Out of the Silent Planet

Ransom Trilogy, Book 1

By: C. S. Lewis

Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard

Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Out of the Silent Planet is the first novel of the Cosmic Trilogy, considered to be C.S. Lewis' chief contribution to the science fiction genre. The trilogy concerns Dr. Ransom, a linguist, who, like Christ, was offered a ransom for mankind. The first two novels are planetary romances with elements of medieval mythology. Each planet is seen as having a tutelary spirit; those of the other planets are both good and accessible, while that of Earth is fallen, twisted, and not known directly by most humans. The story is powerfully imagined, and the effects of lesser gravity on Martian planet and animal life is vividly rendered.

©1938, 1944, 1945 by C.S. Lewis Pte Ltd. (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A delightful fantasy." (New York Herald Tribune)

"C.S. Lewis...is a master of fantasy." (Saturday Review)

Ransom is Canonc

I heard the first chapter of this book read out loud by a cool dude who read to us. Narnia and the first scary ass chapter of this book. It starts of scary wait till you read the third book. Willy Wonka Psychedelic.

I had no idea this book existed!

I love the Narnia series but had no idea he tried sci fi also! The concepts are ahead of his time and can see the h. g. wells influence. the mc is a scientist so his evaluation of a new world is often dry and analytical but he's not an astronomer or an engineer so his view of the 'how' is usually a vague guess. dryness aside tho the concepts and larger world view that comes into play are amazing and everything I love about science fiction.

the narrator was very even toned and at times droned on but he matched the tone of the book I think and his pronunciations were good especially for the extra challenge of a Martian language thrown in.

altogether I will be looking for more of these sadly unknown classics

exceptional

Loved this story, reallly made you realize how precious all life is. whether on earth or any ither planet.

Philosophy with Big, Loveable, Otter-People

I loved the philosophical, anthropological, and other themes explored through this format of story with unearthly peoples and characters.

Fabulous Start to the Trilogy

Suspenseful story. Wonderful images! Very thought provoking about religion and our place in the universe. Recommending it to my family members.

One of my favorite book series

I have read these books before and was a little worried the narrator may corrupt, if that's the right word, the experience as I listen to it rather than read it. I can get easily distracted if there is anything off about a voice. That was not the case though. He did an excellent job bringing the characters to life. The story is a fun adventure that not only brings entertainment, but also makes the listener think about the universe and even life in a new way; a way I find that only C.S. Lewis can do. He gives just the right amount of detail but without over describing situations as to let your mind fill in the gaps. I highly recommend this series.

From the Planet of the Savages

I haven’t read this book since I took a graduate course on Lewis nearly 40 years ago and found that it was as fresh and thought provoking as it was then. This book is the first in Lewis’ science fiction trilogy and strangely enough was written on a dare. 

This was the mid-1930s and Lewis had published some scholarly works but otherwise had only published a book on his journey to Christianity and two books of poems that had not sold well. He had no public name recognition as today. He and J. R. R. Tolkein were talking about how no one was publishing books in a genre that they were interested in reading, science fiction. H. G. Wells had published a well-received work, but there was little else out there that was interesting. Lewis suggested that they try to write something themselves. They agreed that Lewis would write one on space travel and Tolkein would write on time travel. Tolkein got stuck in his attempt and dropped it with what he had worked on being published only after his death. Lewis wrote this book. 

Ironically, Tolkein stated that neither of them were confident of much success as “amateurs in a world of great writers,” but he was very impressed with Lewis’ book (though, interestingly, he was not very impressed with the Narnia Chronicles) and his biggest criticism was that it was too short. Tolkein wrote letters until finally one agreed to give it a try. 

Lewis was also a fairly new Christian at the time and Christian thought penetrated this book. It has been called an allegory, but Lewis didn’t see it that way. It was just a science fiction book that also expressed his worldview. 

The main character, Dr. Ransom, was a Cambridge professor of philology--the study of language. During a summer break he is taking a walk through the countryside and is kidnapped by a scientist, Weston, and a businessman, Devine, and taken by spaceship to Mars. Devine and Weston have been there before and call the planet Malacandra, which is what the beings that live on the planet call it. It turns out that there is a significant supply of gold on the planet and Devine wants to mine it and bring it back to earth while Weston is on a “noble” quest to expand the human race beyond the confines of earth and on throughout the galaxy. When one of the beings on Malacandra who seems to be the ultimate ruler demands that one of them must come to visit him, they return to earth to kidnap someone, conveniently finding Ransom. They assume that he is to be a sacrifice and assume that the Malacandrans are primitive and ignorant beings. 

Lewis uses the story to explore many different themes. He calls space “the heavens” and we find that there is life on other planets as well (though not all of them, certainly not the giants) and that life there is not really “primitive” but instead is not driven by greed, lust, fear, etc. In other words, they had no sin nature and lived in harmony with each other and with the planet. Earth is “the Silent Planet” because it has been cut off from the rest of life because of the rebellion of the angel (though Lewis doesn’t use that term) who had been given charge over earth. The book deals with the social darwinism that had become so popular at that time (and that resulted in an interest in eugenics, the theory that some races were inherently more advanced, and eventually in Nazism) and with the beginnings of the crumbling of the great western empires, particularly the British Empire with its own assumptions that the white man could was destined to rule and that its rule was benevolent. In that sense, it was ahead of its time. 

But, it is also right on target for today’s world. Certainly science has advanced in ways that could not have been foreseen in the 30s (though Lewis shows an understanding of the issues of space travel that are surprising for a professor of Medieval Literature), but the problem of human nature has not changed at all. Ransom’s translation of Weston’s defense of his mission is telling as it exposes the conspiracy, not a conspiracy of politics or some party alone but of the whole system led by the evil desires of a higher being (we’d call him Satan) and of the hubris of man and his desire to conquer, to rule, to expand. I was surprised at just how relevant the book is for today. 

I was thinking that it would be fun to read this book again. What I found is not just that it was fun, but that it was also troubling and relevant. Enjoy it as science fiction, but read it for a lot more than that. 

Out of the silent planet

It was such an incredible story and the last two chapters were such a surprise and really added to the book, 10 out of 10 would recommend

My favorite book of all time

If you listen to this and like it you all of the next two in the series.

I loved It

The story might not have been the strongest, but what was most interesting was the ideas that were conveyed through the story.

I loved it.