Summary: In the second book of the series Ransom visits Venus.
The books of Lewis’s space trilogy are hard to review. How to you review a classic work of CS Lewis?
In the first book, Out of the Silent Planet, Ransom is kidnapped and taken to Mars where he finds a ‘garden of Eden’. Mars is an old world, one that has not fallen. There is no sin. There are only the creatures, following in perfect unison with their creator.
In Perelandra, Ransom is called to Venus for some purpose he does not know. Once there Ransom meets a green woman. One of only two people on the planet. She has been separated from ‘the king’. The world of Venus is a great ocean with floating islands. There is one solid place in the whole world. But the green woman and ‘the king’ have been told by their God that they can visit, but they are not to live there.
Ransom is intrigued by this world, but he is sure there is something that he is supposed to do. And then comes Professor Weston. Weston is one of the two that kidnapped Ransom to go to Mars and he is back again on Venus. Except this time it is not really Weston. He is a man possessed, literally. The king of the world (Satan?) is there to tempt the green woman to the fall just as he did Eve on Earth. And Ransom’s job is to try and prevent it.
I think this is better than Out of the Silent Planet. There is more story here and less pure theological explication.
In the end this is more of an allegory than Chronicle of Narnia. The first book presents the potential of a world without sin. The second presents another look at how the fall could (or could not) have happened. It is intriguing, theologically sophisticated and well written. If you have a chance, pick it up.
Perelandra by CS Lewis Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition, Audible.com Audiobook (Audiobook is discounted to $3.49 with purchase of Kindle Book)
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