Rating: 
Summary: Stick with the original
Review: 'Out of the Silent Planet' is excellent, and the only decent book in the trilogy. It stands alone, so don't feel the need to read the other two books. 'Perelandra' is bad, and 'That Hideous Strength' is worse.
Rating:
Summary: Stick with the original
Review: 'Out of the Silent Planet' is excellent, and the only decent book in the trilogy. It stands alone, so don't feel the need to read the other two books. 'Perelandra' is bad, and 'That Hideous Strength' is worse.
Rating: 
Summary: An epic battle between good and evil in the 2nd Ransom novel
Review: 'Perelandra' departs from traditional science-fiction, as viewed uncomfortably in 'Out of the Silent Planet' and moves more into the realms of fantasy. Having been sent to Perelandra (Venus), by the Oyrasa of Mars. Elwin Ransom soon finds himself faced with a possessed old adversary, and having to simultaeneously defend the sinless virtue of the first female on the Planet. Inevitably Ransom is faced with a desision which will affect Perelandra's future. A brilliant novel, more in tune with John Milton than H.G.Wells, the descriptions of the planet itself (A far cry from the real Venus), are worth reading alone
Rating:
Summary: Forget about free-will...
Review: Admittedly, I went into this book knowing that Lewis liked to allegorize religion. However, I was not prepared for the extent to which this allegorization took place, and found the book too horribly oppressing and proselytizing to continue reading it past the climax scene. This is not a spiritual book disguised as science fiction. This is a diatribe disguised as a novel.
Rating:
Summary: I wish I could have given it 10 stars.
Review: Awe inspiring, beautiful, clear, logical and emotional. Magnificent praise of God! Words are inadequate to describe its effect on me when I first read it and when I read it again -- and I've lost track of how many times I've reread it. Read it! I can't recommend it enough.
Rating:
Summary: Fantasy/Sci-Fi with a higher message
Review: C. S. Lewis is one of those few writers whose works will be read, studied, and enjoyed 100, 200, 500 years after his death. He is both a fantastic story-teller and a brilliant philosopher--thus, his works deal with both the mundane and the sublime, often at the same time. Perelandra is a good example of Lewis's ability to tell a good story while getting a higher point across. The second installment in his celebrated Space Trilogy (make sure you read "Out of the Silent Planet" first) finds his hero, Ransom, swept away from Earth again on a mysterious mission to the planet Perelandra. Without giving too much of the story away, Ransom finds himself given the seemingly impossible task of preventing evil from Earth from polluting the pristine, unearthly paradise of Perelandra. To carry out this mission, Ransom finds himself grappling, both intellectually and physically, with a force of pure evil. Let the reader beware: Perelandra is written in a more archaic style than we are used to today, and thus may be a difficult read for someone with a short-attention span. For a reader with an expansive imagination and a patient love for detailed descriptive writing, the book is a treasure and will be highly enjoyed.
Rating:
Summary: C. S. Lewis' most "heavenly" book
Review: C. S. Lewis wrote in the Introduction to his "Screwtape Letters" that one reason why he had not written a similar book about angels was that "every sentence would have to smell of heaven." In Perelandra, he has achieved that effect. The imagery and the sheer reason combine to make the most powerful and compelling picture of good vs. evil since the Book of Revelation. In Dr. Elwin Ransom we have a strong, good, yet thoroughly human hero; in Dr. Weston a chilling portrait of the real nature of evil. This is a book that should be read over and over again. It has something new to offer me every time I go back to it. C. S. Lewis wrote in his autobiography that his imagination was "baptised" by George MacDonald's Phantastes. For those seeking a similar imaginative experience, I wholeheartedly recommend Perelandra. For the whole experience I recommend the other two books of the trilogy, but Perelandra also stands on its own.
Rating:
Summary: Enigmatic, dramatic, beautiful
Review: CS Lewis illustrates through glittering and luminous imagery a tale enwrapped with soul and heartache. He again shatters my preconcieved notions of science fiction as a genre. This tale is worth the time, it's not an escape, it's a reexamination of reality. Lewis dons prescience of the pitfalls of new age as well as teaching us about temptation and the wiles of the enemy. Beautiful, beautiful. There are some parts that you may have to be patient as you absorb the atmosphere of this landscape, but I seriously read this book while walking to my car and I just couldn't stop. Very Very good.
Rating:
Summary: The Kind of Book whose Close draws tears.
Review: Drawn into paradise, the reader is alive, excited, fearful. Perelandra is a beautiful image of flowing colors and time, it draws on the thoughtfulness and imagination of the reader to take these swirling colors and inexpressible fellings displayed in Lewis' writing and form the image of this green, gold, red and blue world where creation is fresh, and yet already on the verge of destruction...
Rating: 
Summary: very intriguing, yet quite complex and confusing, too
Review: Have you ever wondered where exactly humans came from? In "Perelandra," you get a very descriptive, if not completely accurate, tale of how life began. The only catch is, this is the account of how life began on Venus, not Earth. Perelandra is the second Earth, so to speak. It is Venus. (From Lewis' point of view) Though it is covered almost completely with water, Venus contains many floating islands that are capable of sustaining life. As it happens, this is where most of the story takes place. Dr. Elwin Ransom is stuck on one of these islands and he is looking for the "Eve" of this second Earth. Unfortunately, there is a demon-possessed man that is also on one of these islands, who is also looking for "Eve." The main conflict is between the efforts of these two people to influence the outcome of this newly born planet. When taken at face value, this book is decent at best; but can you ever take any book at just face value? The complex symbolism that Lewis maintains throughout this trilogy is quite confusing, but I'm sure it's very gratifying if and when you figure it all out. Without the other two books ("Out of Silent Planet", and "That Hideous Strength"), I'm not sure that this book would make any sense at all, but it is very heart-warming, none-the-less.
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