Reading the first book in C.S. Lewis’ trilogy of Christian science fiction, I realize how huge his debt is to the planetary romance of early pulp writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs and his Mars and Pellucidar books.

Lewis certainly gets his theological apologetics in, but the descriptions of his hero (Dr. Elwin Ransom, professor of philology) exploring the planet (which is Mars by the way!), encountering native flora and fauna, and his interactions with the native life, including quickly learning their language… well if you replaced Dr. Ransom with John Carter and added a couple of sword fights (though, there is a harpoon hunt of a giant, freshwater monster in Out of the Silent Planet) you could probably have sold this as a long lost novel of Barsoom, especially since it even takes place on Mars, though the natives here call it Malacandra, not Barsoom. It also uses the trope of having this story be Ransom’s unbelievable story told to Lewis so he can sell it as a novel, because it would otherwise be too unbelievable if sold as fact.

The apologetics come in the time honored fashion of presenting a fictional (or fictionalized) society as expressing the utopian ideals of the author’s religion or philosophy. There was one little throw away line where Ransom wonders whether it is his duty to evangelize to the alien hrossa and then realizes they more truly represent the ideals of his High Anglican Christianity than whatever he could express in their alien tongue.

The (more or less) climax is a little preachy and Lewis lays it on too hard in one area. Ransom must translate the arguments being made by the villains of the novel (Devine and Weston, if you must know) into the native language of Malacandra. Because of both the limitations of the language (having a relatively utopian society, they don’t have words for some negative things) and his own understanding of it. The result is Ransom giving the Malacandrans such a straw man version that it becomes irritating.

Despite that Caveat, Lewis is always and engaging and earnest writer, though never as good a writer as his fellow Inkling, Tolkien (upon upon whom, apparently, Ransom was based). This book is not as good nor the world as well thought and engaging as that built in his Narnia books, but it is still a good book by an important twentieth century writer.

I read this book years ago, but this time, I will go on and read the rest of the trilogy (though not next week, I’m thinking Alexander Pope for next week). In fact, I have the complete trilogy already downloaded onto my Nook. So, maybe sometime in March… Perelandra.