The novel “The Iron Thorn”, also known as “The Amsirs And The Iron Thorn” by Algis Budrys was published for the first time in 1967 serialized in the magazine “If” and later as a book.
Honor White Jackson is young human hunter who has to kill a Amsir, a humanoid bird, for the first time. The success in that trial leads him to be initiated within the caste of the Honors, as human hunters are called, and to discover various secrets of the Iron Thorn.
The revelations allow Jackson to understand that his entire world is very different from what he had known until then. That’s just the beginning of an journey which is also an inner one to the discovery of a much larger truth but to obtain it he’s forced to leave his people and take many risks.
“The Iron Thorn” begins as one of many science fiction stories of the era previous to the one in which this novel was written, meaning that it contains the typical adventurous elements of previous decades. In fact, concepts like the boy who has to pass certain tests and discovers that there’s much more than what he knew existed long before science fiction.
Algis Budrys uses what are really clichés as the beginning of a story that leads the protagonist further and further away, in every sense. Honor White Jackson grew up in an isolated place on a planet that initially is undefined in an area where conditions are quite suitable for human life around a tower called the Iron Thorn.
In that small society men’s names follow certain rules and can change over time. The protagonist’s name also changes over time for various reasons, beginning with his success in killing a Amsir, a humanoid bird belonging to another community enemy of the humans.
In Jackson’s clash with the Amsir, the boy realizes that he knew very little of his enemies. Finding that they are intelligent and have weapons almost cost him his life. Discovering that they try to capture human beings and not just kill them helps him to broaden his perspective.
Jackson isn’t content to follow the traditional rules of his society, not even thinking about the possibility of becoming a leader over time. As a result, he decids to find out on his own the truth about the Amsirs and his world. The result is much broader than he could ever imagine.
The story of Jackson’s journey and discoveries contains constant twists in a world that expands enormously with each new encounter. In its last part, “The Iron Thorn” seems a completely separate novel from its beginning, also for the discovery of the origin of Jackson’s community and the Amsirs.
These constant surprises, together with the reduced length of the novel, keep the pace fast but make it uneven and above all prevents the full development of the themes it contains. in my opinion, especially the last part would have deserved much more room, also for the themes the were much more developed by other authors in the following decades.
In the best novels by Algis Budrys there’s a very strong psychological introspection, while this element is more limited in “The Iron Thorn”. In this case the story is completely focused on Jackson while the other characters are just secondary and generally make brief appearances.
The result is a novel with a good potential but in my opinion not adequately developed. The protagonist is interesting with his desire not to be influenced by the limits of the community in which he grew up but in the end his quest is mainly used to describe all that lies beyond the Iron Thorn.
In the end, “The Iron Thorn” is an interesting novel for its inspirations but in my opinion it’s only a partial succeess for their limited developments. If you have the occasion it can still be worth reading, especially if you’re a fan of Algis Budrys.
