Just like witches at black masses

Lightning review of War in Heaven by Charles Williams (London: Gollancz, 1930). Ebook.

An unidentified body is discovered in an office at a publishing firm. The occupant of the office is Lionel Rackstraw, the editor of a manuscript whose author, an arrogant antiquarian, has instructed him to remove a certain paragraph, which identifies a chalice in the possession of a small village church as none other than the Holy Grail. Gregory Persimmons, the owner of the publishing firm, wants to steal the Grail from the church for himself, to use in black-magic rituals, which also involve kidnapping Rackstraw's young son, Adrian. The archdeacon of the church wants to prevent the relic from falling into the wrong hands.

War in Heaven starts out as a murder mystery, but that is all but forgotten when it suddenly takes a turn and becomes a supernatural thriller. As my previous read was The Ill-Made Knight by T. H. White, I was surprised to find myself coincidentally choosing another Grail-related novel.

This is a tale of the classic battle between good and evil, as written by an author who believed that the spiritual wickedness in high places is as real as the wickedness down here on earth. It reminds me a lot of C. S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength. Lewis may in fact have been inspired by Williams, as the two were friends and mutual admirers.

My recollection of reading Charles Williams in my university years is that I found All Hallows' Eve and Descent into Hell more to my liking. Nonetheless, I can still recommend War in Heaven, his first novel, as an enjoyable suspense story.

Not officially the first book of Science Fiction-Free September, but War in Heaven was the book I was reading on Sept. 1.