I got asked recently, what can be learned from HTTK, and I responded, take a look at the world, and then read the whole series again. Enjoy it, get to know the characters and understand them, and then when you do, consider how much you have in common with them.
Take into account, Kingdom began as an idea in the 1980’s, and I really began to write it in 2006. Honestly, since the writing started, it has become more relevant in my thoughts, as I watch the world today.
Kingdom is written from the point of view of those being oppressed, as they fight their way to freedom. There is a great deal of effort in the writing that places the focus on understanding the freedom and joy all the principal characters share. There is a reason it took 14 years to write the eight books, as they do take a long hard look at the life of mankind. The book is focused on two main characters and their friends, as they take for granted what is all around them. I highlight the success of Lox farm, and its abundance, it is to a degree an idyllic place, of friendship and community, where the goal is almost a utopian ideal of what every reader would want in their own life, which could be why so many readers have identified with the series.
Book one is almost a merry jaunt as the group set off to discover the root of all the evil that is attempting to take all of their abundance away, and in many ways, it does not appear to be that sinister a book. I would say it appears as quite innocent, and yet I would also argue, that when you look past the joy, and the developing love story of Robbie and Runestone, there is a dark sinister presence simmering in the background.
It is easy to miss the most obvious aspect of the Bowman of Loxley, because it is subtle, but if you take a step back, and consider it for a moment, suddenly it is not quite the picturesque picture you first thought it was. I would argue, that there is a very significant warning to be taken from that first innocent feeling book, so let me elaborate.
Early in the book, two things occur that are very important, the first is, that the young Dirk, goes out to hunt for food for his family in a remote and isolated part of middle England. His family have chosen to be isolated, and stay well away from all other communities who are banding together to try and survive, and yet his father chose to hide away, separate from everyone, why?. On Dirks return, his mother, father and little sister, have been brutally murdered and their house burned to the ground. In his heartbreak, he is visited by Opal, who tells him to hide his identity, and take aid in the form of a sword to aide Loxley, and she renames him Rowan of the Woods, why?
Secondly, Rowan is a robust tree, known for its strength and resilience, two qualities needed to resist oppression, it is a very important symbol, and one I may add that made everyone assume he would one day be the leader of the country as a king. Rowan, becomes a vital part of the resistance in later books, at our hero’s side.
The next thing we learn, is that one man, rises out of the destruction, and builds a wall to seal off a part of the nation. He is a hero to his people, who has saved them from a deadly virus… a life-threatening catastrophe, hmm, sound familiar? Out of nowhere, he declares himself by birth right, to be ruler of the land, and he despatches out a ruthless and merciless unit of, for want of a better word, ‘murderers’ to attack and frighten all the survivors. These men are the Cutter Brigade, and they lead by using fear, that sounds familiar too. They rape and kill and take all of the supplies, which are sent back to Cornwall, where the supreme ruler is based. A leader taking all the best for his own needs, with no regard for the people, yep, sounds about right to me.
The man is Mason Knox, a historian of the old world. There is no coincidence he has a past as a history lecturer, it is how he understands dominance, and why he is so organised. Mason means wall, a worker of stone, Knox means vault, think about that for a second. Walls are a symbol of strength, and a vault symbolises wealth, combine money and strength, and you have a recipe for supreme power. If you want an example, look to any dictator of the historical past, they hide in their dwellings behind high walls and security, country’s hide behind walls such as China did, and there is no greater example than the Berlin wall, something that is a stark memory from my youth.
The Cutters are spread far and wide, so much so, they reach the north of England and Robbie come across a small raiding party at Joe’s cabin. Later in the book as the group journey away on a mission to produce the evidence to prove Mason is an illegitimate heir to the throne, they enter a village which has been attacked and devastated by Cutters just north of Loxley. Mason is already trying to surround the town of Loxley. It is a huge surprise for Robbie and Rowan, who question, how did Mason get so far undetected? It is an important question, and one you should ask yourself.
At the Abbey, even further north, a large army is spotted quietly building up strength, and as the group skirt back south, they end up in a small town which is run by organised Marshals, who are confiscating weapons. It is subtle, but look carefully, they are in a town that is organised and operating without any resistance to the Marshals, if anything, they have embraced them for their own security. The path of least resistance does appear right at the time, but it is a dangerous path to walk.
At this point there is a very real plan of action being revealed from Mason Knox, who I deliberately kept out of the book until he was revealed in person at the end. The whole premise of the Bowman of Loxley, was to show the slow subtle build up of Mason’s power, and hope that people would notice a very familiar pattern from the past. Look to the past, and learn for the future, is a line and theme that run through this book, and all the others, and it is not there by chance. It is possibly the most important message of all the books, and a very real warning about allowing others to change our historical concepts of history. In using this line, it does also highlight the very real danger in Mason’s action plan, I would say to be specific, look to Germany 1933.
Okay, so let’s take a moment to understand the plan so far. A self appointed dictator who desires supreme power. A fear driven private military force acting under his personal instruction, and control. The confiscation of weapons from the population, under the guise of protection from the newly imposed state, secret groups attacking at random places whilst slowly building up around its enemy, and a secret police force, in a town that has been compliant and simply accepted their authority without speaking out.
So, so far so good, we have the making of a totalitarian regime by subtle means, and now for the big hint. A rider arrives at Lolxey’s gates demanding entry on the orders of ‘The Duke of Cornwall, and newly elected Governor of England.’ There it is, Mason now sees himself as being completely in control, and all of you have to now do as you are told. It is John Lox who points our the obvious, when he states, “Newly elected, I didn’t vote for him.” Well no, that sort of democracy has gone forever, you now have to blindly obey. If you do not, well that comes at the end of the book, you will be surrounded by an army, and wiped out. There is no coincidence that Loxley and York, the two most organised places had an army on their doorstep, they were in the way, and could foil Mason’s plans, so like every dictator from the past, he was going to silence them, and remove them forever.
Boom! There it is right in your face, no one elected him, he is a self imposed leader, and as you follow the story, you get to see the full power of Mason as he reveals his armies at Tintagel and his weapons creation at Weston Super-mare, and his attempts to quash Caerleon. The end of the book shows the full power of Mason as he finally appears in the book, and tries to take the crown and become supreme ruler of England and all its realms, as the fascist dictator he is.
The simple point is HTTK is written in such a way, you have to look for it, and it is all there in the background quietly building away and actually revealing far more than you would at first realise. Jump to book two, The Lost Sword of Carnac, and yep, it just gets better.
Let’s start with the surrounding area of Canterbury. In an act of temper, Mason labels certain types of people, and sends in his Cutters to destroy them. These people are in no way affiliated to Robbie, and yet Mason labels them, Leaf Lovers, Wood Choppers, and he brutally murders them on mass. Sound familiar? Sadly, this is not fantasy, it happens in our modern world, it is not always as extreme and results in death, but it goes on every day, we just choose to ignore it.
A certain section of society is seen as inferior, and as taking up space, and so they are wiped out completely, look to the past? How may regimes since 1945 have seen their own people wiped out by fascist dictators under the guise of their creed, culture, or religion? A section of their own society is labelled by its government as unfit, and then slaughtered and labelled as inferior, second class, unworthy of the same rights.
Think this is a fantasy, look back at the UK, we may not have wiped them out, but it happens. Back in the seventies, it was the hippies, and the drop outs who had no rights, and were targeted as unfit by the government. Margret Thatcher’s government labelled and stigmatised single parents. Under Tony Blair’s government anyone opposing immigration was a white supremacist or racist. When David Cameron was in power, it was the unemployed, and today with Boris Johnson’ it has recently been the un-vaxxed. It happens every day and we all choose to ignore it, or go happily along with it as the media backs up the government narrative. It is subtle, but it happens, and all it takes is one man to make a stand and seize power, and suddenly, a whole section of society that may even have once been a hero to the people, becomes the enemy, and has to be silenced and beaten into submission. You think this is fantasy, try being a peaceful trucker in a certain part of the world at the moment?
Heirs to the Kingdom may feel like an innocent romp through the woodlands with a bad man after you, but it is a very subtle warning about absolute power. I know, I was facing a localised one when I first began to write this series, and it is really frightening to face alone, or with a few dedicated friends.
The second book reveals the rest of the plan of Mason, with enforced labour camps, where you own nothing, but will be happy. Orphanages that force women into birth to breed a population, rows and rows and grey dull dwellings, suppression of decent, and endless slaughter of those who resist. It is all there, and the most frightening thing about this, is in this modern world of today, it has, and is still happening. Do you think slavery has been abolished? Try looking towards the middle east, open your eyes and it is there right in front of you. One global power, or one person who feels entitled to dominate are always there, and not always who you think, it is the curse of man, and the lessons we refuse to learn from our past.
Book three creates monsters from experimentation, drugs are used to enhance human abilities, and the race for more modern weapons to outsmart the enemy is always on the forefront, as the power and dominance grows as fast as the slavery, as people are controlled with fear to do the bidding of their self imposed masters. Heirs to the Kingdom is a dystopian series, but it hits a hell of a lot closer to home than many have realised.
So how do we win, well we fight, okay, so what with?
There is no coincidence that the swords of power are named such. Truth, Justice, Knowledge, Courage, Honour. These are the ingredients of ‘Democracy, and Freedom.’ They are cherished as they allow for freedom of thought, and the freedom to speak, and through the union of these ideals, we create a world that is fair to all, and that is the message to all the readers of HTTK. Take these qualities into your heart and into your life, and if you do so, they will unite in one union with others, and that my friends, is ‘Destiny.’
The modern world today is not quite as black and white as it first appears, and I would say, that we are all stood on the edge of a woodland glade watching, surrounded by those we love, but Mason is out there, and he is not alone. Behind the scenes he is at work, and it is as clear as day if you open your eyes fully, and stop blindly obeying everything you are told.
You will never get the truth from social media, you will never be able to fully trust the legacy media, they are driven by a controlled system of subtle people of power. Just because everyone else believes it to be true, does not mean it is. At times like this, like Robbie and Runestone, we have to stand alone and take a step back, and look with the eyes of destiny, because if you blink and lose focus, we all will end up in a world ruled by the likes of Mason. The human race stands on the edge, and it is the task of all of us to pay attention, and stop blindly following with our virtue signalling and politically correct adherence. Just because everyone else is doing it, does not make it moral or right.
Be a leaf lover, embrace the role of woodsmen, and fight those who are bringers of stone.
Absolute power, is far more corrosive than rust. Never forget that.
Heirs to the Kingdom by Robin John Morgan, is available in Digital and Print formats from all leading online retailers of books and apps.