The Shoddy Lands by C. S. Lewis Episode #379

C. S. Lewis | May 28, 2025

The Shoddy Lands by C. S. Lewis Episode #379
C. S. Lewis

THE SHODDY LANDS

Episode #379 · Written by C. S. Lewis · Narrated by Scott Miller

A brief lapse of attention drops one man into a world that looks familiar—until he notices how poorly it’s been made. What he discovers reveals more about human desire than about any alien land.

A casual moment of boredom opens the door to something deeply strange. While sitting in his college rooms, a man finds himself abruptly transported into another world—one that looks familiar at a glance but falls apart under scrutiny. Trees lack structure. Grass has no blades. The sky has no depth. Everything feels unfinished, as if reality itself has been poorly copied.

As he wanders this unsettling landscape, he notices a troubling consistency. Certain objects appear vivid and complete, while most of the world remains vague and second-rate. When he encounters the inhabitants of this place and finally glimpses its true center, the experience shifts from curiosity to quiet horror. The Shoddy Lands is not about monsters or machines, but about perception, values, and the danger of living only for appearances.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C. S. Lewis was one of the twentieth century’s most versatile and influential writers. An Oxford and Cambridge scholar, he moved effortlessly between academic criticism, fantasy, theology, and speculative fiction. His work is marked by clarity, intellectual rigor, and a gift for making abstract ideas feel immediate and human.

Although best known for The Chronicles of Narnia, Lewis wrote many shorter works that probe the moral and psychological habits of modern life. In The Shoddy Lands, he delivers a concise and powerful allegory about vanity, consumer culture, and inner emptiness. It remains one of his most pointed and unsettling short stories, revealing how an imagination untethered from reality can quietly hollow out an entire world.

LISTEN TO THE STORY

Listen to The Shoddy Lands by C. S. Lewis — a classic science fiction short story exploring perception, vanity, and a world shaped by surface desire.

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The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked #1 in 33 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 3.2 million listens, introducing classic science fiction to a global audience of devoted fans.

Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.

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Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.