Archives of Anthropos

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This article is about the book series. For the robot named Anthropos, see Media Lab Europe's social robots.

The Archives of Anthropos is a successful Christian series of six fantasy novels for children, written by the British author, John White. Written in the tradition of C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, this series present a fantastic world of kings, sorcerers and goblins in an allegorical fashion.

[edit] About the Books

The books, in order of publication, are:

  1. The Tower of Geburah ISBN 0-87784-560-3
  2. The Iron Sceptre ISBN 0-87784-589-1
  3. The Sword Bearer ISBN 0-87784-590-5
  4. Gaal the Conqueror ISBN 0-87784-591-3
  5. Quest for the King ISBN 0-87784-592-1
  6. The Dark Lord's Demise ISBN 0-87784-521-2

The books, in chronological order, are:

  1. The Sword Bearer ISBN 0-87784-590-5
  2. Gaal the Conqueror ISBN 0-87784-591-3
  3. The Tower of Geburah ISBN 0-87784-560-3
  4. The Iron Sceptre ISBN 0-87784-589-1
  5. Quest for the King ISBN 0-87784-592-1
  6. The Dark Lord's Demise ISBN 0-87784-521-2

The Archives of Anthropos is written in the style of The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis. They are children’s allegorical fantasies, in other words, and follow the same basic format of the Narnia books: children from Earth are magically transported to another world (in this case, Anthropos), where they are called by a Christ-figure to play key roles in that other world’s history. Although a number of books similar to Narnia were released in the late 70s and early 80s, unlike most others, many find the Anthropos books to match up to Narnia in many ways and even exceed it in others.

John White, the author, admitted having crafted the series after Lewis' own children's allegory. He writes in the appendix of his fifth book, Quest for a King:

"My own children ganged up on me and came with the request that since I wrote books for adults, I could write them for children too.(Of course their assumption was incorrect!) "We won't bug you any more," they said, "if only you'll write a book for us. But it has to be just like Narnia!" So, intrigued, I decided I'd have a crack at it ... I wrote, and then read them my opening chapter of what eventually turned into The Tower of Geburah."

Responding to the criticism that he was merely copying Lewis' work, he writes "People said (quite accurately), 'He's just trying to copy Lewis.' I was. This was what my children wanted. That is, I was trying to copy Lewis at first, but I soon ceased to. Copying gets you nowhere. You have to make any genre your own for it to work."

[edit] About the Author

John White was born in Liverpool, England, on March 5, 1924, and grew up in Manchester. After serving as a reconnaissance photographer in the Fleet Air Arms during World War II, he completed medical training at Manchester University. He later participated in a variety of short-term missions efforts and captitalized on many opportunities to encourage Christians behind the Iron Curtain during the beginning of the Cold War.

On June 25, 1955, White married Laureate May O'Hara. From 1955 to 1964 he served as a medical missionary with New Tribes Mission. Later he was appointed associate general secretary of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students of Latin America.

White emigrated to Canada with his family in 1965 and later completed his residency in psychiatry in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He next filled the post of associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and also served locally as pastor of Church of the Way.

He wrote 25 books as well as numerous articles and study guides. A much sought-after speaker, he lectured around the world at churches, conferences and leadership events. During his later life, White moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, helping to plant a Vineyard church there (Surrey Vineyard) and becoming involved in the larger Vineyard Christian Fellowship.

John White died on May 11, 2002, after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer's and heart disease. He died at home, peacefully, in the arms of Lorrie, his wife of nearly 47 years.

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