The Novels of Charles Williams

by Charles Williams

All Hallow's Eve
Many Dimensions
Descent into Hell
The Greater Trumps
Shadows of Ecstasy
The Place of the Lion
War in Heaven

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy

1703 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Charles Williams


Charles Walter Stansby Williams is probably best known, to those who have heard of him, as a leading member (albeit for a short time) of the Oxford literary group, the "Inklings", whose chief figures were C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He was, however, a figure of enormous interest in his own right: a prolific author of plays, fantasy novels (strikingly different in kind from those of his friends), poetry, theology, biography and criticism. — the Charles Williams Society website

Reviews

[C.L. Francisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charles Williams' fantasy novels are neither comforting nor easy to read, but they are fascinating in their exploration of alternate realms of spiritual reality. Some of them, particularly Shadows of Ecstasy (which uses emerging African nationalism as a major plot element) are definitely dated, but fascinating nonetheless. My favorite is probably Descent into Hell, which paints a horrific portrait of one man's slow slide into nothingness. But it also explores a fascinating variation on substitutionary love, in which, through prayer, one person takes on herself the pain another finds unbearable.

Running a close second for me is The Greater Trumps, a curious tale wrapped up in the mystery of the Tarot. But all his fantasy novels are well worth the read, even if you don't agree with his ideas.

My one criticism of his work is that he can pontificate at times. I don't care for my fiction to preach at me. But the pleasure of reading his books far outweighs this minor irritation.