Higher Power vs. Free Will

Chris Wooding is very interested in questions surrounding a higher power and the concept of free will. The main proponent of a higher power in the book is Devil-boy Jack, who reads the future in his scrying stones and fights to ensure that no one does anything to alter the destined outcome. He goes so far as to stand in the spot where he knows he will be killed, for the greater good of saving the world. Thaniel Fox, on the other hand, detests the notion of a higher power or divine pattern. He refuses to be anyone's pawn. He believes that his actions are his and his alone, despite the many coincidences that allowed him to meet Alaizabel and find the right partners and strategies to fight the Fraternity. Throughout the novel, wychcraft and the actions of the Fraternity point to a higher...