A Voyage to Arcturus

This is one of the early classics of science fiction, loved by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and many more. This book came from my dads collection, and I was curious what it was about.

This the story of Maskull, who, at a séance, meets his friend Nightspore and a friend of Nightspore, Krag. Pretty soon in the story things turn weird. At the séance a dead man shows up with a weird grin on his face, and he is destroyed by Krag. Krag offers to take Maskull and Nightspore on a voyage to Arcturus, to the planet Tormance. When Maskull wakes up at Tormance, in a desert, Nightspore and Krag are nowhere to be found, and Maskull has a third limb growing from his chest. This starts the weirdest journey, where Maskull meets many characters, with different bodies, different philosophies and different landscapes.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be weird. It flows everywhere, reading like someone is either high or dreaming. I understand that the different transformations, lands and characters represent different philosophies and/or religions, but I have a feeling a lot of that went over my head. Maybe this is a book you have to study more, and have some background information on to truly appreciate. It is fantastical, and I get how for some writers this is inspirational, but to me it was too much and too weird. I don't think I got the story, nor the ending, and thereby missed much that there was there to enjoy. However, I kept picking the book up, intrigued by all the adventures, and keen to know what Lindsay would think up next. Three out of four stars.