When reading old science fiction, it isn’t really the ‘science’ that you are shooting for (or the fiction, obviously); it is the plot, the characters, and the human themes that lie beyond the surface. Which means that some books or stories are pretty much useless once beyond their ‘prime’.
Not so for
Perelandra by CS Lewis. The ‘science’ is almost non-existent (and what is left is ludicrously wrong: Venus does not have a nice, tropical climate) but the underlying themes are eternal.
Set on a pristine, un-fallen Venus, this story, the second in CS Lewis’s Science Fiction series, pits the hero (a British scientist) against an antagonist (ditto) who, in opposition, confront the ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’… particularly the Eve… Venusian equivalent. Together they act out the conflict of the garden: with the hero encouraging the ‘Eve’ to obey God and his antagonist encouraging disobedience.
Warning to modern readers: this book consists of long, rambling chapters of philosophical speculation and argument. It is not for the faint of heart or easily distracted.
Non-warning: For this entire book three of the characters are in the nude; however there is nothing at all graphic about any of the writing.
This book, although the second in a series, may well be read alone; or after the first book. The books get progressively harder to read with the first book being difficult, the second book being more difficult, and the third book being very difficult indeed.
Perelandra
Just as readers have been transfixed by the stories, characters, and deeper meanings of Lewis’s timeless tales in The Chronicles of Narnia, most find this same allure in his classic Space Trilogy. In these fantasy stories for adults, we encounter, once again, magical creatures, a world of wonders, epic battles, and revelations of transcendent truths.
Perelandra, the second novel in Lewis’s science fiction trilogy, tells of Dr. Ransom’s voyage to the paradise planet of Perelandra, or Venus, which turns out to be a beautiful Eden-like world. He is horrified to find that his old enemy, Dr. Weston, has also arrived and is putting him in grave peril once more. As the mad Weston’s body is taken over by the forces of evil, Ransom engages in a desperate struggle to save the innocence of Perelandra!
