I read the C.S. Lewis book called Out of the Silent Planet this weekend. It was a quick read. The book was written prior to actual space flight, and planetary exploration. As such, a number of the science fiction elements are not believable in our modern world. When the book was written, its fanciful depiction of life on Malacandra was probably more believable.
The book has a couple of subtle, and not so subtle undertones. One of the topics was discrimination. I guess it would be more apt to call it Xenophobia. The other topic is an extension of manifest destiny of mankind.
The book is not as well known as Mr. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series. Today’s fantasy relevance is questionable, but the intellectual and social topics of manifest destiny, and discrimination are universal; pardon the pun.
As I read the book, and figured out which planet in our solar system it represented, I decided to move it to another planetary system like Alpha Centuri to make it more relevant.
It is something worth reading if you are a sci-fiction fan, and it is an extension of H.G. Wells “First Man in the Moon” which I previously reviewed.
I don’t want to spoil the read so I will not say anything about it per se. I would note that some of the fiction turns out to not be such fantasy. I love reading old science fiction, and seeing where the authors predictions have come true, or fallen short. Take a read and let me know what you found that has come to pass.