The Dark Tower

I had the pleasure (and agony) this week of reading C. S. Lewis' unfinished novel The Dark Tower, which is extremely fascinating, not least of all because it was originally intended as a sequel to Out of the Silent Planet. It also happens to be about that tried and true movie seller: time travel. Time travel, the novel begins, is not possible in the body, but that does not mean there are not other ways of accomplishing it. As the novel unfolds, Lewis' wit and academia are unleashed and right as the story reaches its most climactic moment (90 some pages into it) it stops. Mid-sentence. Lewis never finished the novel, but it is still a very good and interesting read. Props to Lewis.

The Dark Tower was published by Walter Hooper along with several short stories and another unfinished novel (though shorter in length and less of a disappointment because it was less developed). All are very interesting and quite gripping. Most are science fiction and all have to do with mental or psychological processes of some sort, except for the final partial novel, which is wonderful to read because of the plot twist at the end of the first chapter, a method also utilised in one of the short stories about traveling to the moon.

Reading Lewis' stories and partial novels really makes me want to write. But what do I want to write? Do I want to write my 175 page novel that is only half finished? Nooo... I want to write short stories for which I have absolutely no ideas. I'm usually filled to the brim with ideas and now that I feel competent to write, they have all fled me. Where does this leave me? With the drudgery of the novel, I suppose. Well, since my youtube video is taking so long to upload, I might as well work on the novel in the meantime.

The video is titled 'The PAK Baigent: Maiden Voyage'.