Review- The Dark Tower and Other Stories

The Dark Tower and Other Stories

If you want to complete your collection of C.S. Lewis fiction, this volume will do that. (Note that about 1/3 of it overlaps with the stories included in Of Other Worlds by the same publisher and editor). “The Dark Tower” is a partial story (about 70 pages) about a parallel universe; the characters overlap a little with the “Space Trilogy.”

“The Man Born Blind” is a story of a man who is given sight and wants to understand light. “The Shoddy Lands” is a short study in perspective. “Ministering Angels” is about a trip to Mars (and reminds me of some of Isaac Asimov’s humor pieces). “Forms of Things Unknown” is about a dangerous trip to the moon. “After 10 Years” is a partial story (about 20 pages), a followup to a Greek myth. 
In general, the science fiction is “just” a carrier to get us to places unknown rather than being integral to the story. The stories themselves are good (though sometimes rough), laced with myth in his trademark way.