Perelandra

C.S. Lewis has been my favorite author ever since I read a short section of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in my literature book in the fifth grade (it was the episode where Eustace becomes a dragon, if the reader is wondering, and I still get chills when I read Eustace describe how Aslan removed his scales). I gained a lot of spiritual wisdom from him during High School and College and have read almost all of his books.

Perhaps one of my favorite stories written by C.S. Lewis is Perelandra; an incredible, though unconventional, re-telling of Milton’s Paradise Lost with a sci-fi twist. It is the second book in his Space Trilogy, but you don’t need to read the first book to enjoy it (you should though, Out of the Silent Planet is almost as good). Lewis imagines that Ransom, a philologist and fellow at Cambridge college, has been sent to the planet Venus where intelligent life is just beginning and remains in a prelapsarian state. His mission is to stop the fall of its inhabitants. The body of physicist Weston, the villain of the first story in the trilogy, has been animated by Satan and brought to this planet to tempt the mother of the new race.

The Setting 11/11

Perelandra, the name by which the inhabitants of Venus refer to their planet, is beautifully described in this story. If I could enter any imaginary world it would probably be this one. It is majestic and paradisiacal, and you can taste and smell and hear everything because it is described so richly.

The Characters 11/11

There are essentially only three characters in the story: Ransom (the narrator), the queen (Eve), and Weston (Satan). Throughout the story the three figures argue and their conversations are thought provoking, inspirational, and even exciting since the reader knows that the fate of this world depends on Ransom winning each debate. Weston is a terrifying villain and Ransom is a relatable hero. The queen is an understandably naïve but still humorous and appealing adaption of Milton’s Eve.

The Plot 11/11

Part of what makes me enjoy this story is how unexpected every twist and turn is. You can’t ever predict what’s going to happen next, and there is a real sense of adventure despite the heavenly setting of the tale. It’s fantastic but also real.

But Lewis did not simply intend for his story to be a science fiction thriller. This story is a retelling of Paradise Lost, and in it Lewis intends to convince the reader that an innocent character could be persuaded to sin without being sinful in nature (something that he thinks Milton failed to do). Lewis’s parody is brilliant in that it mirrors Paradise Lost in many ways while maintaining its own identity. If you haven’t read Paradise Lost you probably won’t notice at all, but if you have studied Milton’s epic then you will be amazed at how seamlessly Lewis translates the poem into a satisfying work of science fiction.

This book is an 11/11 in my opinion, and if you have the time you need to read it. You won’t regret it.