C.S. Lewis Fiction (not children's)

The Space Trilogy

I have just listened to the three books of the Space Trilogy for the second time and the words are still fresh [10/18/09]. These are my thoughts. I will evaluate these three books looking at five aspects: Christian Apologetic, Cautionary Tale about science gone amuck, Science Fiction with other worlds & aliens, Fantasy & Mythology, Character Psychological Drama. This is how I apportion these aspects:

....	Silent Planet	Perelandra	Hideous Strength
Christian Apologetic	30%	50%	10%
Cautionary Tale	20%	10%	30%
Science Fiction	40%	20%	10%
Fantasy	10%	20%	20%
Character Drama	0%	0%	30%

Out of the Silent Planet is the best science fiction with space travel, and ETs. The crux of the Christian Apologetic is this: Intelligence = Rational / Rational = Moral. This is probably the first popular book to present this Christian claim. My favorite piece of this cautionary tale occurs when Ransom translates Westen's English into Martian, revealing modern scientific aspiration for the absurdity that it is. The fantasy is minimal involving European myths about the naming and character of planets. With only three human characters the psychological drama was negligible.

Perelandra is the best Christian Apologetic. The dialogs between the Weston the "un-man" and Ransom and the New Eve are classic. What is free will? choice? destiny? good? God's will? All that is here. The cautionary tale about science run amuck is here, but a larger cautionary tale about the reality of evil overwhelms it. The Science fiction imagery is superseded with Biblical imagery of a Paradise with a first mother and compliant animals. The fantasy is apparent with mythical animals and places. Again the psychological drama is negligible.

That Hideous Strength is the best cautionary tale about science run amuck. The best dialog on this matter is Filistrato's assertion that death is bad and the best way to do away with organic death is to do away with organic life. The Christian apology was minimal with Ransom-the-Pendragon at times defending the faith. The fantasy was evident with the appearance of Merlin and talk of Arthur. This book was big on Character development with twice as many named characters than the other two books combined. There was also plenty of psychological drama, especially with Mark and Jane. The sudden jumps between the Mark-story and Jane-story frustrated me at times and this book is few chapters longer than it needs to be.

I would rank these Perelandra 8, Silent Planet 7, Hideous Strength 5.