The Dark Lord's Demise

Archives of Anthropos #6

by John White

The king of Anthropos has a baffling illness and is threatened by the Dark Lord who has troubled that mysterious land so many times before. Once again Wesley, Kurt and Lisa are drawn to this strange country by the wondrous Gaal. Unexpectedly, an irritating neighbor, Betty, comes along with them. Despite the problems she causes--and despite being thrown into prison, attacked by a seven-headed ogre and lost in unnatural darkness, the group seeks to follow where Gaal leads. Together they battle Lord Lunacy in a final confrontation that holds the future of Anthropos in the balance. Here is the stirring conclusion to John White's mythical adventure series that has been beloved by tens of thousands.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Christian Fiction, Christian, Science Fiction Fantasy

296 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2001

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

John White was an Evangelical Christian author, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and a pastor of Church of the Way.

Reviews

[Melinda Yoho · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was sorely disappointed in this joint-effort conclusion of the Archives of Anthropos. I LOVE the first four stories and have read them repeatedly, but it might have been best to leave the series alone after that. Quest for the King wasn't terrible, but it lacked the magic of the first four. This book WAS terrible. I gave it two stars, rather than one, because it is still part of a series I hold very dear to my heart—and it provided quite a number of awkward moments of laughter. One of the biggest criticisms I have heard of the series is how closely the stories are modeled on Lewis' Narnia and Tolkien's Middle Earth. I don't have a problem with that, as White was quite transparent on the matter, and I feel the stories still take their own turns. But this conclusion tries WAY too hard to relate to other fiction, including Harry Potter. If that made it a good story, I wouldn't mind too badly, but it just feels like a bad joke. I'm not sure if this was White's idea, or if the Larsens initiated the inclusion of other pop-cultural influence. I just wish the ending to this grand adventure had been more satisfying and enjoyable.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

We really enjoyed this one, much more than the last. Maybe because "Daddy" did such a great job with his fun voices!

The ending didn't come together exactly how I hoped, but it was still satisfying.

My 6yo son says this should be rated a 5 star.

[Stevie Roach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately John White seemed to lose his sense of direction in later years. The beginning of the Anthropos series was well-written and clear, a good (if inferior) successor to the Narnia stories. But with the last two books he began to take shortcuts, skipping character development and even clear plotlines and instead going for simplistic Christian symbolism and moral preachiness.
(Spoiler alert) Betty in particular seemed a simple repeat of the more well-developed Mary of earlier books; her conversion never seems real because SHE never seems real. We're told that she is a follower of the Dark Lord, but never really shown it, so it doesn't really have much of an impact when she converts to Gaal.
Overall a disappointing conclusion to the series. Books like this are why, even as a Christian, I tend to not read Christian fiction - the level of good writing just isn't there.

[Quince · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great conclusion to the archives of Anthropos. In books 2-6 you can see a big connection between Gaal and Christ

[Thequaminator · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the better ones in this series. has a good ending for the whole series. I think that the best books are tower if geburah, sword bearer, dark Lord's demise.