Mystical Paths

It's hard to name a favourite in this series however this and the first book (Glittering Images) would come close. Howatch is at her very best in this book which moves along at a good pace and introduces us very well to the character of Nicholas Darrow - son of the famous Jon Darrow. We see the unhealthy yet loving relationship between Father and Son as they both struggle to release their psychic hold on each other and also a good glimpse into the relationship between Nicholas and his half brother Martin Darrow - the Actor. Howatch has an unequalled way in bringing together characters from the other books and also recalling past incidents from a different viewpoint which I find fascinating - and extremely clever. Much has been said about the plot in previous reviews so I won't go too much into that other than to say it's entirely believable and utterly engrossing. After the Starbridge series - if you enjoyed these ensure to read the St. Benet's series (3 books) which all again feature Nick Darrow and also Lewis Hall. Even Cynthia Aysgath makes an appearance in the first book. I only wish Howatch would start another series - perhaps looking at Nick and Alice's life when they leave to go back to his ancestral home to begin a Healing centre there. That may be too much to hope for.

Mystical Paths is my first experience with a Susan Howatch book. I found that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are solid, complex, very different, and interesting. I truly felt like these were people that I would like to get to know better.I won't reiterate the plot here, since other reviewers have done it well. I will just say that this book has elements that many readers will likely find enjoyable for pure fun reading: demonic possession, exorcism, mystery, and suspense. There are also complex elements for the reader that likes more meat to a story:guilt, pride, vocation, growing up, and parental relation complexs.My only very tiny complaint about this book is that in a few places it bogs down a bit, though it does tend to recover quickly. Overall, though, I highly recommend this book and will be seeking out the other titles in this series.

The second trilogy in the Starbridge books takes place in the 1960's. In this book Jon Darrow's son Nick is now a young man shortly before his ordination as a priest. Nick is in no way a model ordinand. Like his father he has psychic powers, and cannot resist the urge to show them off as parlour tricks to impress the girls. He has quite a collection of female admirers and has it all figured out - how to separate the nice girls from the bad ones, and, of course, when to go to Confession (not compulsory in the Church of England) only to start all over again. The central story in this book is Nick's obsession with finding out the truth about a friend who has died under mysterious circumstances. There is also the father-son dynamic between him and his father Jon - now living as a recluse - and Nick's problems with keeping his psychic powers under control. Nick tends to blunder from one mess into the other - but remains a loveable and sincere young man who needs to learn the lesson: I CAN BE WRONG.In spite of Nick's charms I wasn't entirely captivated by this book. I never really developed an interest in Christian and couldn't quite follow Nick's fascinationwith him. Also I found the psychic-occult element a little tedious this time around; it had been dealt with adequately in Glamorous Powers, I felt. Nevertheless it's an important part of the series and it was wonderful getting to know Nick, and witnessing the love between him and Jon.

Susan Howatch once again shows brilliance in characterisation, expression of spiritual truths, and integration of Jungian psychology in creating this strange and rather macabre picture of conflict, intensity, and the darkness of deception. While the plot has notable deficiencies, particularly in some major scenes in the last quarter of the action, the author manages to present a deep and thorough, if sometimes horrifying, picture of what seems an eternal battle of good and evil.Set in 1968, when the previous modern certainties of the stability of church and society were crumbling, the story of Nicholas Darrow shows us both the tearing conflicts within one man's life, where his faith is overshadowed by his intense tendency to use his psychic gifts for power and manipulation, and the overall despair of a world which seemed totally unstable. The popular crowd who form secondary characters deteriorate rapidly from a privileged and party-loving group into addiction, mental illness, suicide, murder, or desperate, even pathological, promiscuity.The main characters, Nicholas and his father Jonathan Darrow, both possess rare psychic gifts, and their inability to see situations clearly in relation to one another stems from the mutual belief that the son is a replica of his father. The differences, which manage to pointedly reflect the times as well, are drastic. Where Jonathan, whose insight and wisdom are clear in the various novels of the series in which he appears, is grounded in Christian mysticism, Nicholas has fallen into a gnostic approach, which he sees as superior, and his manifestation of psychic power is frighteningly manipulative in its various plot depictions. Though father and son have certain common weaknesses, Jonathan is sustained by classic mystic theology and monastic experience, where Nicholas (until his own turning point) cannot except the elements of conversion, and, despite giving them a Christian flavour in his own mind, engages in displays of (mostly apparent) unusual powers that seem close to sorcery.Lovers of the series will find that action in this book enlightens the portrayals of characters who appear elsewhere. For example, the full consequences of the tragedy involving Venetia Flaxton, which is set in 1963 in Scandalous Risks, are sadly clear in this 1968 setting. Readers who know Charles Ashworth from other novels undoubtedly will feel Nicholas's frustration keenly when, in his turning to Charles for assistance, one who might be expected to be comforting and wise is quite the contrary because he has decided what Nicholas is trying to say without giving him a chance to speak. The same Lewis Hall who, in other volumes, will be invaluable to Ashworth and, much later, rather exasperating in a joint healing ministry with Nick, is here "at his best," a strength for both Nicholas and Jonathan.It is unfortunate that most of the action in this book involves elaborately staged dramatic, which can obscure the essential themes even if

Susan Howatch's books chronicle people for whom spiritual matters are life and death. In this book, a young candidate for the priesthood follows his psychic powers in search of a man whose supposed death has left a vacuum in many lives. It's at times hair-raising, surprising and utterly involving.