John Bellairs Fanfiction Board

Ford_Prefect62 · Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 22 Location: Alabama (USA)

In reading Bellaires' The Secret of the Underground Room, I was surprised at the introduction of Prof. Childermass' long lost brother! I realize this book is not on most people's favorite list, but I think, with a bit of work it could have been better. I was left wondering about this brother who, for some reason, felt it necessary to fake his own death and disappear. Furthermore, this brother was able to cast spells and use magic. It seemed there was a very good story behind that, and I suspect Bellare's may have intended to write more stories about this brother.

I think a JD story could be written that explored this 'mysterious brother Childermass'. Why has Prof. Childermass not mentioned him before? Why exactly did he fake his own death?

Perhaps this brother got caught up with a strange occultic group and was on the run from them! This might be why he went into hiding in another country. Furthermore, it would be neat if this group had some connection to the Nazis (who were aggressively involved in the Occult during Hitler's reign). We remember that the JD books were set in the 1950's, only a few years after WW2.

The Nazi party grew out of several occult groups that sprung up in the late 19th century as a reaction to the advanced materialism and technology of the era. The political parties created in the wake of the country's defeat in World War I combined nationalistic sentiment and occultist practices to forge an image of a superior German people.

Hitler adopted the swastika, which contained occult significance from earlier cultures, as the symbol of Nazi Germany. His rise was the product of forces and events connecting him, his associates and the occult.

What if a cult, comprised of former Nazis, had positioned members within the government and big industry? And what if Childermass' brother learned the true identity of the Cult's leaders, and because of this, they were trying to capture him?

It would be an ambitious undertaking and I don't think a small, 150 page JD book would cover it. It would need to be a book at least 300 pages or so to fully develop these plots and characters. But JK Rowling has proven that kids will read longer books if they are interesting.

Smile

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JoeSchlabotnik · Joined: 28 May 2005 Posts: 4

Professor Childermass's brothers were featured in The Secret of the Underground Room and The Chessmen of Doom, if I'm not mistaken. Overall, Bellairs seemed to have some good ideas about what to do with them, naming them all after characters from Tobias Smollett books, and I do believe that if he had more time, he might have introduced another brother or carried on the adventures of the character from Underground Room.

What you say about him (I know Perry was the one in Chessmen, but I can't remember the other one's name . . . ) makes plenty of sense, and while the scope of the book you describe would be beyond anything Bellairs might have planned, it is certainly possible.

The stories about Hitler and the Spear of Longius (sp?) are well documented, and we've all seen the Indiana Jones movies. So a villain based on a relic seeking Nazi would make perfect sense.

Perhaps the Professor's brother defeated a facist sorceror looking for a relic or in the middle of a ritual of summoning and was forced to go into hiding afterwards. Who knows?

Bellairs did write a lot about the Korean War in regards to Johnny Dixon's father, which leads me to think that he might have at least considered something akin to what you suggest.

He wasn't given to aligning his villains with things like communism or facism, but considering his Pruitt character from The Vengeance of the Witch finder, it's entirely possible he could have.

Ford_Prefect62 · Joined: 16 Feb 2005 Posts: 22 Location: Alabama (USA)