Review: That Hideous Strength

A little bit ago, I wrote a review of The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis. At the time, I was only halfway through the book, but now that I’ve finished it, I’ll review the last book in the trilogy, That Hideous Strength.

At first, I wasn’t sure where the book was going. The first two books worked together well, as they were both about Dr. Elwin Ransom’s adventures in space and made that clear from the outset. However, the third book opens with new characters and doesn’t seem connected to the previous two books for at least the first third of the story. Instead, it establishes that Jane and Mark – our new protagonists – are in a young, but struggling marriage in which he’s consumed with his job and trying to go up the social ladder, and she’s concerned with living a sort of early-feminist lifestyle. However, Jane starts having very startling dreams which causes her to go to the neighbors, who eventually introduce her to a secret group, which is later revealed to be the remnants of King Arthur’s court.

From there, the story starts tying itself into the previous two books with the introduction of Dr. Ransom into the story, turning it into a coherent storyline as his experiences from the previous two books help defeat the bad guys.

But who are the bad guys? Well, they’re a group called N.I.C.E., a bunch of mad scientists who are interacting with fallen eldils (spirits) and are looking for Merlin so they can take over the world and reshape it to their liking.

That Hideous Strength, despite taking its jolly sweet time to connect itself with the previous books, does so well and provides an interesting expansion for the lore of the story. Lewis mixes the legend of King Arthur with a world in which God created aliens and the beings that rule over those planets are angels that Merlin interacted with and drew power from. It’s certainly syncretistic, but it’s an interesting spin on the tale.

The only issue I had with the story is that, while the deaths of the villains were fitting, the ending was toned down for what I expected. I had expected a massive smackdown between the N.I.C.E. and the good guys, but what I got, though dramatic, was told as though it was a report from others, which toned it down quite a bit. What did save it somewhat, however, is the hopeful note it ends on as Jane and Mark essentially get back together.

Until next time,

M.J.