Book Review: That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

This is the third of the Lewis space trilogy, of which I’ve written previously about the first and second. This final installment takes place on Earth and concludes the story of Dr. Ransom and his fight against evil. The dark forces he fought against in the first two novels have mobilized for an assault on Earth, and he is leading a team of individuals to fight back. An evil technocratic organization is slowly but surely gaining power in Europe with the ultimate aspiration to “recondition” society, and Ransom and Co. are preparing to counter this effort. It is the ultimate parable of a war between morality and devilry, and Lewis (as usual) writes with incredible insight in the human condition. I will be honest and say I liked this one the least of the three, and it was actually pretty hard to get through. The story developed very slowly, was rather dry at the beginning, and at times seemed very long and drawn-out. I think maybe because the first two were so zippy, fast-paced and by nature of taking place on other planets way more imaginative, I just got a little bogged with this one. But I really like the series as a whole, and I’m glad I finally read it!