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From The Desk Of Thrice: C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy

THRICELOGOA dozen years into its career, Thrice is still evolving. Following 2005’s experimental/atmospheric Vheissu and four-part concept album The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II (2007) and Vols. III & IV (2008), the California quartet—vocalist/guitarist Dustin Kensrue, guitarist/engineer Teppei Teranishi and Breckenridge brothers Eddie (bass) and Riley (drums)—has issued the edgier, hard-rock-leaning Beggars (Vagrant). On paper, such a description might make you believe the LP is a return to the post-hardcore days of Thrice’s first three albums, though Beggars is far more mature and varied than that. Unfortunately, the record was leaked in July, forcing the band to change the release date and marketing plan for Beggars, but Thrice seems to have come out of all this extracurricular drama unscathed. As the foursome prepares for its upcoming U.K. tour, they are also guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with them.

CSLewisSPacetrilogyDustin Kensrue: It seems almost everyone has some experience with The Chronicles Of Narnia (sadly for most children these days, their exposure has come from Disney’s disappointing franchise.) Aside from The Chronicles, C.S. Lewis wrote many other books in various styles and genres, and I would probably consider him my favorite author. But of the many people I meet who would count themselves as Lewis fans, a surprisingly small fraction have read or even heard of his Space Trilogy. The books—1938’s Out Of The Silent Planet, 1943’s Perelandra and 1945’s That Hideous Strength—have a similar feel to other pre-spaceflight “soft” science fiction, and the first book has long been recognized as building on and rethinking some of the main themes and events breached in H. G. WellsThe First Men In The Moon. Less focused on future scientific possibilities, the books use the genre to examine morality, language and a range of philosophical concerns. Their depth aside, the books are finely crafted and intensely imaginative stories that are gripping and engaging, each in unique ways. I constantly recommend this trilogy to people, and now I do the same to you. Video after the jump.

4 replies on “From The Desk Of Thrice: C.S. Lewis’ Space Trilogy”

I shall try to cram this into my reading but with school and the neverending hurdle of Atlas Shrugged it seems i should not.

Yay! I read this series ages and ages ago and they were terrific and insightful. On one hand they may be “soft” sci-fi, but they’re also “soft” Christian themes, as Lewis liked to weave some in his work. But, they are good guy CHristian agenda, not our usual American bible-thumping crackpot type of “Christians.”

One for YOU to check out that will blow your mind is Colin Wilson’s THE MIND PARASITES. Very scary story based on Lovecraftian themes! It would make a great movie.

I myself have been a O.S. Card Fan, but I found ‘Out of the Silent Planet’ to be extremely engaging and I became a fan, not immediately, but eventually. It’s true though that many Lewis fans have either only heard of this trilogy or never at all. It’s a shame, but I’m glad that you’ve written about these great books.

By the way I was weirdly happy when I saw ‘That Hideous Strength'(book) after having listened to your song long before reading the book. That song actually led me to this wonderful series many years ago.

Also, I always forget to tell you this when I meet you but, the last lines of The Red Death, still gives me chills.

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