I'd give it 5 stars if I read it today, but the 9-year-old me won't accept anything less.
I once took this book into a class of noisy ten-year-olds for the teacher to read aloud during the half-hour we had set aside for that. For that half hour, kids who usually had trouble sitting still for ten seconds sat wide-eyed and silent. Afterward, boys who never read anything came up to me asking if they could borrow it. It's a travesty that kids aren't still reading these, especially when there's so much trouble getting boys to read.
I once took this book into a class of noisy ten-year-olds for the teacher to read aloud during the half-hour we had set aside for that. For that half hour, kids who usually had trouble sitting still for ten seconds sat wide-eyed and silent. Afterward, boys who never read anything came up to me asking if they could borrow it. It's a travesty that kids aren't still reading these, especially when there's so much trouble getting boys to read.
November 13, 2022
4 stars, from my little kid self.
I first read this book way, way back when. as a loan from the local children's library, and if we discount Star Trek (and really, how can you discount Star Trek?), it's probably my first brush with science fiction (I'm reading it now because the library only ever had two books of a trilogy; I saw all three for sale in a charity shop and bought them out of nostalgia).
Basic plot: In the future, humanity had a (presumably nuclear) war that destroyed civilization. What was left of humanity tried to rebuild some sort of existence, but then a hundred or so years later, a whole bunch of aliens turn up and blow everything up again. Now, with the aliens in control, humanity is eking out a medieval style lifestyle, sheltering in tiny villages buried deep in the wilderness areas that now cover the earth. Young Finn Ferral, a huntsman with an almost supernatural gift for tracking and survival in the forest, returns home from a hunt to find that alien Slavers have visited his village and taken his adopted family, his foster father Josh and his little sister. Finn promptly uses his tracking abilities to follow the alien's trail, determined to rescue them or die in the attempt.
I enjoyed it, perhaps not as much as when I was a kid, but I still enjoyed it.
It's a fairly basic read, fast moving, with plenty of action. In some ways it reminded me of David Gemmell's novels. The language is sparse but acceptable. Has it aged well? I think so. I don't imagine it appealing to adults used to bigger, more complex novels but if you want to investigate kiddie sci-fi from the last century or have a child you want to introduce to the genre, this (or the author's last legionary series) may be a good place to start.
I first read this book way, way back when. as a loan from the local children's library, and if we discount Star Trek (and really, how can you discount Star Trek?), it's probably my first brush with science fiction (I'm reading it now because the library only ever had two books of a trilogy; I saw all three for sale in a charity shop and bought them out of nostalgia).
Basic plot: In the future, humanity had a (presumably nuclear) war that destroyed civilization. What was left of humanity tried to rebuild some sort of existence, but then a hundred or so years later, a whole bunch of aliens turn up and blow everything up again. Now, with the aliens in control, humanity is eking out a medieval style lifestyle, sheltering in tiny villages buried deep in the wilderness areas that now cover the earth. Young Finn Ferral, a huntsman with an almost supernatural gift for tracking and survival in the forest, returns home from a hunt to find that alien Slavers have visited his village and taken his adopted family, his foster father Josh and his little sister. Finn promptly uses his tracking abilities to follow the alien's trail, determined to rescue them or die in the attempt.
I enjoyed it, perhaps not as much as when I was a kid, but I still enjoyed it.
It's a fairly basic read, fast moving, with plenty of action. In some ways it reminded me of David Gemmell's novels. The language is sparse but acceptable. Has it aged well? I think so. I don't imagine it appealing to adults used to bigger, more complex novels but if you want to investigate kiddie sci-fi from the last century or have a child you want to introduce to the genre, this (or the author's last legionary series) may be a good place to start.
July 3, 2024
A neat little novel by Douglas Hill. I loved the Last Legionary books as a kid, so I don't know why I never read anything else by him – I guess they just didn't show up in our local libraries or secondhand bookshops. What a shame, because I would have loved it. I love it now! So bloodthirsty for a kids book! It's about a young hunter in a post-apocalyptic agrarian society whose foster family are kidnapped by aliens, and so he sets off to rescue them, killing any aliens who get in his way.
May 22, 2014
Hahaha.
This was THE first 'big' book I read that didn't have pictures in it. I will always remember it fondly. Started my love for reading science fiction.
Rest in peace, mr Hill.
This was THE first 'big' book I read that didn't have pictures in it. I will always remember it fondly. Started my love for reading science fiction.
Rest in peace, mr Hill.
July 2, 2012
I looooved Douglas Hill when I was a kid (ColSec, Last Legionary, etc.), and I was so excited to find this out-of-print edition in an antiquarian bookstore (in Michigan, of all places!). However, his writing seems terribly simplistic to me now. This book may be even more so than the others I used to enjoy - maybe I should reread those and see how they stand up now. At any rate, this one seemed short, completely noncomplex, and juvenile. But yay for Douglas (and RIP, dude).
May 8, 2013
Poor story, simple characters, I'm horrified it's just the beginning of a trilogy. Not worth it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews