Williams's second novel in his Seven Kingdoms Chronicles series is a sugarcoated Sunday school lesson at best and bland, formulaic pulp fiction at worst. Set in the same mythical, medieval world of the first installment, The Crown of Eden, the heroes and heroines must survive an oppressive kingdom whose Pharisaic ruling clergy enforce rigidly ascetic laws with no regard for mercy. A disgraced maiden running from the law falls in with a prince fleeing assassination; their adventures ultimately lead to the uniting of the seven kingdoms, the destruction of the evil witch Morgultha, and—of course—a lavish wedding. Along the way they learn of faith, love, mercy, evil and redemption. Unfortunately, this is far below the level of the Christian fantasies of C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien. The plot seems driven by the author's efforts to deliver minisermons on religious subjects and to illustrate Christian principles and parables. The morals are too often delivered in stilted speeches and dialogues between cardboard characters; the wicked are evil through and through, while the righteous have hearts of gold and great physical beauty. The character references to Mary Magdalene and Christ are painfully blunt. As fantasy, the novel is disappointingly unoriginal and suffers from several breaches in logic in its mechanical plot. Young adults in search of light reading and a little sugar (in the form of princes, maidens, castles, kidnappings, rescues and a dash of true love) to help their religion go down smoothly may enjoy this; others should pass. (June)
