Perelandra

Ransom Trilogy, Book 2

By: C. S. Lewis

Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, of which Perelandra is the second volume, stands alongside such works as Albert Camus’s The Plague and George Orwell’s 1984 as a timely parable that has become timeless, beloved by succeeding generations as much for the sheer wonder of its storytelling as for the significance of the moral concerns.

Readers who fall in love with Lewis’s fantasy series The Chronicles of Namia as children unfailingly cherish his Space Trilogy as adults; it, too, brings to life strange and magical realms in which epic battles are fought between the forces of light and those of darkness. But in the many layers of its allegory, and the sophistication and piercing brilliance of its insights into the human condition, it occupies a place among the English language’s most extraordinary works for any age, and for all time.

Perelandra is a planet of pleasure, an unearthly, misty world of strange desires, sweet smells, and delicious tastes, where beasts are friendly and naked beauty is unashamed, a new Garden of Eden, where the story of the oldest temptation is enacted in an intriguingly new way. Here, in the second part of C. S. Lewis’s acclaimed Ransom Trilogy, Dr. Ransom’s adventures continue against the backdrop of a religious allegory that, while it may seem quaint in its treatment of women today, nonetheless shows the capability of science to be an evil force tempting a ruler away from the path that has produced a paradisiacal kingdom. Will Perelandra succumb to this malevolent being, who strives to create a new world order, or will it throw off the yoke of corruption and achieve a spiritual perfection as yet unknown to man?

©1944 Clive Staples Lewis (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Geoffrey Howard's skilled narration keeps the listener riveted. His scholarly handling of the text minimizes characterization, while easily distinguishing the players. Howard's respect for the subject matter equals Lewis's own and entices the listener to address serious questions of temptation and morality." (AudioFile)

Shockingly good

Everything in the silent planet was a build up to this masterpiece.. I will never be the same.

a good book

at times it is difficult to know who is talking but over all a good book.

Amazing!

This book (and the trilogy as a whole) has captured my imagination like few others have. I only regret that I had not heard of them until recently.

What imagination and description

This book was written in the early 40's before actual space travel. It is a fantastic description of travel to and experience on Venus, or Perelandra, and the Christian allegory it represents. I had read the trilogy many years ago, and it's wonderful to hear it again. The narrator, Geoffrey Howard, is wonderful. The narrator can make or break an audio book. I am so glad to have been able to revisit C S Lewis Space Trilogy

Amazing intellect

This series and this book in particular addresses the deep philosophical constructs of faith, redemption, creation and life. While almost overwhelming at first the presentation is a complete home run not only as a fictional story about space and other world, but the age old battle between good and evil overseen by the sovereign power of the universe. This can not be read only once.

C.S. Lewis being C.S. Lewis

I love the depth of thought and imagination that went into this recapitulation of the Eden narrative. And at the end, I felt very small indeed, in a cosmic sense, and in a quite believable way Lewis persuades me of the real possibility of infinite worlds. Lots of thought-provoking reading in this book. I enjoyed The Silent Planet more, but this was a believable and meaningful next step in the series. Now it's on to That Hideous Strength.

Excellent

This book might be considered the least of the three books, the space trilogy, but it contains wonderful buckets of beautiful, geology, sci-fi. Mythology teach us about our own civilization in gods.

Sooo Good

I'm not a sci-fi fanatic so it's not the lens I'm reviewing through. This was a beautiful story of man in the beginning. The temptation of Woman was haunting and terrifying.

Well done in every aspect.

What an incredible imagination, mind, and skill Mr. Lewis had! Can’t wait to get into the third title of this trilogy.

A forewarning

I started reading cs Lewis 60 years ago. I have read his books over and over through the years and find new things each time. I felt compelled to read the trilogy again because he captured all those years ago what we are facing today. Something I can’t put in words. Read this trilogy,