Customer Reviews

The Chestnut King: Book 3 of the 100 Cupboards

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been reading N.D. Wilson's writing, ever since he first started getting it published. I read his early short stories and poems in Credenda Agenda. I've also recommended his work before but having just finished the concluding volume of his 100 Cupboards trilogy (100 Cupboards, Dandelion Fire, The Chestnut King), I have much more to say.

Genius is rare. We all know that. Acheiving popularity as a writer is pretty rare too. Very rarely do the two coincide, and it is almost unheard of for genius and popularity to come together in the author's own lifetime. I sincerely hope it happens for N.D. Wilson though. He's got five kids to feed.

There is quite a lot going on in this trilogy and I really don't have the time or the space to analyze everything. I do want to make a couple of comparisons though. I'm not a fan of Rowling, or her hero: Harry Potter. I don't hate the kid, but I find his story dull and uninteresting. I don't find the world Rowling created very magical, mysterious, or enchanting. I wouldn't really want to visit there. The school politics and bereaucracy are alive and well in that world and their mind-numbing qualities are quite available outside the pages of a book. The idea that she is writing about wizardry is severely misguided. What she calls wizardry and magic, is really just scientific knowledge and method. The classes at Hogwarts are just science and history classes. The wizard world is only a more technologically advanced version of Great Britain.

All of that to say, Wilson's fantasy world is as homegrown American as Rowling's is British, but it is truly fantastical. There exists within it references to things like mayors and bereaucracies, but the vision of it is transformative and deeply magical. Wilson's hero-child, Henry, isn't a wizard (though wizards do exist and are wizardish), he is a green-man. This distinction is important imaginatively and it deeply shapes the narrative. Harry Potter is basically a bright-boy with a high IQ. This means his spells work particularly well. He still has to memorize them though. He has to have technical knowledge to be a wizard. Wilson's wizards have mysterious knowledge but they operate in a Merlinic fashion: they produce their effects by being themselves rather than by manipulating charms. Henry is a seventh son of a seventh son, branded by the fire of the dandelion. Further, Henry's powers and knowledge as a green-man are acheived as wisdom is, by distilled experience and personal virtue. Birth and naming are more important than access to textbooks or library research (sorry Hermione). This means that the pull, the attraction, of Wilson's world is that of the mythic, the poetic, the otherworldly. Rowling's world is attractive as all success, fame, and ambition stories are; they stimulate the desires of pride and lust for power.

Another interesting aspect of the 100 Cupboards series is the orphan-status of the hero: Henry. Many (most?) children's books feature an orphan for the hero. I have a very smart colleague at Boise State who is studying this phenomena in mythology and literature. Sometimes the child is an outright orphan, as is Harry Potter, and sometimes it is a child with orphan-status: some kind of parents exist but he is effectively abandoned and alone. Wilson takes this typical situation and uses it in some unique ways. I've never seen the joy and the primacy of a family so beautifully affirmed in a book. It is a wonderful to read. Wilson is Gene Wolfe for kids.

Finally, one character when faced with death, comments that he ought to have eaten more of his wife's pies. And that is just good philosophy.

This book is glorious. It is a whirlwind, it burns like cold fire, it melts like ice-fire. It is dandelion fire, a story, a word, a poem in prose form. It is rich mahogany. All of the elements set up in the first two books are marvelously finished, all the plot-threads are neatly resolved. It is heartbreaking and wonderful at once, Tolkien's grand collision he called the eucatastrophe. This is deep comedy.

This book is rich meat in a land of fast food, an oasis in the desert. All that is there cannot be seen on the first reading, or the second. Books recreate and reshape people into the kinds of people that can understand them. This one will take some reshaping. It should be savored and returned to often. I rushed. I confess it. But I returned to it. And I shall again. There is more to be seen. There are many allusions to classical literature, to the Bible, to Narnia and Lord of the Rings, to ideas which I blew right by and need to unpack. The story works very well, and Wilson's best writing is on display here. There is a scene in the middle of the book between Frank and a sea captain from his past that is just perfect in its structure, mood shifts, and call-backs. There are parts that brought me nearly to tears, parts that gave me epic chills up and down my arms, and parts that made me laugh out loud. And the book's ending, the last four chapters or so, was simply wonderful.

Ultimately, just as the first book was thematically about temptation, knowledge, and truth, the second book about the power of words, creation, and names/Baptism, so the third book is about what you do when you know that truth, what happens to you after the christening. It is also about life, death, and the nature of evil. These are good things to work with. The prose is again often poetic, and he uses wonderful metaphors to get us to think a little sideways. Definitely recommended.

My family loved this book. Positive truths to help my kids think about living a life of character in a book they love reading.

Wonderful fantasy story that even surpasses its predecessors!

This is a series of rare quality and deserves a large readership. This the third book of the imaginative '100 Cupboards' series carries on with the adventures of Henry Maccabee who is fast approaching the onset of the teenage years. Henry is not just an ordinary boy from the Boston area but actually came to Earth via one of the 100 magic doors which are hidden in a wall. Of course you always need a foe for your hero to deal with and Henry's comes in the form of a witch as Henry's family face danger. Henry faces the task of tracking down and getting help from 'The Chestnut King' in order to save the day.

A class act, other really excellent fantasies are:


Godstone - The Kairos Boxes


The Thieves of Ostia (The Roman Mysteries)

Anything I write here would do this book a vast injustice. So just imagine the perfect novel. Make it better. That's what this is. I thought 100 Cupboards was absolutely incredible. Then I was completely blown away by book two: Dandelion Fire. The Chestnut King beats them both. Badly.

I won't tell you anything about this book besides that it is one of, if not the best, book I've ever read. There's a reason there isn't any blurb on the back cover. But one piece of advice: reread the previous books before digging into this one. There were plenty of subtle little things happening I wouldn't have picked up on otherwise.

So the bottom line (if you haven't already figured it out) is this: read it. Now.

Today, as a good deal of modernity celebrates the gloomy, sinister, and disobedient features within some facets of the media and literature for children, Christian scholar (editor: Credenda Agenda & a Fellow of Literature, New Saint Andrews College) N. D. Wilson (author of "Leepike Ridge," & "100 Cupboards") provides kids and parents a refreshing story where the boundaries between good and evil are clearly displayed.

"The Chestnut King: Book 3 of the 100 Cupboards" is marvelous in style, real fun, and honorable in orientation. Herein is one of those special Children's books that takes kids on a wild ride and as it thrills them it solidifies their soul.
This book in its ingenious and alluring style expresses many of the influences of the literature-loving Wilson including:

- Classical literature
- The Bible
- The works of C.S. Lewis's works, particularly Narnia
- The Lord of the Rings

As an avid reader, a pastor, and a father of four, I think that Wilson's book is truly enthralling, charming, and fantastic.
God Does Exist!: Defending the faith using presuppositional apologetics, evidence, and the impossibility of the contrary
See also my book available at my site: "Who Made Truth: How Kids Can Prove God Exists."
Review written by Mike A Robinson.

Point: Henry moves farther into his adventure to find that he does have a purpose and a path. Running from those may mean a few more days of life, but he would not be truly living. Facing them may mean death, but this is the reason for which he was created.

Path: Henry's fast paced adventure rushes through cupboards faster than the reader can keep up. His path leads him into the fire, through the tree of the Chestnut King, and into the Witch's stronghold.

Agreement: Wilson's progression as an author can be seen in this final book. It was exciting and fast paced. Although he still seems overly detailed at time, his book kept moving.

Favorite Quote: "No! Let evil hear the pounding of our feet! Let evil hear our drumming and our chanting songs of war. Let evil fear us! Let evil flee! In any world, may dark things know our names and fear. May their vile skins creep and shiver at every mention of the faeren. Let the night flee before the dawn and darkness crowd into the shadows. We march to war!"
- Nudd, the Chestnut King"

The Chestnut king wraps up the 100 Cupboards series by N.D. Wilson. It's a good read, and the plot definitely moves along as we watch Henry come into a full realization of who he is, what it feels like to love and be loved by family and ultimately what it means to risk death for justice. The story alone is fantastic; the characters are believable, memorable and fun. Most elements of the series are unique but I suppose I do have to mention that there is a slight resemblance between the cupboards to other worlds and the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis' Narnia (though this is played out quite differently) and that the main character Henry has a gnarly scar on his face that has similar consequences as the lightning scar of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. With that aside, the story is still interesting and fresh.

Wilson's love for language is evident in his story telling. The scenery and action descriptions are told in a way that is not straight to the point but more artistic and fun. I must admit that I lack a certain attention span and love for poetry that would make me a prime candidate for a story told in this fashion, but I did get through it okay. Wilson's Tilt-a-Whirl is an amazing book filled with this type of writing and the subject matter he covers allows for it. I think it worked just okay for books two and three of this series, (it wasn't really around in book one) but rather than help the story along it sort of stopped the flow a bit, at least for someone like me. I hate even admitting that because it feels like someone has presented me with an elegant full-course meal, complete with parsley garnishment and lemon wedges and me, the reader, has tossed them aside to simply eat my pasta dinner; Completely missing the grand picture that was intended. 100 Cupboards is like that. It's more than an interesting tale, it is a work of art bound into novels and handed to kids (and 30-year-olds). While there are some readers who will see the beauty and adore it, there are also some who just like their PBJ sandwiches and will overlook the art entirely. I think I fall somewhere in the middle of these groups but left wishing I was a little more like the full-course artsy type.

This book was a great end to the series! There are some great surprises and action throughout the book. Well worth the read. I have been telling others to read this series as well. It is a fun easy read.

A sprawling and wild climax that takes each character and plot thread to glorious new heights, before settling down with a deeply satisfying dénouement.