That Hideous Strength

I realized that I started book reviews for C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, and then forgot to finish it. So here is the finale—That Hideous Strength.

The final book in C. S. Lewis’s acclaimed Space Trilogy, which includes Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra, That Hideous Strength concludes the adventures of the match Elena Dr. Ransom. The dark forces that were repulsed in Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra are massed for an assault on the planet Earth itself. Word is on the wind that the mighty wizard Merlin has come back to the land of the living after many centuries, holding the key to ultimate powers for that force which can fin him and bend to its will. A sinister technocratic organization is gaining power throughout Europe with a plan to “recondition” society, and it is up to Ransom and his friends to squelch this threat by applying age-old wisdom to a new universe dominated by science. The two groups struggle to a climactic resolution that brings the Space a trilogy to a magnificent, crashing close.

Personally, this book creeped me out, and I had to take a few breaks from it to regather myself and process everthing that happened. I loved it, though!

I would like to share what a few of the other copies look like. I have the copy that is pictured above.

Creepy, huh?

Yeah… so this series is a sci-fi series, and I had never read anything sci-fi, and I’m not even a huge fan of it. I only read it because…

1. It is by C. S. Lewis.
2. I was reading it for my book club.

There are a few things in this book that could be concerning for younger readers, and I would say that it is appropriate for ages 15+, but it also depends on the maturity of the reader, and the opinion of the parents. I don’t wish to discuss what it was exactly in the book, but it was mature content. Not bad content, but mature content.

I found this book very enlightening, and toward the end, I was really excited. The book has a good amount of humor, and leaves you very confused at the same time as feeling wiser. The confusion is obviously cleared up at the end.

I would suggest this series to anyone mature enough for the content, but it is very, very good.

My question for You: What is the title of the creepiest book you have ever read?

–Me