The only critic I've been able to find who's argued against your book after
having read it is Devin Brown. Of his criticisms, the inconsistency of the
imagery seems most substantial to me. He argues that “Ward's proposed
planet-related imagery does not stay rooted in its “home” book, but
appears scattered randomly in all seven Chronicles. For every image that
fits Ward's scheme, we can find one that does not.” He's offered the
prominent appearance of Bacchus and Silenus in Caspian as a
counter-example to your argument, since these are clearly jovial characters. I
agree that there are strong Martial images in Caspian, but could it be that
Lewis sought to make both Mars and Jupiter especially present in this volume?

You say that Bacchus and Silenus are 'clearly jovial characters'.
Why? Is it that they are festive? Festivity is definitely an
important feature of Joviality, but we must understand what kind of festivity
we're talking about! The festivity of Jove is kingly, leisured, serene,
majestic, regal; it comes in the wake of priceless sacrifice. The
festivity of Mars is tied to a different set of qualities: it's Bacchanalian,
sensual, reckless. It's very close to drunkenness! It's more of a
riot than a feast. It's the sort of abandonment to pleasure that comes as
the backswing to physical risk, – like Orual's deep drinking after her single
combat in 'Till We Have Faces'. It's like the sap surging up through the
trees in March.

I have addressed some of Devin Brown's concerns in a
conversation we've been having on Narniaweb.

Why do you believe Lewis only emphasized one planet per novel?

One's enough! In 'That Hideous Strength' the planetary
themes are numerous and they get in the way of each other. Lewis himself
thought that 'That Hideous Strength' was overstuffed. Better to
concentrate on one planet at a time, as he does in the Chronicles.

As the rest of the series are adapted to the big screen, what influence do
you think your discoveries should have on the movies?

I hope that 'Planet Narnia' will convince the screenwriters
that the Chronicles are very carefully constructed novels. They were not
just slopped together and dashed off in five minutes one afternoon! If
the screenwriters realise how much thought and creative intelligence went into
Lewis's composition of the Chronicles, hopefully it will cause them to respect
and understand their source material more and stop them from making some of the
unnecessary changes which they introduced in the first two films.

One reviewer of Planet Narnia, Rachel Fulton, claimed that your
discoveries require a reconsideration of more than just the Chronicles.
Seeing as most Lewis scholars have been convinced of your thesis, how do you
think your discoveries will impact the general study of C.S. Lewis?

I hope that 'Planet Narnia' will contribute to an
understanding of Lewis as a more integrated writer and thinker than people have
generally recognised.

Walter Hooper said that “This will make Michael Ward's name.”
Are you planning to continue working on Lewis, or do you have other plans
for the future?

I already have two definite plans for further Lewis
study. The first is a popular version of 'Planet Narnia', – shorter,
simpler, with more pictures! The second is to co-edit the forthcoming
'Cambridge Companion to C.S. Lewis', which should be ready for publication in
2010. Aside from those two projects I have several ideas, some related to
Lewis and some not. But I'm not telling people about these plans yet
because they are still at a very early stage.