Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on this blog. Life gets in the way, right?

So here I am back again. Yay, it’s good to be back!

Every year at this time, I participate in a group reading with Supernatural Fiction Readers on Goodreads. If you’ve read any of my book discussions, you know I am an ardent fan of ghostlit. Members propose books to read and discuss for the annual October read, and we vote. This year the group chose War in Heaven by Charles Williams.

War in Heaven begins with a bang. Here is the opening sentence: “The telephone bell was ringing wildly, but without result, since there was no-one in the room but the corpse.” As one reviewer noted, “Hell of a way to start a book.”

I agree. The novel definitely piqued my interest with its deadpan, darkly comic opening. The premise is that forces of dark magic have discovered that the Holy Grail is in a country church in England, and they are determined to steal it and use its powers for ill. And the dastardly evil-doers devise a plan involving corrupting a gifted but naive young child to help them. A handful of characters will try to prevent that outcome including an archdeacon, a duke, a publishing agent, and a mysterious stranger.

Okay, my thoughts after finishing War in Heaven.

I love the archdeacon. I admire his ability to remain calm, philosophical, and courageous in the face of peril. He has the best heart, and I would say he clearly captured the heart of the author. I did also like the detective work in the second half of the book. I do enjoy a good mystery! There was some comic effect as well, notably the first sentence and an amusing Keystone Kops chase. The duke and Morningstar provided some good tension as they worked alongside the archdeacon to thwart the bad guys.

So, bad guys…I felt the antagonists were a weakness in the book. I know they were bent on destruction, but I never knew exactly why. I could not find a plausible goal they were pursuing. Power, maybe? But for what end? The book did not make that clear, at least for me. I often found myself confused.

My main issue with this book is its didactic nature. With a couple of exceptions such as the archdeacon and the duke, the characters felt like authorial stand-ins for traits or qualities, a sort of 20th century Pilgrim’s Progress redux. As a humanist, I prefer my Christian messaging (or any kind of messaging, for that matter) woven into a layered story so that I can use my own senses and mind to pick out the meaningful threads. Some books with more subtle Christian messaging I love include Grapes of Wrath/Steinbeck; Gilead/Robinson; Cry, the Beloved Country/Paton; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe/Lewis; Plainsong/Haruf.

But not War in Heaven.

Reading over what I’ve written, I feel that maybe I’ve been a tad harsh. I do know that I did not enjoy this novel. But, in fairness, I should say that I’m not the targeted reader for this novel, so take that into account before you dismiss the book.