I’ve just had the immense pleasure of reading the page proofs of a new novel that will be published by Ignatius Press this autumn. The novel, Looking for the King, is written by David Downing, a fine writer who has published several excellent books on C. S. Lewis. This is, as far as I’m aware, his first foray into fiction. And what a first foray! What a fine debut! 

In brief, the novel is an Arthurian spiritual thriller set in England during the early days of World War Two. It’s clearly influenced by Lewis’s That Hideous Strength and by the spiritual thrillers of Charles Williams. But what is best about the novel is its inclusion of Lewis, Tolkien and Williams as real-life characters. And since Downing has studied these writers and their respective biographies, they are true to life. We can almost imagine ourselves in their presence. Indeed, while reading the novel I was reminded of Chesterton’s hopeful wish that all roads would one day lead to an Inn at the World’s End where we would meet Dickens and all of his chaaracters over several flagons of ambrosial ale. In Downing’s novel, we meet Lewis, Tolkien and Williams in their favourite pub, the Bird and Baby, and listen spellbound as they come alive in our mind’s eye. All this as the spellbinding backdrop to a mystical quest that leads to the legendary Spear of Destiny, in which the protagonists are purused by mysterious and deadly foes. Who could reasonably ask for more!

Here is my brief endorsement of the book:

This superbly gripping novel about dreams coming true is itself a dream come true. In the former sense, of dreams coming true, the mysterious dreams of Laura Hartman in Looking for the King remind us of the dreams of Jane Studdock in C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength, and indeed Downing’s novel has much in common with Lewis’s spiritual thriller. In the latter sense, of a dream come true, Looking for the King enables admirers of Lewis, Tolkien and Williams to meet their heroes in the flesh. Since Downing introduces each of these literary giants as literal characters in his gripping Arthurian mystery, we find ourselves in the pub and sharing a pint of ale and good conversation with the sub-creators of Narnia and Middle-earth. Lewis and Tolkien come alive as real-life characters, playing their sagacious parts to realistic perfection as the protagonists follow their Arthurian quest pursued by deadly enemies. For lovers of Arthurian romance and for admirers of Tolkien and Lewis, this is indeed a dream come true!