That Hideous Strength

That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis, 382 pages

The conclusion to CS Lewis' Space Trilogy brings the series back to Thulcandra, the Silent Planet, home of the Bent One, known to its inhabitants as Earth.  For the first time, Elwin Ransom is not the main character, though he is still a vital part of the story, his time in Perelandra has made him more than ever an image of Christ, the Fisher-King, the wounded but undying leader of Logres, keeper of the wisdom that came out of the West from the Numinor that was.  The focus now passes to a young married couple.  Jane Studdock is struggling, as newlyweds do, to come to terms with the changes marriage brings, trying to be a good wife without surrendering her independence while coping with a husband who is now less attentive (and who seems more ordinary) than he was when he was a suitor - she is also experiencing increasingly vivid and terrifying dreams that may be more than dreams.  Her husband, Mark, is working hard to do what, he believes, good husbands do - get ahead in the world.  He has already secured a spot among the progressive clique guiding the future of Bracton College, and he is even being considered for membership in the National Institute for Coordinated Experiments.  The N.I.C.E. is where the future of the world is being built, to join is to become one of the directors of human destiny, and the price for entry is merely his soul.

That Hideous Strength is a fictional exploration of Lewis' observations from The Abolition of Man with an overlay of Charles Williams' neo-Platonic mysticism.  The result resembles an urban fantasy equivalent of Brave New World.  Unlike Huxley, however, Lewis' talent for memorable characters fills his world with colorful figures including the sadistic policewoman Miss Hardcastle, a friendly bear named Mr Bultitude, and the reawakened wizard Merlin.  Combined with Lewis' customary intelligence and insight into human nature, this makes That Hideous Strength a very good book indeed.