The Lewis Legacy-Issue 85, Summer 2000 Stop and Shop

BOOKS BY LEGACY READERS

The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers (Del Rey, paperback reissue, 1999). This historical fantasy set in 16th century Europe draws on the legend of the Fisher King. First published in 1979 it has been translated into French, Czech, Italian, and Polish.

Declare by Tim Powers will be released this year by Avon, but 26 luxury copies from Subterranean Press sold out in advance for $500 each. More numbered, autographed advance copies have sold for $75. This book reveals a hidden supernatural part of the factual Kim Philby scandal. (Philby was head of counter-espionage for the British secret service, but really served the KGB.) Declare is set in London, Mount Ararat, Kuwait, and Berlin, Dean Koontz writes: “Declare is a tour de force, a brilliant blend of John le Carre spy fiction with the otherworldly, packed with historical fact, dazzling flights of imagination, and wonderful suspense.” See a preview at http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~jberlyne/powers/decexcerpt.htm.

Mormon America: The Power and the Promise by Richard and Joan Ostling (HarperSanFrancisco, 1999). The New York Times called Mormon America “a long overdue primer on one of the fastest-growing religions in the world” and called the Ostlings “diligent referees of [Mormon] fights past and present.” In an interview Ostling remarked about the book, “Another example is the extraordinary interest in C.S. Lewis among Mormons, and the belief that Lewis is almost a crypto-Mormon. In fact, Lewis, in an offhand remark recorded in one of his books, believed that Joseph Smith was the author of the Book of Mormon, not ancient Israelites. He was aware of Latter Day Saints claims and totally rejected them. And yet his books are prominently featured in [Mormon-owned] Deseret Bookstores, and he is widely quoted from tried-and-true defenders of Mormon orthodoxy. It just shows the extraordinary acceptability and the usefulness of C.S. Lewis, because of course most of what he says is perfectly acceptable to Mormons.”