The Space Trilogy: Difference between revisions

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Everybody and their dog knows about [[The Chronicles of Narnia|Narnia]], and has probably read it. They also probably know about the likes of ''Mere Christianity'' or ''[[The Screwtape Letters]]''. But if you ask them whether they realized that [[CSC. Lewis (Creator)|CSS. Lewis]] wrote science fiction, they'll look at you like you're from another planet. '''The Space Trilogy''' is the unofficial name of his series of [[Planetary Romance]] and [[Fantasy]] novels, mixing space travel with Medieval cosmology and Christian theology.

The first, ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]]'', is a tribute to early science-fiction of the likes of ''From The Earth to the Moon''. Philologist Elwin Ransom is kidnapped by the (evil) scientists Devine and Weston, and taken in their space-ship to the planet [[The Red Planet|Malacandra]] (or Mars, as we call it) as a human sacrifice to appease the natives while they mine the place for gold. He escapes, locates and falls in among the civilized natives (the otterlike ''hrossa'') and learns their language and their ways. He is then summoned to see Oyarsa, the ruler of of Malacandra. This being is an ''eldil'' -- basically, an angel -- and actually just wants to talk. In the court of Oyarsa, Ransom learns much of the history of ''eldils'' and the solar system, and the reason why Thulcandra (the titular Silent Planet, that is, Earth) has heretofore been cut off from the Heavens. Weston and Devine reappear, and their ultimate villainous goals are laid bare and [[Deconstruction|dissected]]. Oyarsa then sends the three humans back to Earth.

In the second novel, ''[[Perelandra]]'', also known as ''Voyage to Venus'', it is revealed that the ''eldils'' have kept in contact with Ransom since his trip to the Heavens, and now Ransom has been given a [[Mission Fromfrom God|Mission From Maleldil]] to visit [[Useful Notes/Venus|Perelandra]] (i.e. Venus). He finds the planet to be covered in oceans and floating islands, and its inhabitants living a literally Edenic existence. Ransom makes the acquaintance of the planet's Queen, and discovers that she and the King (who has been missing for the past few days) are the only intelligent inhabitants. The peace is shattered by the arrival of another space-ship, bearing Weston--and [[Demonic Possession|with him]], an ''eldil'' of Thulcandra, bent on corrupting this young world. Ransom realizes that he was sent to Perelandra to prevent this from happening--by [[Good Angel, Bad Angel|words]], and if necessary, by [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|force]]. As a side-note, this was Lewis' personal favorite of everything he wrote.

The third novel, ''[[That Hideous Strength]]'', is an genre shift. (It's subtitled "A Modern Fairy-Tale For Grown-Ups" for a reason). In the quiet town of Edgestow, Jane Studdock finds herself haunted by strange dreams of a decapitated man and an undead mystic. Meanwhile, her husband Mark is strong-armed into joining the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments, a joint political-(quasi)scientific organization that is surreptitiously taking complete control of the town. The NICE is particularly interested in Bragdon Wood, where Merlin is rumored to be buried--not dead, just resting. With great reluctance, Jane falls in with the oddly inactive resistance led by Elwin Ransom--the only opposition to the NICE's (literally) diabolical plans.

If you get the feeling that this one is a hackjob copy of ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'' or ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]'', you actually have it backwards. [[Older Than They Think|This book came first]]: and right about the time of the atomic bomb. George Orwell actually wrote a snazzy review (titled "The Scientists Take Over") and sang the book's praises, with the caveat that he thought it was weakened by the book's supernatural premise, since of ''course'' good will beat evil if angels are involved. The book is also riddled with Christian allegory, although less overtly so than ''Perelandra'' was. Slightly. Perhaps it may be most generously summed up in the words of Lewis's friend and fellow Anglican apologist, [[Dorothy L. Sayers]]: "less good but still full of good stuff." On the other hand, another friend, [[JRRJ. TolkienR. (Creator)R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]], dubbed it "That Hideous Book".

* [[Alien Non -Interference Clause]]

* [[Big Creepy -Crawlies]]: Ransom briefly encounters giant flies and beetles in the caverns under Perelandra. Subverted, however. Once the Un-man's presence is removed, and the fear it generated is gone, Ransom also ceases to fear the creepy crawlies, and speculates that they may, in fact, be sentient beings.

* [[Call a Rabbit Aa Smeerp]]: Maleldil, i.e. Space Jesus.

* [[Cold Sleep, Cold Future]]: Merlin's experiance of the modern world.

* [[The Devil Is a Loser]]: Or at least a disgusting sociopath. Like in his later novel ''[[The Screwtape Letters]]'', Lewis was pretty intent on dissecting the idea of Satan as a suave [[Magnificent Bastard]] and tried to portray him in ''Perelandra'' the way he thought a truly [[Complete Monster|pure evil]] being would be like. <br />Ransom comes to the realization that for demons, intelligence is a trait that they can put on or remove at will--it's like clothes they wear rather than an innate characteristic. And based on the Un-Man's petty behavior whenever he isn't "working", it's clear he would rather be intelligent as little as possible. At one point, Ransom even specifically thinks that he would much rather face a Mephistopheles-type of demon than the thing he has to put up with.

* [[Everything's Worse Withwith Bears]]: A bear named Mr Bultitude kills the [[Big Bad]], who had kidnapped him from the zoo and used him for vivisection experiments. Hence also:

** [[Exit, Pursued Byby a Bear]]: Mr Bultitude is a more-than-usually literal example.

* [[Expy]]: Ransom is largely inspired by Lewis' close friend [[JRRJ. TolkienR. (Creator)R. Tolkien|JRR Tolkien]].

* [[Fun Withwith Acronyms]]: The N.I.C.E. (National Institute of Coordinated Experiments).

* [[If Jesus, Then Aliens]]: Explored in many ways. Both Jesus and aliens appear, but belief in the two is not necessarily linked.

* [[In Withwith the In Crowd]]: Mark Studdock's motive for joining the NICE in ''That Hideous Strength''.

* [[King in Thethe Mountain]]: Merlin, resting under Bragdon Wood in ''That Hideous Strength''.

* [[No -Holds -Barred Beatdown]]: The duel between Ransom and Weston is horrendously violent, even more so when Ransom gets the upper hand. For a moment I thought I was reading a Matthew Stover novel.

* [[No Such Thing Asas Space Jesus]]: Averted. Hard. This ''is'' C.S. Lewis, after all. The whole series is pretty much ''about'' Space Jesus.

* [[Only Known Byby Their Nickname]]: Ransom in the first book. This was retconned in the remaining two books to be his actual name.

* [[Our Angels Are Different]]: Into [[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation]] territory. For instance, when two major eldila are unfamiliar with humans and need to practice appearing to them:

{{quote| A tornado of sheer monstrosities seemed to be pouring over Ransom. Darting pillars filled with eyes, lightning pulsations of flame, talons and beaks and billowy masses of what suggested snow, volleyed through cubes and heptagons into an infinite black void. "Stop it ... stop it," he yelled, and the scene cleared. He gazed round blinking on the fields of lilies, and presently gave the eldila to understand that this kind of appearance was not suited to human sensations.}}

* [[Seemingly -Profound Fool]]: The tramp. He gets mistaken for {{spoiler|Merlin}} by the N.I.C.E. and is either too simple or too smart to correct their mistake.

* [[Shout -Out]]: [[The Lord of the Rings|Numenor]] gets mentioned several times in ''That Hideous Strength'', based apparently on some discussions that Lewis had with Tolkien. (Lewis apparently never saw a manuscript, since he invariably spells it "Numinor.")

** Lewis also acknowledges his indebtedness to [[Sci Fi]] works such as ''[[The First Men in Thethe Moon]]'' and ''[[A Voyage To Arcturus]].'' Not to mention the [[Adam and Eve Plot]] of ''Perelandra''.

* [[What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made Onon Drugs?]]: ''Perelandra'' can get rather trippy at times...

[[Category:TheBritish Space TrilogyLiterature]]