Deeper Heaven: A Reader's Guide to C. S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy

by Christiana Hale, Joey Nance (Illustrator), Douglas Wilson (Foreword)

C. S. Lewis's Ransom Trilogy, better known as "the Space Trilogy", is a much-neglected and yet critically important part of Lewis's works. It has captivated and bewildered readers since its publication, and though hundreds of books about Lewis have been written, few seek to navigate the maze that is Lewis's "space-travel story." These books are a distillation in novel form of one of Lewis' favorite subjects, a subject whose melody is woven into almost everything that Lewis ever the medieval model of the cosmos. Deeper Heaven is a guide and companion through the magical web of medieval cosmology, ancient myth, and critique of modern philosophies that makes up the oft-maligned "Space Trilogy." A student and teacher of literature and history herself, Christiana Hale will walk you through the Trilogy one step at a time, with eyes fixed where Lewis himself fixed on Deep Heaven and beyond. In the process, many questions will be What does Christ have to do with Jupiter? Why does Lewis care so much about the medieval conception of the heavens? Why should we? And, perhaps the most puzzling question of why is Merlin in That Hideous Strength?

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Literary Criticism, Philosophy, Theology, Religion, Books About Books

394 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2020

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many, I had trouble reading the Ransom Trilogy (which I now call by its proper name after reading this book, vs the more common "Space Trilogy). It was just weird enough that I staggered through it over time, and finally finished it shortly before reading Deeper Heaven. Now I can't wait to go back through and read it again with Deeper Heaven as my guide! Lewis poured so much into this trilogy, and it's easy to miss. The appendices (A timeline of his life and writings, glossary of every character and place, and an index of Allusions and Quotations) are very helpful!

Christiana Hale divides the book into sections to match the trilogy, and unpacks theme after theme that Lewis so carefully packed into these books. The Table of Contents is itself a guide to just how many themes are in the trilogy. Highly recommend!

Daniel Foucachon, publisher.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic insight into a fantastic trilogy.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christiana Hale looks at C.S. Lewis's Ransom (or Space) Trilogy through the lens of a medieval model of the heavens. Lewis famously loved the medieval model, while acknowledging its problems. Hale both educates the reader in the medieval mindset and traces where Lewis wove the Ransom books using that mindset. So insightful and valuable.

[Sarah Schrecengost · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already loved the Ransom trilogy by Lewis and this helped me love it more. I think it’s time for a reread of these books

[Jeremy]

The Roman Roads CEO mailed me a free copy. I don't know if I can publish a review anywhere else but here, but I plan to post something here at least, at some point.

Here's a video introduction to the trilogy.

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the joys of my life is knowing a multitude of authors. When I was a child, I knew none, and they seemed to me like an exalted but quite alien species. Now I live in a town where I could not, were I so inclined, throw a rock without hitting an author and having it ricochet off a couple others. Christiana is one such author. And I have never, just to be perfectly clear, had cause, either before or after reading this, her first book, to throw any rocks whatsoever at her.

I know I am not, nor could be, nor would even want to be, perfectly objective in reviewing books by people I know and love, but I am pretty sure I'd think as highly of this one even if I'd never set eyes on Miss Hale. She made me understand the trilogy better, she made me understand Lewis better, and she even made me understand myself better as a reader. The book nailed the three R's: it was well researched, well reasoned, and well 'ritten. I'm sure I will be revisiting it when I read the trilogy again.

Tim Stevenson did a fine job reading, though he pronounces some fictional names different than I would.

[Pamela Aidan · Rating 5 out of 5]

CS Lewis's fiction can be appreciated on several levels. Those who dig below the initial fantasy find worlds of genius and wonder that reveal what lies in our own hearts and in the engines driving our cultural suicide. The digging is not easy but the urgency is great. Cloaked in a medieval understanding of the cosmos that few understood even when the Ransom Trilogy was written (1945), it has become even more obscure to the 21st century reader who most needs to understand it. But fear not! In Deeper Heaven, Christiana Hale has written to the rescue. This introduction to the cosmological underpinnings of the Trilogy opens to us the many puzzling aspects, incidents, and dialogues that have left many wondering what exactly it was that they just read. I hasten to add that Hale's work is very readable and delightful on its own merits as she explains the medieval cosmos and takes us through each book in its light. Deeper Heaven is essential to a fuller enjoyment of the Trilogy!

[Christopher]

This is a good book. Hale does a solid work in drawing out important details buried in the text, thereby showing much of what Lewis was trying to accomplish with these books. Perhaps the greatest praise I can give it is to say that she convinced me that medieval cosmology is worth it. While I have been a lover of the trilogy for years, and appreciated reading The Discarded Image in the past, I have always struggled with the "but it's also not true" objection. Hale cleared it away, mostly by pointing out that while our modern cosmology may be more accurate in some details, the medieval cosmology is probably much more accurate in other ways, and important ways at that. So if you like these books and inhabit this universe, you'll definitely benefit from this read.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want to be Christiana Hale’s best friend, but she is decidedly way cooler than me.

this book was soooo good! it helped clarify so much of the ransom trilogy for me. i am so excited to reread it now!!

[Timothy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christiana Hale, a Latin and English teacher has done her homework. Taking her cue from Dr. Michael Ward, Hale launches an exploration into Lewis's cosmological vehicle for true myth apologetics by way of fantastical storytelling. Through this exploration, Hale offers an intriguing view into the perspicuity of Lewis's approach to not only ultimate reality, but man's peculiar proclivities given the fact of his depravity, and the consummating design of the universe. Clearing up the misnomer of "space" within the genre of Lewis's book, provided a portal to philosophical and theological considerations, which Hale astutely showcases. I enjoyed the use of the trilogy's chronology, and the logical flow from the explanations of medieval cosmological influence and ambience, to the process of Ransom's transformation concomitant with man attempting to come to grips with meaning, flourishing, and destiny. Hale includes a little rejoinder near the end of the book for current discussions to consider by highlighting Lewis's approach to masculine and feminine roles through the characters in the final book of the trilogy, as well as man's importance in the cosmos.

The Appendices includes a timeline of C. S. Lewis's Life and writings, a glossary of characters and places, and an index of allusions and quotations.

I enjoyed reading the book and it has prompted me to reconnect with the Ransom Trilogy. At times, some points became a bit repetitive, but I believe Christiana Hale has embarked upon a promising career as a writer.

A quote from the book that I enjoyed explained, "He [Lewis] wants us to recover this discarded image, not to supplant the current factual framework, but to restore truths which erroneous ideologies have stripped from that framework. In the Ransom Trilogy, he undertakes an imaginative reconstruction project to restore wonder and awe. He desires to reawaken a sense of place, of that bottom-heavy security that our medieval fathers felt when they looked up at the heavens, knowing their place in the cosmos, knowing they were not forgotten, but that the eyes of Deep Heaven and deeper were fixed back at them in wonder."

[Allyson Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Definitely recommend for readers of Lewis who aren’t familiar with Medieval cosmology and its influence on the Ransom Trilogy. I’m thankful I read the trilogy and enjoyed it by itself first, but this guide opened my eyes to so much that I missed.

[John Rimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right up there alongside "Planet Narnia" belongs this book. It isn't that Hale's book itself is the gem, but what the book allows you to gain. The gems are within the cavernous intellect and imagination of C.S. Lewis. He wasn't merely brilliant for what he could come up with, but in how he could comprehend and connect things for his readers. His stories are not juvenile glimpses into other imaginary worlds, but mature correctives for the one we actually inhabit. He tunes the minds of his readers to wake up to the wonderful world they are already in, the conflict they are already engaged in, and the people they can't help but want to be.

Hale gives you all the tools to enjoy your journey out of the silent planet. This book is well researched, well written, and the kind of inspirational that non-fiction work rarely is. It can affect you with the same kind of transforming influence that grabs Elwin Ransom, Mark Studdock, and his wife Jane. Hale has found a way to lift up Lewis' artwork that both illuminates its veiled brilliance, while at the same time shining a brighter light on the gospel of the risen Lord that undergirds both the medieval conception of the cosmos and the heavens of Lewis' Cosmic Trilogy.

I can't recommend this book enough.

[Naomi Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

helpful and interesting. Definitely gave me a deeper understanding of the Heavens and Lewis’s Ransom trilogy. Even though it’s just a reading guide the ending made me tear up. Will totally recommend to anyone

[Jill Courser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m reading the Ransom Trilogy for the third time right now, and thanks to Deeper Heaven, I have a much better understanding of what Lewis was doing with the trilogy. Highly recommend this guide, whether you are new to the Ransom Trilogy or have read it many times.

[Charles Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that’s how you write a reader’s guide.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited by the release of this book, because I'm a huge fan of Lewis's Ransom (Space) Trilogy. In the end I was a little disappointed that it didn't dig into the trilogy in a bit more detail. Then again, the target audience for this book is probably people who HAVEN'T read the Ransom Trilogy three times. There were a few errors (such as apparently not realising that Maleldil is specifically the Second Person of the Trinity, as distinct from "His Father and the Third One"). However, the chart by Joey Nance of the "Field of Arbol" is superb.

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 was the year of the Ransom Trilogy for me - three podcasts read Out of the Silent Planet and one continued to the next two of the trilogy. One of them interviewed this author and I was intrigued enough to pick it up. She is very much in conversation, convincingly, with Planet Narnia and applies the same theories to the Ransom novels. I re-read the first two and read for the first time the third and her works add an very intriguing and intelligent layer. Note: she is allied with an apparently controversial theologian, who wrote the introduction (which is the only interaction with him that I have had,) and therefore, there are a few conclusions that come through her specific brand of theology, which do not work for me. With that caveat, I think this is well-done and one that I will keep on the shelf next to Planet Narnia.

[Lynn Reynolds · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love CS Lewis’ Space Trilogy (or The Ransom Trilogy, as Christiana Hale rightly calls it), so I expected to enjoy this in-depth examination of the books. And I did.

However, it’s important to know (as I later learned) that the book was written for a publisher that focuses on providing classical curriculum materials to Christian schools and homeschoolers. As such, it does get a bit didactic and emphatic in a few places about the “correct” Christian view on certain topics (particular with regard to the proper role of women in families).

Once I understood the intended audience for this book, I was able to overlook the areas where Hale and I diverge on the correct Christian view. Ultimately, I really enjoyed her analysis of the trilogy and gained a lot of new insights.

Hale does an excellent job of explaining the Medieval Cosmology and the fascinating role it played in influencing the structure of Lewis’ series. She also showed how Lewis used Dante’s Divine Comedy as a model for the series, something I was completely unaware of. She has an easy-to-read, conversational tone that makes this a good book for both adults and older teens.

[Matt Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christiana Hale has done for the Ransom Trilogy what Michael Ward did for the Chronicles of Narnia in Planet Narnia. I loved Planet Narnia, but I enjoy the Ransom Trilogy more than the Narnia books, so I’m so grateful Christiana Hale has unveiled more of the brilliance of Lewis’s great trilogy than I would ever have seen on my own. A wonderful book. Highly recommended.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read along with the Ransom Trilogy by Lewis. I will reread this series and this study book again it has made me to think more widely and deeply of all God's creation, cultural Marxism, materialism, marriage and the role of the sexes. It has left me contemplating long after I have finished reading. I now want to read all thing Lewis.

[Will Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read C. S. Lewis's "Ransom Trilogy" first. Then read this book. Then read the Ransom Trilogy again.

You will not be disappointed. What a rich world of medieval cosmology Hale points us to in Lewis's writings!

[Jake Litwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent.

[Adam Duell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a helpful, and in many ways, necessary book to read after finishing your first journey through the Ransom Trilogy.

My only complaint is that the book was not made longer and more in-depth on a couple of topics, such as MacPhee in That Hideous Strength. That character simply had way too much dialogue in the third book to just be passed over in this guidebook.

I’m sure that Christiana Hale has MUCH more that she could have squeezed into these pages, but had to make some editorial decisions to stay on the grand theme of the series that she was endeavoring to take on. I almost wish that she would release another entire book just about That Hideous Strength. I would read that in a heartbeat.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. I recently finished reading the 3 books of Lewis' Ransom trilogy and this was the perfect book to read after to flesh out so much of what Lewis was saying and presenting in this trilogy. The author goes into the medieval model which was key to Lewis, as a medievalist.
The book is well written and easy to read. It gave me the foundation I was looking for.
I recommend reading it after reading the trilogy, not before as there are a number of spoilers. And it would be even more helpful to have read The Divine Comedy by Dante before reading this book as well, (which I did).

[Elizabeth Eflin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have read C. S. Lewis' Ransom Trilogy, this is absolutely a must read. Christiana does a fantastic job highlighting certain themes in the text, while also challenging the reader to examine it a little deeper. This will likely be a book I come back to again and again.

Because it is too good not to share, here's a quote from the book: "Some truths are too big to be communicated by anything but myth, and the reason for this echoes back to a theme that has continually popped up again and again in our discussion of the Ransom Trilogy: the world is not made up of physical material alone."

[Kaylena Radcliff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an indispensable companion to the Ransom (Space) Trilogy and to understanding the philosophical thought, theology, and cosmology that inspired Lewis to write them. I wish the section on That Hideous Strength was longer and went deeper than it did, but other than that, the guide is very helpful and well-researched.

[Rivers Houseal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lewis’ Ransom trilogy opened my eyes to a forgotten cosmos. Deeper Heaven helped me to understand what I saw there. I am still processing and absorbing this very much alive way of thinking about the universe—with the wonder left intact. I will certainly be reading Deeper Heaven again, because I feel sure that I would get even more out of it next time.

[Daniel Rohde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. Well worth it!

[Gavin Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this! It was helpful for dissecting Lewis’s Space Trilogy for a presentation. I’d recommend it.

[Eric Durso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good.