War in Heaven [Paperback]

"The telephone was ringing wildly," begins Charles Williams's novel War in Heaven, "but without result, since there was no-one in the room but the corpse." From this abrupt--and darkly humorous--start, Williams takes us on a 20th-century version of the Grail quest, with an Archdeacon, a Duke, and an editor playing the old Arthurian roles. Throughout, Williams reminds us that these legends were above all about divine, not just human, romance. While filled with marvels and black magic, the novel also suggests that the devil just might be what the face of God looks like to those who have sought destruction, just as that face is love to those who have sought love. The choice, Williams affirms, is always ours. --Doug Thorpe

In War in Heaven Williams gives a contemporary setting to the traditional story of the Search for the Holy Grail. Examining the distinction between magic and religion, this eerily disturbing book graphically portrays a metaphysical journey through the shadowy crevices of the human mind.

Charles Williams (1886-1945) was a writer who excelled in a number of different genres. He was a novelist, dramatist, theologian and literary critic. He belonged to The Inklings: C. S. Lewis liked him, J. R. R. Tolkien didn't. T. S. Eliot admired him as a novelist, published his final novel at Faber and was responsible for the reissuing of the earlier six. All seven novels are being reissued in Faber Finds: War in Heaven, Many Dimensions, The Place of the Lion, The Greater Trumps, Shadows of Ecstasy, Descent into Hell and All Hallows' Eve. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.