lished as The Clansman of Andor) projects its pro-
tagonist into the body of a warrior on a distant
world, after which he has a series of exciting and
cleverly written adventures. His best fantasy novel
is Deathknight(1990), which superimposes an in-
triguing murder mystery onto a fantasy setting. Of-
futt, who also edited the well regarded Swords
Against Darkness anthology series during the
1970s, has been generally inactive in fantasy since
1993 but has recently begun producing new short
stories. He was the most consistent of the genera-
tion of sword and sorcery writers who flourished
during the 1970s, and his skillful storytelling has
been missed.
The OmenDavid Seltzer(1976)
When Ira Levin’s ROSEMARY’S BABY appeared in
1967, the blend of medieval superstition with a
contemporary American setting made the story of
the birth of the child of Satan, the Antichrist, un-
usually plausible and frightening. The novel, writ-
ten at the same time as the screenplay by the same
author, left a particularly lasting impression be-
cause it ended just when it might be presumed that
the real story would start, with the child still an in-
fant and with his impact on the world only a sug-
gestion. David Seltzer provided a metaphorical
sequel with his novel and screenplay, describing
several events that take place during the childhood
of Damien, the son of Satan, who is protected from
his enemies by natural and unnatural allies. The
movie was parodied very effectively in Good Omens
(1990) by Neil GAIMANand Terry PRATCHETT.
The sequels to The Omenare a mixed lot. The
next two novels were both based on screenplays
and were not by David Seltzer. Damien(1978),
novelized by Joseph Howard, covers the charac-
ter’s adolescence, his growing realization of the
truth, and his use of his powers to eliminate his en-
emies. The Final Conflict(1981), novelized by Gor-
don McGill, portrays Damien as an adult, the head
of a business empire that he uses to promote evil
and misery wherever possible, although in the end
he is defeated by the forces of good. McGill then
added two original novels. In Armageddon 2000
(1982) we discover that Damien had a son, who
has survived and who has organized his followers
to carry on his father’s work. He continues his ef-
forts in The Abomination(1985) before joining his
father in defeat. Further complicating the story
line was the 1991 television movie, The Omen: The
Awakening,in which we discover that Damien also
had a daughter and whose young career is unsur-
prisingly similar to that of her father. The books
and films are uneven in quality but have an unde-
niable power that is perhaps a reflection of the
general moral uncertainty of our times.The Once and Future KingT. H. White
(1958)
The legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the
Round Table has had a long and enduring popular-
ity, starting with Le Morte D’Arthurby Sir Thomas
Malory (1485). Scores of writers have rewritten
the story of Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot, some-
times straying a considerable distance from the
original legend and even transposing the charac-
ters into the present day. Perhaps the most fre-
quently read of all of these, however, is this very
long novel by Terence Hanbury WHITE, a portion
of which appeared as the animated feature The
Sword and the Stone(1963) and which also pro-
vided the inspiration for the stage play Camelot
(1960) and the 1967 movie musical of the same
name.
The book actually consists of four shorter nov-
els, starting with The Sword and the Stone(1938),
which tells the story of the young Arthur, his tute-
lage under Merlin, and his eventual triumph in
drawing out a sword magically embedded in stone,
a sign indicating that he is destined to be king. The
remaining three parts are The Witch in the Wood
(1939), also known as The Queen of Air and Dark-
ness, The Ill-Made Knight(1940), and a previously
unpublished conclusion, The Candle in the Wind.
This last section replaced an earlier version, The
Book of Merlyn,which White’s publishers objected
to when he first proposed the combined edition in
the 1940s, possibly because of its advocacy of paci-
fism in the middle of World War II. The Book of
Merlynwas published on its own in 1977.
The Sword and the Stoneis generally consid-
ered a children’s fantasy, but the themes grow
darker and more adult in the later sections. SirThe Once and Future King 263