The Widow and the King

I've just finished re-reading 'The Widow and the King' by John Dickinson, a teenage medieval fantasy that my brother Leo bought me a couple of years back. We both read and enjoyed his first book, 'The Cup of the World' and then had to read the sequel. They're a great couple of books, engaging and intelligent, and I'm always left with plenty to think about.

'The Widow and the King' is about a boy's escape from, and finally battle against, an enemy he variously calls the 'Heron Man' or 'The Prince Under the Sky'*. The Prince is a formidable and very creepy enemy who is always working in the background, whispering in peoples' ears, bringing down kings and corrupting the wise, bringing despair and destruction. It's not hard to see why I found in this book a worldview I could understand! The book is really quite scary at times, and there is a coherent (and occasionally heartbreaking) inevitability to the character development.

(*this works well as a title for Satan doesn't it?)

This is ultimately a story of good against evil. The boy, Ambrose, is the son of a previous king and an obvious heir. He tries to do the right thing, but he's innocent of the realities of the world he lives in. The book tells the story of his journey to wisdom, whilst at the same time vindicating him in his innocence and goodness. Of course we know that, in this book as well as in life, goodness will conquer evil in the end, but in the meantime, the Prince is depressingly successful in his destructive and corrupting aims.

One of the major and most compelling themes in the book is the theme of forgiveness. Ambrose is convinced that forgiveness is necessary and that a king must have mercy. He argues this out with Aun, who knows by experience that a king who forgives an enemy instead of destroying him may suffer the consequences:

"And as for forgiving - it's not free, not even for a king. It's like taking on debt. And a king who forgives too much pays with his life. Remember that."

There are so many interesting subthemes in the books, and half-references to a worldview which makes sense to me, that I'd probably be surprised if John Dickinson was not a Christian. But if he isn't - he's stumbled on some significant truths about the world. CS Lewis talks about all stories reflecting something of the 'BIG Story', so perhaps that's what's happened here.

I've been thinking a lot about atonement recently and I'll probably be posting some of my reflections this week.. so until then.