After finishing the entertaining fairytale, A Barrel of Laughs, a Vale of Tears, I wanted to read something similar to my kids (ages 11, 12), yet something with some spiritual undertones. This allegory from the ’70s is exactly that, though the “undertones” turned about to be heavy overtones instead!

Part 1 of the book introduces us to a world of two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness. The Kingdom of Light had been the only kingdom in the world ruled by King Yah until his Prime Minister decided to form a rebellion, convincing a full third of the King’s servants to join him in crossing the River of Death in order to start their own kingdom. In this new Kingdom of Darkness, the Prime Minister set himself up as ruler, naming himself King Beel. His intent was to convince all of the King’s subjects, beginning with Adam Bloodman and his wife Eve, to cross the River of Death and to become (so he lied) kings themselves. When this happened, King Yah, Prince Cristos, and the Ambassador held council and determined that the only way to bring their subjects back to the Kingdom of Light would be for the Prince one day to disguise himself as a lowly subject and go to the Kingdom of Darkness to rescue the people there. In the meantime, they’d send other subjects across the River of Death who were summarily beaten and killed. It seemed no one in the Kingdom of Darkness wanted rescue!

This first part’s allegory is so clear, it really needs no further explanation. But to learn more about the truth behind the allegory, check out my article, The Gospel of Jesus in 6 Minutes.

Part 2 introduces us to Charis and the one she’s destined to marry, Victory Mann. Charis has already been convinced of the lies of King Beel and his Kingdom of Darkness and has crossed the River of Death to have a new and intimate relationship with Prince Cristos, spending the better part of her days with him in King Yah’s throne room. While there in the Kingdom of Light, she shares her desperate desire that Victor Mann be rescued from the Kingdom of Darkness. The Prince assures her that this will soon happen. We spend the rest of the chapter watching as the Ambassador heads back to the Kingdom of Darkness to convict Victor Mann of the lies he’s come to believe and to show him the truth of the Kingdom of Light. Victor eventually responds to these proddings, and he comes to ask the Ambassador—who transforms himself at times into Prince Cristos—finally to help him cross the River of Death.

These scenes of Victor Mann blindly entering the frigid torrent and yet being led by the hand of this gentle Prince to the calm shores of the Kingdom of Light were pretty exciting. The imagery was spectacular, and it reminded me of the closing scenes of The Faithful Spy, in which Dietrich Bonhoeffer‘s death by hanging was described as drowning, sinking down until he actually found himself disoriented and “sinking up” to a surface upon which stood a pair of feet and then a hand pulling him free. In Sons for King Yah, though, this imagery was not that of physical death but rather of spiritual, the process of being born again into the Kingdom of Light. We know this, because life in this Kingdom of Light still wasn’t perfect.

This final part of the book was interesting and had potential, but it seemed a bit random and then, quite unexpectedly, the book abruptly ended with wedding bells. These final pages made the whole thing fall flat, though I still feel Parts 1-2 were very well done.

Part 3, titled “Preparing for the Wedding,” sort of meanders through these imperfections. Victor Mann faces trials in this new life inside the Kingdom of Light. He’s asked to wait a year before he and Charis marry, and he’s set to work in a cobbler’s shop. While there, he meets a man nicknamed “Imp” Patient who tries to convince him not to wait for the wedding, to live in the present, and even to avoid spending time at King Yah’s palace. Victor also discovers a pet which he names “Greed,” thinking it’s a puppy when really it’s an animal far more nefarious. He tries to hide the pet from all the others in the Kingdom of Light, a choice which results in his own near demise.

I also really liked the few illustrations in the book, what seemed like black-grey-white watercolors (though they might have been done with ink). I’m pasting one example here so you can see.

My kids really enjoyed this story and followed along with each new scene. There were many points in which I paused to ask them if they recognized anything familiar (biblically speaking) and which characters represented whom. They understood the allegory’s spiritual overtones and I think we all had an enjoyable time with it—until that disappointing ending.

I have no clue if this book has even been republished, but I think with a proper revision of Part 3 into something more coherent and with a better ending, a new generation of readers would enjoy it. It’s got flavors of Pilgrim’s Progress yet from a completely different angle. I don’t know who’s responsible for such decisions on published works, but the original publisher, Logos International (now known as Bridges Logos) doesn’t seem to have the book for sale anymore. Revising this book might be a worthy endeavor for them.

©2023 E.T.