A Voyage to Arcturus combines fantasy, philosophy, and science fiction in an exploration of the nature of good and evil and their relationship with existence. Described by critic and philosopher Colin Wilson as the “greatest novel of the twentieth century”, it was a central influence on C. S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, and through him on J. R. R. Tolkien, who said he read the book “with avidity”. An interstellar voyage is the framework for a narrative of a journey through fantastic landscapes. The story is set at Tormance, an imaginary planet orbiting Arcturus, which, in the novel (but not in reality) is a double star system, consisting of stars Branchspell and Alppain. The lands through which the characters travel represent philosophical systems or states of mind, through which the main character, Maskull, passes on his search for the meaning of life. David Lindsay was an author now best remembered for the philosophical science fiction novel A Voyage to Arcturus. The secret of Lindsay's originality as a novelist lies in his metaphysical assumptions.
