Rating: 
Summary: The Space trilogy concludes
Review: The final book in Lewis's Space Trilogy finds Dr. Ransom confronting a huge international organization bent on the submission of the human race and given to all kinds of strange scientific experiments and with one supreme goal--to eliminate all free thinking and emotion. This organization, the N.I.C.E., uses the press, government reform programs, and all kinds of propaganda to make them seem like the new heroes in England, while slowly they subdue the government and begin a takeover of the world. It's Ransom's job to stop them, though this time he has some followers and aid from a recently awakened power that has long slept.True to his style, Lewis makes this a very entertaining novel with a great underlying message. It is very well-written and teeming with symbolism that ultimately denounces the love of science over the love of God. This book is a great read--highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: The Trilogy Concludes
Review: The final volume of Lewis's Space Trilogy is a major departure from the first two volumes, which really serve as a prologue for this novel, wherein the forces of God and Satan (or their allegorical equivalents) face off in final battle. Dr. Ransom, the hero of the first two books is a secondary - although quite significant character - in this book, and he doesn't even appear till over a hundred pages have passed. Instead, the story focuses on Jane and Mark, a newly married couple with difficulties already developing in their relationship. Although they are a couple, they are apart for most of the book, each involved in their own adventures. Mark is lured into the service of the sinister organization NICE, where he is convinced to do small services that seem legitimate enough but are designed to further their agenda. Meanwhile, Jane, plagued by clairvoyant visions, winds up joining with Dr. Ransom's group, which is out to save the world from NICE. Jane and Mark, physically separated and emotionally estranged, find themselves also on opposite sides in a cosmic conflict between good and evil. Although this is a high-stakes battle, it is not overly supernatural, as the forces of good and evil operate with human agents/pawns. And Lewis is not as interested in the adventure aspects of his story as using it as a vehicle for presenting certain theological (especially Christian) concepts in an entertaining manner. The end result is a story that is a bit dry in spots but generally good. This story is more sophisticated than the Narnia books, which are aimed towards a younger audience, but this trilogy is also not as much fun as the Chronicles of Narnia. If you read this trilogy expecting Narnia, you may be disappointed, as you will if you are expecting what is normally considered science fiction. On the other hand, if you want to read a thought-provoking fictional work, this may be to your liking.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed work of art
Review: The N.I.C.E. (Nat'l Inst. for Controlled Experiments) wants that part of Bracton College's land that is said to contain the body of Merlin. Mark Studdock is drawn into the N.I.C.E, whose temporary headquarters are elsewhere, even as his wife Jane sees at first hand the things the N.I.C.E is doing. The two follow different paths throughout the book, each on different sides without realizing it. And it turns out that Merlin never really died, and furthermore, really was buried at Bracton College....The plot is much more complex than that, but that's the skeleton, stripped completely of flesh so as not to give away any surprises. The characterizations are good--some great. Jane is good--Mark is much better; literature has seldom had such a likeable twerp. Feverstone, Curry, Dimble, Ivy, the tramp, are all good. (McPhee, criticised as being 'unidimensional' by a previous reviewer, is, ironically enough, based on a man Lewis knew well.) Some of the best parts of the book are those that describe the politicking that goes on at Bracton and at N.I.C.E, and amusing little comments are strewn regularly throughout the text. However, the same previous reviewer is right on the mark in saying that the change in Ransom is both disappointing and unexplained, and I personally find some of Lewis's remarks on men and women grating. Some are funny, as when Jane wonders when Mark will really be back, thinking, 'for when men say that they will be away two days they mean that that is the minimum, and they hope to be away a week.'The way Jane despises women who shop for a new hat to comfort themselves and then turns right around and does the same thing is good too. What grates is the author's placid assumption, not that masculinity is good, but that it is the highest good, and that good spiritual beings grow more masculine as they grow more spiritual and perfect. That sort of thing can be ignored, however, especially on the second time through, and it's a rare reader who won't want ot read this book again. And then again.
Rating:
Summary: Five Hundred Stars
Review: The Space Trilogy of which "That Hideous Strength" is the final installment is spiritual adventure candy for the soul. This is the first novel other than the Screwtape Letters that CS Lewis let's his comic side out to play. In the end the real issue is how the self anointed elite hatch their plans as if they alone matter and will decide what is best for those who don't matter. Quaint setting and uproariously funny moments do not detract from the sinister longings of the inner circle. Despite very eloquent and persuasive analysis to the contrary, the State, and other power groupings will not "wither away" anymore now than in CS Lewis' time. In fact the tyrannical impulse is alive and well and strangely enough abetted increasingly by both political parties and the media. If you enjoyed this trilogy. Check out "Transfer-the end of the beginning by Jerry Furland. "Transfer" is the first book in a trilogy as well. And, like Lewis, Furland can tell tell a story.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Will be read for centuries to come!
Review: This book is a must read for all C.S. Lewis fans, or even fiction or sci-fi fans. Lewis does a better job of potraying a battle of angels and devils then Frank Paretti did in This Present Darkness. This book lets the reader see the eternal conflict between good and evil. Satan and God. Lewis does a remarkable job in this extraordinary book! For all Christians (and sci-fi or fiction fans), this is a must read!!
Rating:
Summary: It is a epilog of modern worries
Review: This book paints a vivid picture that reminds me of Mike Rose's "intelectual community". This picture only last a few chapters until we see the pompous old fools taken in by the NICE quite interesting. All in all a very good book!!!!
Rating:
Summary: By far, the best of the three
Review: This final book in Lewis' space trilogy is very different from its predecessors. It starts a lot more slowly, but builds to a higher crescendo. The characters are more nuanced, less like cardboard cutouts labeled "good" and "evil." Finally, more than the others, the ending is clear, timely, and very satisfying. It's hard to describe this book, but try to picture Orwell's 1984 rewritten from a Christian view. The world had not reached Orwell's nightmare, but was headed decisively in that direction. The leaders of that putsch had all too familiar an appearance, and were ready to make every use of people uncertain of their own morality. The end of the book, just a few pages following the end of the conflict, took me quite by surprise. (No, I won't give it away.) In retrospect, though, it makes a lot of sense. Lewis was acutely aware of mankind's combined nature, physical and spiritual, with no need for distinction to be made. In other writings (if I remember correctly), Lewis stated the importance of physically kneeling to pray because of how the physical act of kneeling affected the mind made from that physical body. I am quite sure that the ending was written to be as devout as Lewis could possibly make it, and it is a very beautiful vision of sacred duty. This book is immensely more mature a work than the two that preceded it. The others create context for this one, but this stands very well by itself. If you have patience with its slow start, you may be happily surpised.
Rating:
Summary: Very Worthwhile...
Review: This is certainly a very enjoyable book, particularly for those who are already fans of Lewis. Feminists will be outraged (they should read it nonetheless); Lewis' unique understanding of the nature of masculinity and femininity are very much in evidence here. I found the book rather moving in certain places, especially the growth in understanding that we go through with the heroine, as she develops from secular (liberal) humanist into a Christian. Lewis' deep intuition around the relationship of human (conjugal) love to divine love is (I think) spot on, and probably the most interesting aspect of this book for me (the significance/danger of the "Baconian" attitude towards nature is more cleanly expressed in _Abolition of Man_). However, the ending of the book seems a bit too easy and optimistic.
I picked up this book because, as Lewis says in the preface, "it has behind it the serious 'point' [he had] tried to make in [his] _Abolition of Man_." The latter book is an absolute masterpiece, and I would highly suggest that it be read before _That Hideous Strength_. Nonetheless, this is an excellent fantasy novel, and much superior to what generally falls into that category.
Rating:
Summary: 2nd best fiction ever written!
Review: This is my 2nd favorite fiction ever, right after Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. "Hideous" is brilliant because it combines a pragmatic look at evil people and diabolical conspiracies with a wit and humor that keeps me laughing on almost every page. And in classic Lewis style, interwoven everywhere are religious allegories and symbolism. This book is a treat, like a creamsicle on a summer afternoon. I was confused at the beginning since the story seems to suddenly break from the 1st two in the trilogy, both in storyline, and in the fact that there seems to be no science fiction in Hideous. But everything becomes clear later on, and the trilogy is truly continued. This may become known as the most undiscovered book of the 20th century, but it's a classic and a literary jewel.
Rating:
Summary: A different flavor...
Review: Typically Lewis in linguistic style and philosophical content. This is an excellent book to read in tandem to Lewis' "Abolition of Man." I have yet to read the first two in the series (out of the silent planet and perelandra), but this book is easily read as a stand alone. I am particularly impressed with Lewis' ability to explore outside the Judeo-Christian mindset and embrace the possibilities in other great concepts, literary traditions etc. His unusual rendering of gods and goddesses with a "Christian" slant, Arthurian characters and magical happenings are innocent and rich with creative "mojo" that is sorely lacking in most popular "Christian" writing. I read this book simultaneously with "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and was startled and delighted to see some interesting parallels in thought.
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