Male vs female in an unstoppable thriller – the ultimate battle of the sexes.
The Hounds of Anwnn by William P Blight is a thrilling novel that pits men against women in a battle for survival on a bleak mountain landscape. The battle of the sexes is cranked up to a new level as the females match the males every step of the way in a desperate battle to save themselves. It is a war that becomes frantic when the wild dogs that gather to protect their kingdom are revealed as shape-shifters and a Welsh legend comes to life.
What it’s about:
The males were climbing the mountain for the last time. They were young men that had outgrown their teenage years. It was a chance for a drinking session to celebrate the end of summer and their final time at being part of Johnny Gower’s gang. If they had not run into Alice on the way it might have gone as planned. The trouble was that Johnny couldn’t keep his hands off Alice - and that meant the pretty teenager would go running to her sister. Alice’s sister was Jane Crabb. Jane was not the sort to let the incident pass by without an immediate and violent response. Jane and her tribe were not prepared for a mountain hike, but neither were they about to let Johnny get away with it. They would hunt down the gang and pay them back for terrorising Alice. Then they would climb back down the mountain and be home in time for supper.
Except that it was not going to be like that. Johnny and his tribe were not so easy to find. Night came sooner than expected and then the fog came down. The boys had their drinking session and Johnny killed a wild dog. If it had been a stray then maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. But it was the mate of the hound that ruled the wild dogs. Even then maybe it would not have mattered as much. But the giant hound was the animal form of the shape-shifter Culhwch. It was Culhwch that led the wild hunt across the mountains when it descended from the clouds. And Johnny had killed Olwen - the beloved of Culhwch. The howls of Olwen’s earthly form were death knells for the males that stood by when Johnny shoved his spear into the belly of the pregnant bitch. Things got worse when the females witnessed the men’s brutal attack on two French climbers. It was not a good time to confront Johnny. The females were lost and had put their faith in following the men home. But that was not what Johnny wanted to happen. He needed to protect himself from whatever the girls knew. There is another death and, before anyone can stop it, the males and females are at each other’s throats. The females match the males every step of the way in a desperate battle to save themselves. The race is on to reach the safety of an abandoned mining town. It is there that the rivalry of the two leaders will become more than just proving who is the stronger. The abandoned town is where the final battle will be fought. But the town is Culhwch’s stronghold. It will no longer be a fight between Jane and Johnny Gower. The shape-shifter Culhwch has marked them all for death. The male and female tribes are at war and Culhwch is content to allow the humans to slaughter each other. But he made a vow to Olwen that none would escape the mountains alive.