A Voyage To Arcturus

Author: David Lindsay

Science fiction has produced some pretty weird novels in its time, but there aren't many that can match A Voyage to Arcturus. It has had a major influence on writers like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, while others have dismissed it as virtually unreadable. But if you're in the mood for a wild intellectual ride, this is the book for you. At a sance in Scotland, Maskull meets characters called Krag and Nightspore, who invite him to come to the planet Tormance orbiting the twin suns of Arcturus. But when he arrives, Maskull finds himself alone. There follows a journey through lush and extraordinary landscapes, during which Maskull finds himself growing and losing new organs: a tentacle, a third arm, a third eye. All of the encounters he has along the way allow Lindsay to explore and then dismiss different philosophical ideas, eventually arriving at a position something like Gnosticism. Why it's on the list: This is a Marmite book: you'll either love it or hate it, there doesn't seem to be any middle ground. But whichever it is, this is a true one-off, there's been nothing quite like it before or since.