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Great Science-Fiction
& Fantasy Works
a critical list with discussions
Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books by
Charles Williams
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Standard Disclaimer:
This is a brief discussion of Charles Williams and, of course, of some speculative-fiction books by Charles Williams This discussion and list does not necessarily include every book by Williams: it includes only those books that I both know and like. Just as with the author list itself, omission of a particular item may mean I didn't think highly enough of the omitted item, or it may simply mean that I have not yet sufficient familiarity with it. (In a very few cases, I have listed some books merely on the strength of my opinion of the author: all such books are clearly marked below, as throughout these lists, with a hash mark (#) before the title so you know what's what.) I don't pretend that this discussion is a deep analysis. My intent is no more than to give you a rough idea of what kinds of tales Williams tells, how those tales are usually told, and what makes them and Williams worthy; in sum, to help you rank Williams (and the works by Williams listed here) on your personal literary "to do" list. |
A Few Words About Charles Williams
Regrettably, I have not yet had an opportunity to write an essay on this author, but the "Other Resources" section below will lead you to some information about the "Notable Books" listed farther down this page.
Other Charles Williams Resources
(As one would suspect, a name as common as "Charles Williams" will pull up a lot of junk not related to this Charles Williams; be especially aware that there is another author of the same name who writes tawdry-looking detective fiction. Caveat lector.)
Charles Williams Resources on the Web
Besides The Charles Williams Society, there is another dedicated Williams site, The Web of Exchange; moreover, there is a Williams discussion group at Yahoo, Co-Inherence. And a set of quotations about Williams extracted from several sources appears at "The Inklings--Charles Williams".
Beyond those materials, there are several quite useful individual essays of analysis and criticism available: "The Novels of Charles Williams", by Glen Cavaliero; "Evil's Ultimate Impotence: The Triumph of Good in Charles Williams' Writings by Elodie Ballantine Emig; "What About Charles Williams?" by Thomas Howard; "A Terrible Beauty: True and False Visions of the Good in Descent into Hell and Till We Have Faces" (the latter by C. S. Lewis) by Dominic Manganiello; "Overcoming the Great Divorce IV: Charles Williams" by Henry Karlson (Parts I, II, and III, dealing with other members of The Inklings, are also interesting); and "Charles Williams, the odd Inkling" by Rowan Williams (none other than the Archbishop of Canterbury).
A complete Williams bibliography is available from York University (Toronto).
Charles Williams Resources in Print
There are pleasingly many books of criticism and analysis:
Charles Williams: Alchemy and Integration, by Gavin Ashenden
Charles Williams, Poet of Theology by Glen Cavaliero
The Crisis and the Quest: A Kierkegaardian Reading of Charles Williams by Stephen M. Dunning, Glen Cavaliero
An Introduction to Charles Williams by Alice Mary Hadfield
Charles Williams: An Exploration of His Life and Work by Alice Mary Hadfield
Charles Williams by John Heath-Stubbs
The Novels of Charles Williams by Thomas Howard
The Rhetoric of Vision: Essays on Charles Williams by Charles Adolph Huttar, Peter J. Schakel, and John Heath-Stubbs
The Pattern in the Web: The Mythical Poetry of Charles Williams by Roma Alvah King
Charles Williams: A Critical Essay by Mary McDermott Shideler
Charles Williams by Agnes Marie Sibley
Charles Williams by Kathleen Spencer
Notable Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books by Charles Williams ***
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