Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy (Paperback))
From C.S. Lewis, the acclaimed author of The Chronicles of Narnia, comes the first book in the classic science fiction Space Trilogy following the resourceful Dr. Ransom as he is abducted and taken by spaceship to Mars. Written during the dark hours immediately before and during World War II, C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy, of which Out of the Silent Planet is the first volume, stands alongside such works as Albert Camus's The Plague and George Orwell's 1984 as a timeless classic, beloved by succeeding generations as much for the sheer wonder of its storytelling as for the significance of its moral concerns. While searching for a place to rest for the night, Dr. Elwin Ransom is abducted by a megalomaniacal physicist and his accomplice and taken to the red planet of Malacandra (Mars) as a human sacrifice for the alien creatures that live there. Once on the planet, however, Ransom eludes his captors, risking his life and his chances of returning to Earth, becoming a stranger in a land that is enchanting in its difference from Earth and instructive in its similarity. First published in 1943, Out of the Silent Planet remains a magnificent and suspenseful tour de force in which epic battles are fought between the forces of light and those of darkness. It is the incredible beginning to C.S. Lewis's spectacular Space Trilogy, which also includes Perelandra and That Hideous Strength.
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Community Reviews
It should come as no surprise that I loved this book. CS Lewis is, simply, brilliant and I love everything he ever put on paper, and I'm so in love with science fiction that I can't help but love everything that has a spaceship in it. Truthfully, I have a hard time with "classic" science fiction on occasion. I don't know if it's because of the fact that a lot of the "fiction" involved is no longer fiction or if its because the writing of the time is so much different than it is now. For example, I loved 2001: A Space Odyssey, I had a hard time with Foundation, although I made it through. But I digress...
Out of the Silent Planet is the first of Lewis' Space Trilogy, continuing with Perelandra and ending with That Hideous Strength. The narrative itself following Ransom, a professor of philosophy at Cambridge who we meet having a walkabout during his summer break. As he's walking he finds his way into a house where he bumps into an old colleague, Devine, (who he can't stand) and an odd duck named Weston. Before he knows it, Ransom has been drugged, loaded onto a spherical space ship, and on his way to a planet named Malacandra. He quickly finds out that he is to be given to an alien race known as the Sorns. Once they land, Ransom bolts in an effort to save his life. Throughout the rest of the story, he encounters other alien races on Malacondra and eventually meets with the great eldil Oyarsa before attempting a dangerous journey back to Earth.
Lewis shines in this work. While it is a bit harder to read than his Narnia stories, Out of the Silent Planet is a science fiction classic in its own right. Although it may be more than outdated in regards to what we know about the make up of other planets in the Sol system (namely Mars in this case), the story itself is a wonderful fantasy set on the 4th planet from our star. It is not filled with major advanced technology like Asimov's Foundation, or wormholes and the exploration of other systems like Clarke's Space Odyssey, but its characters are what make this story so beautiful.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for "classic" sci-fi and for anyone who simply enjoys Lewis' work.
Out of the Silent Planet is the first of Lewis' Space Trilogy, continuing with Perelandra and ending with That Hideous Strength. The narrative itself following Ransom, a professor of philosophy at Cambridge who we meet having a walkabout during his summer break. As he's walking he finds his way into a house where he bumps into an old colleague, Devine, (who he can't stand) and an odd duck named Weston. Before he knows it, Ransom has been drugged, loaded onto a spherical space ship, and on his way to a planet named Malacandra. He quickly finds out that he is to be given to an alien race known as the Sorns. Once they land, Ransom bolts in an effort to save his life. Throughout the rest of the story, he encounters other alien races on Malacondra and eventually meets with the great eldil Oyarsa before attempting a dangerous journey back to Earth.
Lewis shines in this work. While it is a bit harder to read than his Narnia stories, Out of the Silent Planet is a science fiction classic in its own right. Although it may be more than outdated in regards to what we know about the make up of other planets in the Sol system (namely Mars in this case), the story itself is a wonderful fantasy set on the 4th planet from our star. It is not filled with major advanced technology like Asimov's Foundation, or wormholes and the exploration of other systems like Clarke's Space Odyssey, but its characters are what make this story so beautiful.
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for "classic" sci-fi and for anyone who simply enjoys Lewis' work.
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