The Place of the Lion

Poems by Sir Thomas Wyatt, William Wordsworth, Oscar Wilde, T.P. Cameron Wilson and Charles Williams.

Oscar Wilde's fairy-tale about a statue and a swallow.

Oscar Wilde's short story / parable about a giant and his garden.

In the final part, Prendick finally escapes from the island and returns to humanity, only to be wracked by the idea that there is not really much difference between us and the Beast-Folk...

Montgomery cracks under the impact of Moreau’s death, leaving Prendick to face the Beast-Men of the island.

When the puma breaks free from Moreau's vivisection chamber, it results in a catastrophe that threatens the fragile order of the island.

Summoning the Beast Folk for tasting blood, a transgression of the Law, Moreau sets in motion a hunt that leads Prendick to consider the differences and similarities between these creations and humanity.

Having convinced Prendick that he poses no threat, Moreau explains his dedication to the theory and practice of vivisection, founded on his belief that pain is evolutionary waste to be ignored in his ceaseless attempt to create humans from animals. Prendick realises that the island is populated by the results of Moreau's previous attempts.

Horrified at the prospect of falling under Moreau's vivisection knife, Prendick flees further into the island. There he discovers extraordinary Beast-Men and is inducted into a mysterious form of religion before he is nearly hunted and killed.

Determined to escape the cries of the puma, Prendick is driven to explore the island. Encountering a strange figure, he is then stalked by a bestial creature. Barely escaping with his life, he makes a discovery that seems to confirm his worst fears…

As Prendick learns more about Moreau, the mystery of the island only deepens.

Once more set adrift, Prendick is brought by Montgomery and his mysterious companion to their isolated island, along with their strange-looking servants.

Entering into conversation with his rescuer, Prendick's gratitude is almost outweighed by his bafflement regarding the ship, its crew and its cargo.

Adrift in the ocean and on the verge of death, Edward Prendick is rescued by a passing boat. Restricted to his cabin as he recuperates, Prendick is intrigued by his saviour, the former medical student Montgomery, and the voyage of his mysterious vessel.

Charles Williams' only published short story, in which Lord Arglay finds himself in a mysterious cottage that appears to be a portal to Hell.

Having surrendered to Eternal Wisdom, Anthony has recovered the power of Man to 'name the beasts' and thereby command the Elementals. The final chapter in Williams' novel of the transcendentals' irruption into the human world.

Anthony surrenders himself to the will of Love, and by so doing readies himself for the last perfect means by which the Forms can be tamed. (Warning: this chapter contains some of Williams' most abstruse meditations).

Driven by her new-found understanding of love, Damaris sets out to find Quentin. He has already been found by Foster who, having given himself entirely to his worship of strength, is driven only to hunt.

With the Powers ever-strengthening in the human world, dissolution spreads throughout Smetham. Being the locus of the disruption, Mr Berringer's house is the most fragile of all.

Moving through the town, Mr Richardson finds that the Powers have fully taken hold of Mr Foster and Miss Wilmot - with appalling consequences.

The invasion of the eternals reaches Damaris, who is forced to confront the manifest reality of her corrupted intellect.

Visiting the not-quite comatose Mr Berringer, Anthony is startlingly confronted by the elementals. Accepting the challenge, he passes through into a greater sense of his own potential.

Trying to clear her mind - largely of other people - with a walk, Damaris is startled to find a half-mad Quentin, who babbles of being 'hunted.' Anthony is none too impressed on hearing the news.

Having escaped from the clutches of Mr Foster and Miss Wilmot, Anthony seeks enlightenment from Mr Richardson, another seeker after knowledge. He has translated a mediaeval thesis on angelology, which offers some surprising insights on their predicament.

Determined to know more about the source of the manifestations, Anthony sets out to meet the 'seekers' who have attended Mr Berringer's group and finds more than he bargained for.