History YMMV / TheSpaceTrilogy

** In ''Literature/OutOfTheSilentPlanet'', [[Main/{{Utopia}} the sinless society of Mars]] has a [[FantasticCasteSystem race-based caste system]]. None of the characters have a problem with this. The in-universe justification is that the castes are simply based on the [[PlanetofHats nature of the races in question]]. In other words, all Hrossa are [[WarriorPoet Warrior Poets]], all Pfifltriggi are artistic tech geniuses and all séroni are [[ThePhilosopher philosophizing]] shepherds with no exception (except possibly the Bent hnau offhandedly). In most modern books, such a system would be [[Main/{{Dystopia}} portrayed negatively]].

** In ''Literature/OutOfTheSilentPlanet'', [[Main/{{Utopia}} the sinless society of Mars]] has a [[FantasticCasteSystem race-based caste system]]. None of the characters have a problem with this. The in-universe justification is that the castes are simply based on the [[PlanetofHats nature of the races in question]]. In other words, all Hrossa are [[WarriorPoet Warrior Poets]], all Pfifltriggi are artistic tech geniuses and all séroni are [[ThePhilosopher philosophizing]] shepherds. In most modern books, such a system would be [[Main/{{Dystopia}} portrayed negatively]].

** In ''Literature/OutOfTheSilentPlanet'', [[Main/{{Utopia}} the sinless society of Mars]] has a [[FantasticCasteSystem race-based caste system]]. None of the characters have a problem with this. The in-universe justification is that the castes are simply based on the [[PlanetofHats nature of the races in question]]. In other words, all Hrossa are [[WarriorPoet Warrior Poets]], all Pfifltriggi are artistic tech geniuses and all séroni are philosophic shepherds. In most modern books, such a system would be [[Main/{{Dystopia}} portrayed negatively]].

** In ''Literature/OutOfTheSilentPlanet'', [[Main/{{Utopia}} the sinless society of Mars]] has a [[FantasticCasteSystem race-based caste system]]. None of the characters have a problem with this, probably because none of the races are oppressed by the others, but [[PlanetOfHats that just leads to further questions]].

** In ''Literature/OutOfTheSilentPlanet'', [[Main/{{Utopia}} the sinless society of Mars]] has a [[FantasticCasteSystem race-based caste system]]. None of the characters have a problem with this.

* ValuesResonance: When listing examples of all that is base and ignoble in the British spirit, Dimble mentions famous imperialist Cecil Rhodes in the same breath as UsefulNotes/OliverCromwell and [[Myth/KingArthur Mordred]]. At the time, Rhodes was often celebrated as a visionary businessman, but today he is more likely to be condemned for his virulent racism and cruel exploitation of the places he subjected to British control.

** In ''Literature/OutOfTheSilentPlanet'', [[Main/{{Utopia}} the sinless society of Mars]] has a [[FantasticCasteSystem race-based caste system]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: At the time the trilogy was first published, most aliens in SF stories were hostile savages intent on destroying humanity. For Lewis's aliens to be morally superior to man was a radical departure... which was widely adopted by later writers, somewhat diluting its impact today. Though the thing that remains the most original with Lewis' premise is that his aliens still believe in a deity (one who is implied to be ''the same one who led the Hebrews out of Egypt'' at that), [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions while most other sci-fi examples don't]].

** Also in ''Perelandra'' the underground section can be incredibly creepy. Not ''just'' because most of it takes place in total darkness, but because there are ''lots'' of hints that all sorts of bizarre persons and places exist down there and the reader only sees enough of them to hint at it. And what little we see is hinted [[EldritchAbomination to be not necessarily ''evil'' but so ''foreign'' to human experience that it's incomprehensible]].

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: ''Perelandra'' can get rather trippy at times...

** While Ransom tries to deduce which planet he's on in ''Out of the Silent Planet'', he concludes that it isn't Venus, because he thought Venus would be a bit hotter. This was written in 1938, almost twenty-five years before the surface temperature of Venus was measured.
*** They suspected it was hotter by simple fact of it being closer to the Sun; they just didn't know how much ''ludicrously'' hotter it really is.

** The Unman talking about the "Force" as an energy which comes from all life and commands his actions, a full thirty-plus years before ''Film/StarWars''.

*** They suspected it was hotter by simple fact of it being closer to the Sun; they just didn't know how much''ludicrously'' hotter it really is.

*** They suspected it was hotter because it's closer to the Sun, they just didn't know how ''ludicrously'' hotter it really is.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: At the time the trilogy was first published, most aliens in SF stories were hostile savages intent on destroying humanity. For Lewis's aliens to be morally superior to man was a radical departure... which was widely adopted by later writers, somewhat diluting its impact today. Though the thing that remains the most original with Lewis' premise is that his aliens still believe in a deity, [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions while most other sci-fi examples don't]].

** Also in ''Perelandra'' the underground section can be incredibly creepy. Not ''just'' because most of it takes place in total darkness, but because there are ''lots'' of hints that all sorts of bizarre persons and places exist down there and the reader only sees enough of them to hint at it. And what little we see is hinted to be not necessarily ''evil'' but so ''foreign'' to human experience that it's incomprehensible.

* HilariousInHindsight: The Unman talking about the "Force" as an energy which comes from all life and commands his actions, a full thirty-plus years before ''Film/StarWars.''

* ValuesDissonance: You're in a theological debate. You find yourself losing the argument and fear that your audience might be swayed towards the opinions of your opponent. What do you do? If you're Ransom, you follow the advice of a "divine voice" and kill the bastard. The ''intended'' message is supposed to be an anti-appeasement one (the book was published in 1943): sometimes it's not enough to be right - some people can't be reasoned with, and for the good of all you have to use force. However, in the context of the story where his opponent is playing by the rules and technically isn't harming anyone, it accidentally comes more across like, "If you're losing an argument, just beat the crap out of your opponent because you know you're right."
** There are, however, mitigating factors:
*** This wasn't just a debate between two people with equally valid points. It was literally the devil incarnate, trying to convince another world's Eve to disobey God and duplicate the fall of man, thereby wrecking another paradisal world ForTheEvulz. Ransom's task was to prevent this from happening by any means necessary.
*** This was his last resort. He came to this conclusion only after being dragged through weeks of argument.
*** Ransom was physically and mentally exhausted because the Un-Man, being demon-possessed, did not need to sleep. He abused this by engaging Tinidrel when Ransom could no longer stay awake, or by deliberately keeping Ransom sleep-deprived, to the detriment of his mental health.

* ValuesResonance: When listing examples of all that is base and ignoble in the British spirit, Dimble mentions famous imperialist Cecil Rhodes in the same breath as Oliver Cromwell and Mordred. At the time, Rhodes was often celebrated as a visionary businessman, but today he is more likely to be condemned for his virulent racism and cruel exploitation of the places he subjected to British control.

* ValuesDissonance: You're in a theological debate. You find yourself losing the argument and fear that your audience might be swayed towards the opinions of your opponent. What do you do? If you're Ransom, you follow the advice of a "divine voice" and simply kill the bastard. The ''intended'' message is supposed to be an anti-appeasement one (the book was published in 1943): sometimes it's not enough to be right - some people can't be reasoned with, and for the good of all you have to use force. However, in the context of the story where his opponent is playing by the rules and technically isn't harming anyone (he's convincing them to do it themselves), it accidentally comes more across like, "If you're losing an argument, just beat the crap out of your opponent because you know you're right."

* OlderThanTheyThink: ''That Hideous Strength'' addresses the issue of transhumanism and many of its implications. Its first printing was in 1945.

*** It required tremendous courage on Ransom's part. He was certain that physically battling the devil would mean his death. [[spoiler:Fortunately for him, the body the devil was inhabiting belonged to another out-of-shape professor.]]

* AuthorTract: The 'judgment' scene in ''Out of the Silent Planet'' forces secular-humanist Weston to attempt to justify his worldview to an angel that doesn't speak his language. He has to resort to the interpretive services of Ransom, who can only convey his speech very simplistically. Although it's definitely an amusing scene, it's also a cheap device to deconstruc Weston's opinions, and not necessarily in a very fair way.