TC Lethbridge | The Sons of TC-Lethbridge | Tekh's Anthological Review

The Legend of the Sons of God

A Fantasy?

Routledge & Kegan Paul London, 1972

Published after his death in 1971, The Legend of the Sons of God was typical of Lethbridge’s work and as the subtitle suggests, it is; A Fantasy? The question mark is the telling feature here, still unwilling to foist dogma upon his readers, he presents this set of ideas as informed possibilities.

After reading The Legend of the Sons of God it becomes clear to the reader why many of Lethbridge’s peers had distanced themselves from him. By now, he appeared not to care what the world at large thought of him and in this work his imagination really ran wild! At the time of publication, many of the ideas discussed here were new and unexplored and it is therefore important to read the book without hindsight prejudicing your judgement. As he states in his brief introduction “...it is worth throwing a stone into a pool to see what moves in it.’

Before embarking on this book, it is important for the reader to understand where Lethbridge was coming from. His previous book, The Monkey’s Tail, had explored the origins of how life had developed on earth but had left the reader ‘in mid-air’ without a satisfactory conclusion. Lethbridge’s notion was that all life had developed as part of a ‘master-plan’, rather than by chance, but his concept of an external influencing force was in it’s infancy, and remained unexplored. In The Legend of the Sons of God he really lets his imagination have it’s head, by suggesting that this influencing ‘external force’, was in fact, alien intervention from another world!

‘The Legend of the Sons of God’ has often been compared with von Daniken’s ‘Chariots of the Gods’ but this is unfair. Lethbridge acknowledges this similarity in his introduction and although both publications often touch on the same subject matter, their similarity ends there. Whereas von Daniken presents his discoveries as ‘facts’, Lethbridge presents his scenarios, simply as ‘possibilities’. Many of these ‘possibilities’ have since proved to be unfounded, but if Lethbridge had lived to witness them, he would have been the first to admit his shortcomings, but would have had alternative solutions and ideas prepared ready to stimulate our minds.

From the outset, the reader is encouraged to enter into ‘the journey’ with an open mind. Lethbridge even suggests to his audience, that they may well be reading a fairy story or watching an episode of TV’s ‘Dr. Who’, but then tantalises the reader by suggesting that curiously, some of what is being discussed may even be true. This unique approach is defined in the book’s title. He is at times outrageous with his hypothesis and sometimes, I feel, even he must have deliberately taken things ‘too far’ to provoke a response from his critics.

After completing the comprehensive first chapter, the reader realises that they have hit the ground running. By initially asking the question, “Who were the sons of God?”, the first chapter is overflowing with concepts, that to those unfamiliar with his previous works, will have left them with their heads spinning. Lethbridge acknowledges this on page fifteen, by suggesting to the reader, that if it has all become too much to take in already, then there is no point in continuing. From this point on there is no room for passengers.

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