Gather, Darkness! by Fritz Leiber (1943)
1943 Magazine Cover Art by William Timmins
Once A Spectre Is Haunting Texas was put back on the shelf, lo and behold Gather, Darkness! was waiting patiently in line, back to back Leiber it is! This book has been on my list for awhile and fits nicely within the theological sci-fi realm. I always love when the boundaries of sci-fi obliterate traditional religious space. Quick fun facts: research reveals that Fritz Leiber was quite the multipotentialite, not only a chess expert, he is also credited with coining the term “Sword and Sorcery” as well as a poet, playwright, and actor.
Fritz Leiber circa 1930
Gather, Darkness! takes place in the city of Megatheopolis during the world’s second Atomic Age, roughly 350 years after a nuclear holocaust. It is Year 139 of the Great God and society has reverted into a new Dark Age where the religious hierarchy use hidden science to keep the threat of the New Witchcraft alive, solidifying their religious and societal control. But…the alleged ‘witches’ and ‘evildoers’ loyal to Sathanas have waited to unleash their own science in retaliation.
1969 Cover Artist Not Credited
Brother Armon Jarles, a member of the hierarchy and through his own personal crisis of faith is the first to publicly shame the religious leaders, calling them out as charlatans. When amongst themselves, the hierarchy are proud to admit that there is no God and only science reigns supreme, quite the opposite of the scam they’re pulling on the public. To manipulate and coerce the commoners into belief, Leiber created several bizarre devices for the priests to give themselves the illusion of divine powers. For example, hidden electronic devices under the cloaks of priests were capable of emitting a colored halo above the priest’s heads. They would use ‘wrath rods’ (which were basically like cattle prods) that would emanate stimulative paralysis and anti-paralysis to sedate and control crowds.
1962 Cover Art by Richard M. Powers
The secret order of the New Witchcraft is led by Asmodeus, with the ‘Black Man’ serving as his right hand man. They are aided by bizarre ‘familiars’, creatures created through ‘chromosome-stripping’ that could be best described as a cross between a monkey and a cat, capable of communicating telepathically with their host, periodically feeding off of their blood to sustain their life force…as one does.
1976 Hungarian Edition Cover by Tibor Csernus
The New Witchcraft recruit Brother Jarles because of his closeness to the hierarchy, but Jarles doesn’t want to join any side, insisting that playing the good vs.evil, God vs. Satan card will destroy everyone. The New Witchcraft utilizes a machine called the telesolidograph that creates real-to-life, 3-D holographic diorama displays where they can manipulate people/things in real time and create illusions of magic. It was hard to wrap my head around this device, but that’s about as good as I can explain it. This tool is essential in turning the tides on the hierarchy, even luring unlucky priests into a haunted house of sorts.
1975 Cover by Darrell Sweet
In the battle that ensues, priests call upon angels/archangels/seraphim to descend from the sky to battle the evils below. Just when you think a real divine intervention is happening, it turns out they are nothing but priests inside flying mechanical contraptions resembling angels. The real explanation behind the leaders of the New Witchcraft and their powers is nicely saved for the very end. Things get wrapped up quickly following a personal reckoning by the head Archpriest, Brother Goniface, who finally sees himself for the con man he really is.
