A Voyage to Arcturus

By: David Lindsay

Narrated by: Gordon Greenhill

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

A stunning achievement in speculative fiction, which critic Colin Wilson called the "greatest novel of the 20th century".

A Voyage to Arcturus has inspired, enchanted, and unsettled audiences for decades. It is simultaneously an epic quest across one of the most unusual and brilliantly depicted alien worlds ever conceived, a profoundly moving journey of discovery into the metaphysical heart of the universe, and a shockingly intimate excursion into what makes us human and unique.

After a strange interstellar journey, Maskull, a man from Earth, awakens alone in a desert on the planet Tormance, seared by the suns of the binary star Arcturus. In a sort of agnostic's Pilgrim's Progress, he journeys northward, guided by a drumbeat, encountering a world and its inhabitants like no other, where gender is a victory won at dear cost; where landscape and emotion are drawn into an accursed dance; where heroes are killed, reborn, and renamed; and where the cosmological lures of Shaping, who may be God, torment Maskull in his astonishing pilgrimage.

At the end of his arduous and increasingly mystical quest waits a dark secret and an unforgettable revelation.

Influential on such fantasy notables as C. S. Lewis and Philip Pullman, A Voyage to Arcturus was the first novel by writer David Lindsay (1878–1945), and it remains one of the most revered cornerstones of science fiction.

Public Domain (P)2020 Gordon Greenhill Book and Audio

One of the weirdest things I've ever read.

I am a big fan of early gothic horror, scifi and psychedelia, and still , this was a very difficult read. It's such a disjointed, absurd tableau-like story, though it does somewhat -feel- like art deco to me, despite no obvious references. I would be very surprised if this wasn't Jodorowsky's primary influence. Definitely lots of transcendentalist influence, and it irks me to recognize some stylistic genes shared with Rand. Not sure if I liked it or not, but it at least got me thinking. I would sort of call it horror, but it's a pretty nontraditional form of that. But it's far too dark to call fantasy. And though it probably gets classified as sci-fi, there was barely a handful of references to science or technology. I would almost call it religious in nature. And weird cults were in their heyday at the time, so I'm not sure if this was more an allegory, a documentation of a rambling fever dream, or an earnest attempt to start another sect.

What a treat!

Loved it. I cannot believe that was written in 1920. I will forever have beautiful mental images of other words burnt in my mind.

Weird. Good weird, but yeah.

Dripping with allegory and such. It’s from 1920 so some sexism shines through pretty bright. Worth a listen. I doubt I could have read it

Finally in audio!

This is not Victorian Science Fiction. It's an allegorical journey through the mind of an insane and spiteful god. This is the Pilgrim's Progress of Gnosticism. Everyone Maskull meets dies, usually due to Maskull's ignorance. And when Maskull meets himself, he too ceases to exist. But that's not the end of the story...

So Weird

I can see how this book was interesting in 1920. In 2020, it is just absurd. It is less SciFi than someone's weird dream through 1920s philosophical modes.

Gordon Greenhill did well reading it; he employed a number of character voices that matched well the narrative descriptions.