Book Review: One Bright Star to Guide Them, by John C. Wright

A grown-up homage to Narnia.

Castalia House, 2014, 61 pages

As children, long ago, Tommy Robertson and his three friends, Penny, Sally, and Richard, passed through a secret gate in a ruined garden and found themselves in an elfin land, where they aided a brave prince against the evil forces of the Winter King. Decades later, successful, stout, and settled in his ways, Tommy is long parted from his childhood friends, and their magical adventures are but a half-buried memory.

But on the very eve of his promotion to London, a silver key and a coal-black cat appear from the past, and Tommy finds himself summoned to serve as England's champion against the invincible Knight of Ghosts and Shadows. The terror and wonder of Faerie has broken into the Green and Pleasant Land, and he alone has been given the eyes to see it. To gather his companions and their relics is his quest, but age and time have changed them too. Like Tommy, they are more worldly-wise, and more fearful. And evil things from childhood stories grow older and darker and more frightening with the passing of the years.

( Wouldn't you want to go back? )

Verdict: While the author's prolixity at times clashed with the compressed worldbuilding and abbreviated story, One Bright Star to Guide Them skillfully bridges the gap between children's and adult fiction, and will certainly appeal to anyone who has fond memories of being transported to another world, and then wondered what happened when those kids grew up. 7/10.

---

My complete list of book reviews.