Rating: 
Summary: The Best Novel I've Ever Read
Review: This is, without doubt, the best novel I've ever read. It even beats The Lord of the Rings trilogy. C. S. Lewis's power of description, psychological insight, and emotional intensity reach a height here that is unparalleled. But beyond such engaging writing, Perelandra gives us poetry in prose, reality in story, theology in fantasy, truth in myth. It is an evocative tale, so compelling that for a faint second I could have believed it was true, and that Lewis was describing real events, not fictitious ones! And that is because it is so deeply grounded in the reality of The Great Dance, the drama of creation and redemption which is being enacted upon the stage of humanity. The final pages of this book sent my spirits soaring. I can scarcely describe its impact upon me. Take it and read.
Rating: 
Summary: Worth reading, but has middle-of-trilogy pacing problems.
Review: Unlike the first volume of the trilogy that begins with "Out of the Silent Planet" and concludes in "That Hideous Strength," this book is a slow mover. The climactic battle, once it comes, has plenty of blood and terror; but getting there takes some patience. Its depiction of evil's chilling, banal brutality also takes a strong stomach.With that said, though, Lewis describes the innocent world we know as Venus with detail and poetry. I fear his view of women and their proper role belongs to my grandfather's generation; but that I have to forgive, because - after all - they fought in the same war. Worth reading in order to get from Book One to Book Three.
Rating:
Summary: Christian science fiction?
Review: When Lewis writes, the idea actually makes sense. The book retells the Eden story, but one that went the right way. I was surprised at a few things in this book, including the eventual relationship between god and man on Lewis' other planet. I was also surprised at how completely Lewis focussed the story on the Eve figure and her dealings with the 'snake'. The Adam figure really never appeared until the last few pages, once she had been through the hard part. It's hard to remember that this story was written almost 60 years ago, during World War II. Back then, the protagonist's physical conquest of evil probably had a very noble meaning. Today, it looks quite different when our hero whips himself into a religious frenzy, then batters another man to death, spending a day or more inflicting increasing levels of injury before bashing his face in with a rock. It is chilling to see the hero justify this by declaring the other human to be an 'Un-man', so not worth human consideration. It is even more chilling that he experiences less feeling at brutally murdering his one-time compatriot than at the taste of an unusual fruit, judging by the amount of text spent on each. I just can not read today's headlines and see the act as wholly virtuous. On a more positive note, Lewis' apparent idea of sin does strike a chord with me. Given that evil is a different thing, one of the gravest sins in Lewis' world might be in the modern phrase, "It's not my job," or worse yet, "I don't get paid enough to do that." Many necessities are no one's job, but necessary nonetheless. No, there is no pay for many moral and requisite tasks - if anything, the doing may cost the doer dearly. Need and duty are the issues. Lewis barely wastes breath on the idea of fairness. The book, of course, is a classic. Like so many, it must be read in the spirit in which it was written; modern values only corrupt its original intent. I like the book for itself, but I also appreciate the contrast it shows between Lewis' time and our own.
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