What 1938 novel began C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy?

Out of the Silent Planet began C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy in 1938. It introduced the philologist Elwin Ransom and sent him from Earth to the fictional planet Malacandra.

The novel combines planetary adventure with Christian theology, linguistic speculation, and criticism of imperialism. Ransom’s knowledge of languages becomes essential as he encounters several intelligent species and learns that Earth is known as Thulcandra, the “silent planet.”

Lewis wrote the book partly in response to what he saw as a shortage of imaginative, morally serious space fiction. His friendship with J.R.R. Tolkien also encouraged him to explore mythic and speculative forms, although the two authors wrote very different kinds of stories.

The two later novels are Perelandra, published in 1943, and That Hideous Strength, published in 1945. Together, the books form a connected but stylistically varied trilogy.