Tonight I join the latest Mythgard Academy selection featuring C.S. Lewis’ first book in the Space Trilogy series.
Mythgard Academy Presents
Meeting on Wednesdays at 10 pm Eastern Time
January 8th through February 5th
Nearly six years ago I re-read Out of the Silent Planet for the 1939 Retro Hugo Awards. I gave it my top slot vote for the Best Novel category, followed by Galactic Patrol and T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone. I was a bit disappointed when Lewis came in second to the White, but you can’t win them all.
I originally read the Space Trilogy in my early teens and those paperbacks are long gone. Over the years, I’ve picked up copies from used books stores, garage sales and Friends of the Library annual book sales. This past weekend, I remembered I’d registered for the class when it was first announced weeks ago and went searching for all my editions: print, electronic and audio. I quickly found two nearly pristine in very good condition and apparently unread paperbacks buried in my brimming bookshelves.
I also checked my ebook library and found I had bought two copies, one in 2013 and another one in 2018. I have a bad habit of jumping on an ebook sale without first checking my inventory. Hence the multiple copies purchased unnecessarily.
Finally, I checked all six of my libraries (yes, I actually do have six library cars) and found that Hoopla had an audiobook edition, read by Geoffrey Howard, who passed away in 2014.
Thus prepared, I checked out the audiobook and listened to the first hour, which equated to the first five chapters needed for the first week’s discussion, while chopping vegetables for chili Sunday morning.
Serendipity struck during my Silent Planet scavenger hunt. I found my first American edition of The Silmarillion which I’d been seeking for years, ever since I found and joined the Tolkien Society of Kansas City (@TolkienKC) nearly three years ago. It’s a prime example of the adage “If you stop looking for something, you will find it.”
I hope you’ll join me tonight at nine o’clock Central time with Corey Olsen (@tolkienprof) and Mythgard Academy (@mythgardian) as we journey to Malacandra with Ransom.
Cool.