The Book of Kings

This vastly ambitious novel, long rumored to be both brilliant and unpublishable, begins with four bright young men attending the Sorbonne in 1932. Justin Lothaire, who's French-Algerian; Johannes Godard and David von Sunda, both German; and the American Duncan Penn live a heady life on the Rue de Fleurus until fascism and WWII intervene. At the end of the war, only Sunda and Lothaire are left alive, battle scarred and forever alienated from each other. The novel has trouble reaching a resolution, moving through two codas, one regarding Algeria's struggle for independence, a second exploring a random act of terrorism. Throughout, characters make key decisions inexplicably: Sunda, outraged by Hitler, drags his pregnant wife from Mexico through Russia back to Germany--only to join the Wehrmacht. The writing ranges from the sententious--preparing to invade France, a German officer feels ""no special moral feeling, alarm, or horror--only a pride in his power to crush men's lives. This, and only this, is what is meant by the word military""--to the bombastic: ""Now, as a disarmed and half-starved gladiator might lure an untested comrade to face a still-murderous lion... caked with the blood of multitudes--so, that season, did Churchill bring Roosevelt into the arena of Europe, that he might face the German dictator."" Several of Thackara's characters do come to life, especially Lothaire, a thoughtful, anguished writer and Resistance leader, and H l ne Le Tr ve, the vibrant Frenchwoman, who, with her headstrong passions, captivates all four ""Fleurusians."" While its grand sweep would make for an impressive miniseries, this epic strays too often from its real strengths-vivid characterization and highly charged historical action-and instead is enveloped by a rambling plot that dissipates its potential. 30,000 first printing. (Apr.)