Customer Reviews

Gaal the Conqueror (Archives of Anthropos)

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

 

 

Gaal the Conqueror is an amazing book. It is an allegory that is very creatively written. The part about Gaal on the altar represents that Jesus died for us on the cross and the wine of free pardon is amazingly like the unconditional forgivess of the Lord Jesus. I recommend the entire Archives of Anthropos series to any fantasy buff or Narnia fan.

Watch your step because you could fall into Anthropos any time.

Gaal sent John on a mission with a friend named Eleanor. They had to capture a evil sorcerer named Shagah. This sorcerer put a whole village under a spell to do his bidding. It was a very difficult task they had to pass through many enchanted forests and escaped the claws of death many times. The fighting was intense with goblins bodies liquefying and foul stenches rising from the body. They finally trapped Shagah by hanging his picture on the wall and he was pulled in the picture. Then John and Eleanor returned to their own world by using a magical staff.

As a child, I loved The Tower of Geburah and the Iron Sceptre, and later on found the Sword Bearer and really enjoyed that,too. White's Gaal is one of the best Christ figures I've come across, right up there with Aslan. Which is why this book came as a bit of a disappointment. The encounters with Gaal/the Changer weren't nearly as powerful in this story as they were in the preceding novels. (Although here and there Eleanor's descriptions to John of Gaal seem to pack a little of the usual zing)
Also, Gaal's self sacrificial death (and much of the journeying John and Eleanor do through the enchanted forest) is so heavy-handedly symbolic as to short circuit any empathy on the part of the reader. I'm afraid I stuck this one out for mostly sentimental reasons.

"Gaal the Conqueror" is another prequel in John White's derivative Middle-Earth/Narnia series the Archives of Anthropos. This time, John Wilson and his friend Eleanor find themselves in Anthropos again. The inhabitants of Anthropos are under the spell of Lord Lunacy. Who can save the day? Why, Gaal,of course! Gaal calls himself The Changer, which shows his mercurial personality.

"Gaal the Conqueror" basically pits two essentially villainous characters against each other--the obviously wicked Lord Lunacy against the tyrannical Gaal. Gaal's "sacrifice" is such obvious,ham-handed allegory it's not kosher. It happens as a plot point, not because it flows naturally. The denouement is pretty disturbing as well. When Gaal triumphs, Lord Lunacy's former subjects engage in an orgy of destruction of anything magical (ironic in a fantasyland),and book burning. After all, the first recorded book burning is in the Book of Acts, when former magicians set their tomes aflame.

"Gaal the Conqueror" manages to be escapist derivative fun paired with thought-provoking ideas. Atheist Philip Pullman would've found John White's fantasy more worthy of questioning than CS Lewis' comparatively tame Narnia. Aslan is,for a Christ-figure,sympathetic. Gaal is a sociopath. He wants desire over people just like Lord Lunacy. "Gaal the Conqueror" is a thought-provoking journey.

Watch your step because you could fall into Anthropos any time.

Gaal sent John on a missson with a freind named Eleanor. They had to capture a evil sorcerer named Shagah. This sorcerer put a whole villige under a spell to do his bidding. It was a very difficult task they had to pass through many enchanted forests and escaped the claws of death many times. The fighting was intense with goblins bodys liquifying and foul stenches rising from the body. They finally trapped Shagah by hanging his picture on the wall and he was pulled in the picture. Then John and Eleanor returned to thier own world by using a magical staff.
(I read this for my 5th grade book report.)

Wow!! Finally a book writen in Canada that does not focus on Canadian history or any tackey story. This book is a work of art physicaly and verbely the book is thick and is like sigmond brower it has tuches of conviction which make you feel good. I read this book as a home work assignment and it is a bit preachey and the plot repeats it self a couple of times. But I got 100% because it is that well writen that I could find what I wanted Where I wanted it. If you are a young reader who doesn't have a very wide vocabularry but you want to read a good thick book. This is for you