Thoughts on C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy

I just finished Lewis' Space Trilogy. It's been sitting on my shelf for years, and I finally got around to starting Out of the Silent Planet after finding the 3rd book in a local Little Free Library (I love those things).

Here's my thoughts:

Out of the Silent Planet

The first book of the series, this was straight up science fiction, something I found refreshing in a Lewis book. One of the reasons that JRR Tolkien often didn't wholeheartedly enjoy Lewis' fiction (they were friends - Tolkien actually led Lewis to Christ), was that Lewis is an allegory bomb. Everything he wrote tends to be dripping with in-your-face allegory where there is absolutely no mistaking what X is actually supposed to be. 

Out of the Silent Planet wasn't that though. It was just sci-fi, and good sci-fi at that. Are there things within the story that are symbolic? Yeah, absolutely. But it wasn't as in your face as a Narnia story. It's just a really cool space adventure where the reader goes on a journey to discover different extraterrestrial species and cultures. 

An incredible book well worth your time.

Perelandra

Lewis reverted to old form with this one. It's allegorical in the extreme. And though I tend to view things through Tolkien's lens with that topic, I still greatly enjoyed this one. Without giving too much away, this is basically a retelling of the Garden of Eden. 

And it's absolutely fantastic. Lewis' language within this is beautiful. You get a taste of what Paradise must look like simply because of this man's imagination, and it sounds wonderful. 

The conflict within this story will have you cheering on your side of the fight as well. The book actually had me routing the main character on after every other page (my wife thinks I'm a weirdo as a result), but it's the story. It draws you in that well. Causing you to see what could have been. 

That Hideous Strength

This one was actually my least favorite within the trilogy. I just didn't think it was that special. Rather bleh, and it didn't seem to mesh as well with the other books to me. I can definitely see the influence this must have played on Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness. There's this evil corporation that has demonic backing fighting against the forces of Good. 

Still an interesting story, but not as good as the rest. 

Conclusion

So, all in all a good trilogy well worth your time reading. Perelandra is easily the best in the series, and if you're going to pick just one, I recommend choosing it.