Out of the Silent Planet is a science fiction novel about a trip to Mars by a writer who had no interest in planetary science or in the technologies that might enable us to make the trip. Lewis can be forgiven for thinking Mars might have a breathable atmosphere and that Venus might have a tropical climate—but he could have known that Mars was likely to be cold and dry.
It would be easy to imagine his friend Tolkien’s Hobbits roaming through a landscape like this: “He began to work his way southward along the narrow, broken ground between wood and mountain. Great spurs of the mountains had to be crossed every few moments. … After about half an hour he came to a stream. Here he went a few paces into the forest, cut himself an ample supply of the ground weed, and sat down beside the water’s edge for lunch.” (Chapter 14}
Lewis’s vision of Mars owes more to the 19th-century vision of H. G. Wells than to 20th-century science. His story also owes something to the travel adventures and utopian satire of Swift, Defoe, and Butler. As in his later Narnia books, he comes close to outright allegory—his characters have suggestive names like Ransom and Devine, and some of his Martians resemble angels. Ransom tells the Martians that our world is corrupt and that we are “a bent race” intent on bringing evil to wherever we go. And here is a spoiler: the Martians do the right thing by kicking us off the planet.
This one has not aged well. ( )

Reason read: been on my list of NPR 100 SFF books to read.
Published 1938, Lewis was challenged to write a space travel book by Tolkien. The book is a story of man out on a walk in England who is captured, drugged, and taken to a planet to be a sacrifice to the inhabitants of that planet. Lewis was influenced by Wells, Tolkein, Milton and others when he wrote it and he used science fiction to present his philosophy and his theology. At first I felt like this was quite simplistic but that would not be an accurate summation.
The characters are of three types. Each has its role and does not interfere with the others this is a planet in harmony. The two men who kidnapped ransom are evil. Humans are evil. The two men are space Nazis. Westin believes in getting rid of the inferior. He believes life is the greatest good and he would sacrifice humans or creation for the good of life. Devine on the other hand is greedy. The aliens and the descriptions that Lewis creates are pre Lovecraftian. The science fiction elements; gravity, theory of relativity. There is a sense of Narnia, Paradise Lost, and it is antithesis to Well's works. Reportedly the first of the trilogy is not as good as the second book so I will have to keep that one on my radar. Rating 4.2 ( )

This was a re-read of something read so long ago I'd forgotten everything about it. The plot is quite simple: Ransom, a college professor and philologist is on a walking tour when he is kidnapped and taken to Malacandra (Mars) by a rogue scientist and a money grabbing crook whom he disliked when they were at school together. His two captors have separate agendas: the scientist has a monomanical plan to colonise Mars for the benefit of humanity, wiping out the sentient species (there are at least three) already there but using the dying planet as a springboard to take the human race out into the galaxy, whereas the other man is greedy for the gold which is easily found in rivers on Mars. They have been asked by one of the races on the planet to bring someone for what they imagine will be human sacrifice, but it transpires that their poor understanding of the various languages spoken on Malacandra and their own unpleasant natures have totally misinterpreted the request. Ransom, believing his life to be in danger, escapes and it is his subsequent encounters with the sentient races which is the main focus of the story.

Making allowances for the author's lack of a scientific background, even the science of the day - I think any belief in 'canals' and such on Mars was well past its sell-by date when this was first published - this is an interesting and philosophical tale. I liked the contrast of the three different intelligent races with which Ransom interacts and the descriptions of the Martian ecology.

One thing I did recall from reading this series was that Lewis appears to have had a very anti-science attitude and to have stereotyped all scientists as amoral and lacking in any ethics. His own religious bias is no doubt responsible. The scene where Ransom interprets the scientist's ranting about his agenda is particularly telling. So overall I would rate this at 4 stars. ( )

This didn't begin to get interesting until about halfway through, and even then, I wasn't terribly invested. Quite frankly, I expected something more fascinating from C.S. Lewis.

Very unfortunately, there is quite a bit of profanity, including God's name used as a curse word.

However, the last several chapters turned things around and now I'm looking forward (albeit nervously) to reading the next book in the series. ( )

Meet Ransom, an unassuming Englishman who’s hijacked and ends up on a spaceship headed for another planet. His voyage, and the events that take place at his destination, make for very entertaining reading. I can’t resist classic science fiction, especially when it’s written by C.S. Lewis, author of the Narnia series and contemporary/colleague of J.R.R. Tolkien.

I first read this series in the late 1990’s after buying the entire Space Trilogy used at Barnes & Noble, where I worked at the time. It was exactly what was needed, as I was dealing with some stuff and needed desperately to occupy my mind with something very far removed from reality. Fast-forward 25 years; I’ve just discovered that all three books in the Space Trilogy are included free with my Audible membership so I’ve spent the last few days getting reacquainted with Out of the Silent Planet.

The trappings of sci-fi from 80 years ago are charmingly qaint – think of that old silent film in which, I believe, a rocket is shot to the moon with a great big rubber band or catapult. That’s true of this book as well, but Lewis infuses the story with substance and symbolism. The symbolism may escape you – I’m sure some of it went right over my head – but you will still enjoy this short novel, written with skill by a master. I do see that one theme – that of Earth and its inhabitants being isolated and unconnected with other planets and beings in the universe – is similar to the Earth’s being “shadowed” in A Wrinkle in Time.

The audiobook, produced in 2000, is narrated by Geoffrey Howard. I found myself thinking, as I listened, that Howard would have made an excellent replacement for Ralph Cosham, narrator of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. I googled Howard; as it turns out, he and Cosham were one and the same. The world lost a golden voice with his passing. Even so, I have to say I recommend the print version over the audio; there are so many similar ‘foreign’ words and names that they get confused in audio format. ( )