Gaal the Conqueror by John White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Gaal the Conqueror is the second book in The Archives of Anthropos series by John White, and continues the adventures in the magical land of Anthropos as the battle between good and evil rages on for the control of every living thing. Enter John Wilson, returning from the first book in the series and joined here by new characters of all kinds, including Eleanor MacFarland. Together, they must travel the lands of Anthropos, on a quest to defeat the evil sorcerer Shagah and elude the blasphemous Lord Lunacy.
There are so many things to say about Gaal the Conqueror, and so I’ll start here: This book, while labeled second in the series, is actually the fourth book written. John White wrote The Tower of Geburah, The Iron Sceptre, and The Sword Bearer before this one, and at times the seams of the story show through as White is obviously setting pieces in place that will be present in later books in the series. These first two books have circled back to a time before The Tower of Geburah and set up the story line for the future.
At times haunting, at others deeply profound, this book begins in snowy Canada amidst the search for a missing child. Much like the first book in the series, this book has moments that almost seemed too intense for a children’s fantasy series. There is a subplot about this missing child who has clearly been abused. While nothing is explicitly stated here, there is plenty of subtext to indicate what has happened. It left me questioning the audience for this book, as I probably would not want a very young child to read this one, but perhaps for a middle grade and above audience this would work.
The parallels to Christianity seem the most obvious here, and for those who are familiar with the story of Christ, some beats in this story will be telegraphed miles before they take place. However, there is one final twist near the end of the story I did not expect coming, and I actually cried out loud at the book and said, “No!” When a book surprises me, it always gets a higher rating from me, and this twist definitely had me flipping pages to see what would happen next.
There are some fantastic fantasy elements at play here which blend pieces of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia with the same author’s Space Trilogy. Once again, the ghastly Lord Lunacy returns, but this time with a host of creepy friends who show up near the last third and are definitely nightmare material.
However, for all the good this book contains, the lead character’s story arc, much like in The Sword Bearer seems the most lacking here. John Wilson’s “growth” throughout the story is slight at best, and John and Eleanor both serve to move the plot along and help us discover new aspects of this fantasy world through their actions and reactions.
I found this second book more engaging than the first, and I already have the third book, The Tower of Geburah on my shelf, waiting to be cracked open and read! For fantasy fans of series such as The Chronicles of Prydain or The Chronicles of Narnia, you definitely won’t go wrong reading this classic gem.