Description

The Human Chord/The Centaur by Algernon Blackwood

Trade Paperback – Stark House – Mar 2016 – 336 pages

THE HUMAN CHORD When Robert Spinrobin answers an ad in the paper from “a retired clergyman” looking for someone with “courage and imagination,” he enters into an adventure that is beyond all imagining. For Philip Skale is looking for the perfect tenor that will complete his quartet in an experiment that could unlock the very heart of Creation. Using the power of sound, Skale has spent his life trying to unlock the secrets of life and death. One voice cannot do it. He needs four. His housekeeper, Mrs. Mawle, is the alto; Skale’s niece, Miriam, the soprano, and Skale the bass. Spinrobin completes the chord with his tenor. Collectively, they can utter the word, and become as gods. But there is also the possibility that something could go wrong, that instead of summoning God, they fail—and unleash total chaos instead!

THE CENTAUR Terrence O’Malley, an Irish poet with a yearning in his soul for something more than the commonplace, takes a trip to Greece. While on the boat, he encounters a Russian father and son who seem … out of place … almost elemental. His companion, Dr. Stahl, warns him about getting too close to the couple, very aware that O’Malley is very likely to get swept away by the feelings of rapture they can generate. For the father and son are much more than they seem…much more than merely human … and quite possibly a pure manifestation of the Earth itself. But once O’Malley’s Celtic soul is aroused, there is no turning back—he is on a journey that will lead him to the very heart and soul of Mother Earth.