Brainstorm 355: The Inklings in books

Do you know who the Inklings were? A group of Oxford professors and their friends who would get together to share their writings, critique each others' work, and just spend time together. The group's most famous members were C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. In the past year and a half I've read 4 fictional books that feature the Inklings as characters and a nonfiction highly illustrated biography/graphic novel about them. I thought I'd share those with you today. I was impressed by how all of these books honored the memory, works, faith, and legacy of the Inklings and their associates (Dorothy Sayers also features prominently in all the fiction books though she wasn't an official Inkling). My full summary and review of each book including any content notes/trigger warnings is down below for those who don’t have access to GoodReads.

Full Summaries, Reviews & Content Notes

The Ink of Elspet (The Inkwell Chronicles, #1) by J.D. Peabody

After a horrible railway accident, clergyman Marcus Drake’s belongings are carefully handed over to his son and daughter, Everett and Bea, by a nurse who tended him at the crash and promised to pass his things on to only them. The children have no idea that the contents of that briefcase are what caused the accident. Marcus was being chased by someone who wanted the Ink he carried very badly, and will stop at nothing to get their hands on it and find its source. Soon Everett and Bea find themselves on a wild adventure with members of the Inklings on a quest to find their father and free him from sinister hands and also protect the Well of Elspet, the last remaining source of the magical ink that inspires artists, musicians, and others around the world to create astounding things.

I like how Peabody grounded this story in post-WWII England and used the historic railway crash and historic figures to do that. I loved how Dot, Jack, and Ronald were the children’s guides and mentors on this quest. Weaving in real life Inklings or those tangential to the Inklings (Dorothy Sayers, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien) to know about and be agents that work to protect this magical Ink that inspires them and other creatives was very fun. I also liked that Peabody didn’t spell out who each of those 3 were. He gave hints, and it allows adults reading with kids to introduce them to these real people, or if kids go searching for the Inklings and use those nicknames they can figure out the inspiration for these characters themselves. It could provide a good opportunity to discuss with reader why Peabody chose these 3 people to include in his story. That said, it is also clearly a fantasy adventure story and not true history (though I think Dot, Jack, and Ronald would all be honored to be included in this one). I liked the growth that Everett and Bea experience through their adventure. I like the imagination of the world Peabody has built. His characters are also memorable, from the good guys to the bad guys headed by the Commander who wants to destroy all Ink. The story takes the characters from London, England to Aberdeen, Scotland and they meet several allies along the way like the noble Conductor and Gilroy who accompany them when the Inklings have to take an alternate route. Peabody has another boy join the adventure along the way, Trey, who has amnesia but does know about the Ink somehow and wants to help and see if he can figure out where he’s supposed to be along the way. His inclusion helps Everett realize some important things about himself and prompts some much-needed growth. The author is a Christian and he wove in Christian principles into the story without necessarily making anything an allegory and avoiding being preachy. It’s a wholesome and heartfelt fantasy adventure that is also exciting and imaginative. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series and the future adventures of Bea and Everett.

Notes on content:

Language: None; Sexual content: None; Violence: There are deaths in the train wreck, but nothing is vividly described. The bad guy keeps Marcus a prisoner and drugs him to try and get information out of him. The bad guy’s pet crow pecks Marcus until he bleeds at times. One person is bit by a dog pretty badly. Trey is in bad shape when they find him, but the ink can heal in the right hands.; Ethnic diversity: The Drake family, Dot, Jack, and Ronald are all white British, Trey is half Scottish, half Indian.; LGBTQ+ content: None specified.; Other: The Commander mean guy is pretty mean to even his allies, turning some into puppies if they disobey him, abandoning others if they fall behind.

The Inklings Detective Agency by John R. Kelly

In December of 1936 the Inklings members are called upon by a most unexpected visitor asking them to look into some deaths under mysterious circumstances of members of a secret society. It appears the deaths were ruled accidents or natural causes but the fact that the deaths both occurred on the day of a full moon one month apart and that both men are part of the same secret society that dabbles in occult matters have other members worried someone is out to get them and one of them could be dead on the next full moon in a few weeks. Jack Lewis, his brother Warren, John Tolkien, Lord Cecil along with some of the other regular members agree to look into the matter, and conscript a few other friends and contacts, like Charles Williams for his knowledge on secret societies, Agatha Christie for her knowledge of poisons, and Dorothy Sayers for her keen mind. But can they figure out who is behind these deaths before the next full moon?

The author clarifies that this is completely an imagined scenario, but he teaches university level classes on the Inklings and clearly knows the time period and the people involved well enough to imagine a plausible mystery for them to solve and include lots of solid historical bits about their real lives as well. This is the 4th fictional book I've read this year that has the Inklings included as characters (the other 3 were a middle grade series for kids called The Inkwell Chronicles), and I like how such fiction introduces readers to these writers and thinkers of the last century. This one had me worried about how dark it would get involving a secret society messing around with the occult, but it doesn't get super dark. And Sayers would be happy to tell you it upholds all the rules of mystery writing as outlined by the Detection Club.

Notes on content:

Language: None; Sexual content: None; Violence: A past murder is revealed that was a bit bloody but mostly off page, and the two present ones which are mostly poisonings. Things get super dicey for several others when the murderer catches on to what they know and someone gets a concussion and is a little bloody, others are in danger of poisoning and one does succumb but most are ok. Some other murder and mystery investigations are mentioned.; Ethnic diversity: British, Irish, Scottish; LGBTQ+ content: None specified.; Other: The secret society leader is akin to a cult leader and very manipulative of people. Minimal details about what a secret society dabbling in the occult would get in to.

The Mythmakers: the Remarkable Fellowship of C.S. Lewis & J.R.R. Tolkien by John Hendrix

A graphic novel/heavily illustrated text biography of authors C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, their lives, their friendship, how they impacted each other's work, their passion for myth, and how they changed the perception of fantasy fiction in culture.

I've read a couple books on both Lewis and Tolkien individually and the Inklings as a group. This was by far my favorite of any of them. I like how Hendrix balanced being concise, providing the right amount of depth, conveying Lewis and Tolkien's points of view, and also showing the impact of the works of these men. I've read too many others that ignore their faith and how that impacted their works or seemingly purposefully misunderstood their intentions and goals in writing. As a fellow Christian, Hendrix honors their faith, gets their intentions and does a good job interpreting those for a modern audience (because sometimes the issue is a misunderstanding of the word choice of their personal correspondence/writings, failing to understand the past meaning of those words in their context and misconstruing the meanings with more modern meanings). And let's not forget, Hendrix illustrated the entire book. There are sections in graphic novel format, with our narrators, a wizard and a lion (and a raccoon and thistle in the appendixes), who help set the stage, explain related topics in the appendixes, and transition readers from one part to the next. These sections have speech bubbles and an obvious graphic novel format. Then the biographical parts of the book are in more traditional text blocks, but have illustrations all around them. It's an impressive piece of artwork and authorship. And as a Tolkien and Lewis fan, I really appreciated how masterfully it was all done.

Notes on content:

Language: None; Sexual content: Some kisses between husbands and wives are mentioned.; Violence: Experiences of both men in WWI are explored. Deaths and injuries are mentioned, there are some illustrations but they are not gory, just sobering. Both men lost parents when they were children. Deaths of friends and family from disease and old age are mentioned.; Ethnic diversity: Tolkien was white British born in Africa, Lewis was white Irish. Most of their friends were white British. Lewis eventually married a white American woman.; LGBTQ+ content: None; Other: Tolkien's perfectionism is talked about and Lewis' tendency to jump into things. Christian faith is a key topic of the book. Hendrix carefully parses what Lewis and Tolkien meant by myth, at first it may appear offensive to include certain things as myths, but once the full meaning comes to light, it isn't.