Toward the Gleam: A Novel Hardcover – March 25, 2012

This is a book that demands to be re-read. First, because the ironies in the story and its setting are not evident in first reading, and the parallels with our own time deserve more reflection. Also because the story is so compelling that important details may be glossed over. The time and place mark a significant transitional point in human history, as does our own time and place, when the future of many nations and their peoples hang on the decisions being made by important behind-the-scenes manipulators shadowing the recognized leaders of these nations, and the ability of ordinary folk, who find themselves suddenly facing decisions thrust upon them to perform extraordinary deeds, that may or may not save their people, deeds which may or may not mean sacrificing everything the ordinary folk hold dear, in order for the good guys to prevail over the bad guys. Finally, some of these characters in the novel are based on real people of the time, and the clues are not always apparent on first reading, and in the end, significant more to the serious reader while not necessary to a more casual reader who simply likes a good story, especially one laced with mystery, suspense, and romance.The period between World Wars I and II was a period of uneasy peace, when the major power players in Europe were regrouping for a new struggle for world domination, and the intellectual players--journalists, writers, and teachers--waged their own ideological battles for influence. The greater mass of people merely wanted to live in peace and earn a good living inside their comfort zones once they had rebuilt and repaired their lives following the upheavals of The Great War. Whether their daily struggles are geared to this life or hope for the next, they prefer to let others handle the controls, and leave them in peace. Such peace, as we have experienced in our own time, is brief or illusory at best, and remains ever threatened by the players and collectors who want to control the rest of us and own the things of this world, heedless of where they will end up in the next one.John Hill, whose real name we aren't given, is Everyman here, moving in and out of those three playing fields. He has a compassionate and loyal nature and desires to always do the right thing. He served in the Great War, returned wounded and ready to start an ordinary family with his wife and to build a career as a university professor, until an accidental discovery of an ancient and dangerous artifact thrusts him into conflict with evil power players on all these levels --an archetypal situation which has made many an exciting read, timeless and timely, but given a fresh world stage by T.M. Doran with new insights for all readers. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

I must say that I very much enjoyed this novel and devoured its 467 pages in two days, giving up some sleep to finish it. But then, I am really the bullseye of the book's target audience: people for whom the following list of what ifs is an irresistable invitation to reflection.* What if the Lord of the Rings had a verifiably historical basis because a young professor Tolkien had accidentally discovered and laboriously translated large parts of The Red Book of Westmarch (or rather the copy of it made by the scribe Findegil and preserved down the millenia in a beautiful Numenorean box made of mithril)?* What if, in the course of researching and translating it while trying to keep it secret, he made himself the target of [Sherlock Holmes antagonist] Professor Moriarty's even more implacably evil and talented grandson and heir who saw the book as his path to power?* What if, in his quest to discover the book's secrets and keep them from the villain while somehow staying alive and protecting his family, he was aided by GK Chesterton, Agatha Christie, Winston Churchill, Edith Stein, and his two friends and fellow Inklings CS Lewis and Owen Barfield?Toward the Gleam accomplishes all of the above and adds a really succesful literary leitmotif whereby the events that happen to Tolkein throughout the novel and some of the other characters neatly parallel elements from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. The story starts off a bit slow. But about midway through the pace picks up and turns into something of a thriller.That said, his famous historical characters are not really convincing to folks who know their writing well. There is a very good reason why historical fiction writers usually place most of the dialogue in their own characters' mouths and rely on letters and diaries and such for the words of the famous characters. But Doran rushes in where other writers fear to tread and creates long speeches and conversations for them that just do not convince. The wholly fictional villain and his various shadowy servants, oddly, seem more alive. It is perhaps a little unfair to criticize a writer for falling short of a nearly impossible task that would take a literary genius of the first rank to pull off. Still, he does fall short of it and fails to satify the hopes he raises.The other weakness of the book is that, in addition to telling this story, he really wanted to present a series of reflections and criticism of the various disastrous ideologies and philosophies that have plagued the 20th century. Communism, Nazism, Scientistic Materialism, Epicurean hedonism, and Determinism all come in for discussion. There is even a brief description of Phenomenology from Edith Stein in a sidewalk cafe in Heidelberg. It isn't that these conversations are not well done, some of them are very well done indeed, particularly the exchanges that "John" has with Gosdier Jones and the villain, Adler Alembert. Rather, the problem is that many of these conversations are a kind of interruption that do not advance the story and should have been saved for another book.So, if you are a fan of the Inklings and Middle Earth is part of your mental landscape, read this book; you're going to enjoy it. And I very much hope that this is not the last we hear of Mr. Doran.

This was such an exciting story that I had a hard time putting it down! The author blends the philosophical ideas that were floating around at the time - which have important ramifications for those of us who are living a little further down the line of history - with a really great story line. There's plenty of excitement and the thrill of the chase. And there is a beautiful, realistic love story that stretches through the many decades of the book, which is the actual, though not the obvious, central idea of the book. I'm a Tolkien fan, though perhaps not a purist, because I thoroughly enjoyed this fictionalized version of how he came to write the Ring trilogy. It made me want to pull out my copies and reread them! If you love a mystery, a love story (without all the overt sexual content), and some historical fiction, then you'll love this book. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.