''The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles'' is a series of three

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

s by

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

written after his highly successful ''

The Illuminatus! Trilogy ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' is a series of three novels by American writers Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, first published in 1975.''Illuminatus!'' was written between 1969 and 1971, but not published until 1975 according to Robert Anto ...

'' and his 1981 ''

Masks of the Illuminati ''Masks of the Illuminati'' is a 1981 novel by Robert Anton Wilson, co-author of ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy'' and over thirty other influential books. Although not a sequel to the earlier work, it does expand information on many of the topics re ...

''. His co-author from the first trilogy,

Robert Shea Robert Joseph Shea (February 14, 1933 – March 10, 1994) was an American novelist and former journalist best known as co-author with Robert Anton Wilson of the science fantasy trilogy '' Illuminatus!'' It became a cult success and was later turn ...

, was not involved in this series, providing only a praising blurb. It is composed of three books: ''The Earth Will Shake'' (

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

) , ''The Widow's Son'' (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

) , and ''Nature's God'' (

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

) . A fourth book, ''The World Turned Upside Down'', was promised at the end of ''Nature's God'' but was never written; Wilson also had stated he intended the ''Chronicles'' to be a

pentalogy A pentalogy (from Greek πεντα- ''penta-'', "five" and -λογία ''-logia'', "discourse") is a compound literary or narrative work that is explicitly divided into five parts. Although modern use of the word implies both that the parts are re ...

.David A. Banton interview of RAW 1988 for KFJC, 89.7 FM in Los Altos Hills, California
(URL accessed 16 February 2007) His death in 2007 left the series as a trilogy, incomplete. There is an audiobook of the first novel read by Scott Crisp.
(archived), Deepleaf Productions

Plot summary

The novels concern the adventures of Sigismundo Celine, an ancestor of the Hagbard Celine character from the '' Illuminatus! Trilogy'', as he blunders through Europe and America during the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

, constantly fighting to escape becoming a part of history. In the first book, Sigismundo is an adolescent in Naples, Italy, where his uncle introduces him to the teaching of the Freemasons. In the second book Sigismundo has been banished from Naples because of a lovers' duel. He lives in Paris and is taken captive twice. The first time he is imprisoned in the Bastille, from which he escapes using Masonic techniques of concentration to help distract himself from the pain involved in climbing down from his tower. The second time Sigismundo is imprisoned by a more mysterious group of captors, who seek to convince him that he is a descendant of Jesus Christ. In the third book, Sigismundo finds himself in further exile, in the wilderness of North America.

Kenneth Lamar Noid incident

In 1989, Kenneth Lamar Noid, a mentally ill man, held two employees at a

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., commonly referred to as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware-domiciled and headquartered ...

restaurant in

Chamblee, Georgia Chamblee ( ) is a city in northern DeKalb County, Georgia, United States, northeast of Atlanta. The population was 30,164 as of the 2020 census. History The area that would later become Chamblee was originally dairy farms. During the late n ...

hostage, and requested a copy of the series' second novel, ''The Widow's Son''. In an interview between Wilson and James Wallis of ESTWeb, Wallis mentioned "someone held up a fast-food restaurant demanding $100,000, a helicopter and a copy of ''The Widow's Son.''" Wilson showed familiarity with the case.James Wallis, "Robert Anton Wilson Interview" 27 February, 1991
(URL accessed 16 February 2007)

Notes and references

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Historical Illuminatus Chronicles Discordianism Science fiction book series 1982 American novels 1985 American novels 1991 American novels Novels by Robert Anton Wilson Novels about the Illuminati