The Place of the Lion

If ideas are more dangerous than material things, what happens when ideas become matter? Near a crossroad in the country town of Smetham, a retired philosopher is felled by what appears to be a huge lion. The lion vanishes, leaving the seemingly untouched man in a coma. But over the next few days, more creatures start to appear - Platonic archetypes stalk the English countryside, and the inhabitants of Smetham begin to display unsettlingly animalistic traits. The worlds of matter and ideas are colliding. It is down to two unlikely heroes to banish the ideas back to the spiritual realm and save the world. First published in 1933, The Place of the Lion is the third supernatural thriller by Charles Williams, a member of the Inklings whose theological interests embraced Rosicrucianism as well as mainstream Christianity.