Book Review: Perelandra by C. S. Lewis

Perelandra by C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis's hero from his first Space Trilogy book, Edwin Ransom, returns as a man who is summoned to travel to Perelandra (what we know as Venus) to help out the local inhabitants against an invader. Who's the invader? None other than the villain from the first book, Weston. Though just as Ransom is something of a tool for Maledil, the character we would describe as God, so Weston is the tool of the Bent One from Earth, the character we would describe as Satan. Venus is a pre-fallen planet, with one woman and one man living on it. Weston is there to play the snake in the Garden of Eden. Ransom is there to help prevent the fall of another planet's intelligent race.

The book, like a lot of the best science fiction, is packed with philosophical and even theological discussions. Ransom and Weston grapple over the nature of freedom and obedience and what's most important for intelligent people to do. Weston is a mouth-piece for a lot of modern thinking about religion and human destiny. Ransom does his best to respond, especially when they meet the Lady of Perelandra. She's the innocent Eve who is in peril of corruption. Weston tries pretty much every trick in the book. Lewis's Christian outlook is fully on display and shows real depth of understanding and imagining. The story isn't an allegory of the first few books of Genesis, it is creative speculation on how the Incarnation on one world would affect the rise of another intelligent race on another world.

The story also builds a fascinating world. The richness of the detail (Ransom does a lot of wandering) is a bit mind-boggling. Most of the lands on the planet are islands that not only float around on the ocean's surface but also ripple with the curvature of the waves. Big waves mean big hills or deep valleys that come and go. Some islands are solid (and called "Fixed Lands") so there is some variety. The local flora and fauna are fascinating as well. A lot of the descriptions are probably not necessary but are never boring.

Highly recommended.

The story is discussed in much more detail in A Good Story is Hard to Find Podcast #204.