The Silver Crown

Another 2021 reread of a childhood favorite. I always loved this exciting adventure story, illogical though it may be. My favorite part was when Ellen puts the crown on in the cave lined with glittering quartz stones and feels peacefully entranced, as if by beautiful silent music. Nowadays, I still find the story powerful as an image of ego development, which can achieve mastery of lower forces and mechanistic elements – “who wears the black crown, I rule; who wears the silver crown, rules me.” Not that much character development happens in the story; Ellen just innately has this ability (as stated in the very first sentence, although we don't yet fully understand its significance: “Ellen had always known she was a queen, and now the crown proved it”). But in the end she is tested by the temptation of absolute power, and does prove herself a real ruler by giving it up.

The exposition of the Hieronymus Machine's plot to rule the world is a chilling counterpart to enterprises now underway ... the seemingly harmless devices that invade everyone's homes and make them into tools of the machine. Maybe if enough people read this book they won't be fooled.