The Silent Planet of CS Lewis

I had the opportunity to reread CS Lewis’s OUT FROM THE SILENT PLANET and to see with adult and Christian eyes what first I read in my long-vanished and atheist youth.

If time permits in days to come I may do the same for and PERELANDRA and THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH, but for now I discuss only the first book in the celebrated Space Trilogy.

Allow me to report that the works are well worth rereading, and to argue that they are not merely good science fiction, but merit the top awards and accolades our beloved genre can bestow.

I have pondered patiently the argument often made that these works are not science fiction, and, fresh from immersion in them, I can now dismiss such arguments with profound yet deserved umbrage. To say that Lewis’s works are not science fiction because they are Christian is the same as to say HG Wells’ works are not science fiction because they are Socialist.

This article is written for those who have already read Lewis’s Space Trilogy. Spoilers abound.

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Originally published at John C. Wright's Journal. Please leave any comments there.