No Clock in the Forest
Rating: * * * *
In the tradition of the Narnia Chronicles, No Clock in the Forest is the best-written novel in the English language since Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale. Set in a vividly-depicted Pacific Northwest, William, followed by Lance and Gwen, become lost on hikes in the mountains and find the wilderness about them strangely changed, wilder, and full of unsuspected magic. The Muses dwell here, as do the fair folk and talking marmots. An ancient struggle between good and evil is coming to a head.
Prof. Willis paints with his prose and wields historical and Arthurian allusions with a deftness not seen since Milton. The adult reader will enjoy insights that may be over-looked by the juvenile, who will nonetheless love this book.
– Review on Amazon.com
Paul Willis possesses an uncanny ability to chart the dangers that lie within us.
– Jeanne Murray Walker
It might just be because I haven’t had much experience in the Christian fantasy realm (except, of course, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien) but No Clock in the Forest was surprisingly entertaining and fantastical, written in the style of past Christian fantasy writers. Everything, from setting to character to stylistic writing, is done with symbolism and meaning – all of it is not overbearing in the least.
The speaking marmots, the evil Lady Lira, the ice axe rising from the water in the hand of a beautiful woman – all of it works perfectly to bring Willis’ story to teeming life. It would be amiss, though, to compare Willis’ story with that of C. S. Lewis’. The Chronicles of Narnia had a uniquely magical touch to it through its encompassing involvement of wondrous children. Willis has no real children involved in his story, no innocent beings exploring a magically new world. Willis’ story, instead, is grounded in adults and realism, in a world where the fantastical and the painfully realistic meld together into what is.
If you are at all interested in Christian fantasy or even want to check out a novel that’s written with the imagery and imagination of C. S. Lewis yet reads incredibly easily, you’ll definitely want to check out No Clock in the Forest.
Recommended.
& ElizabethC