What is the first novel in C.S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy?

Out of the Silent Planet is the first novel in C.S. Lewis’s Ransom Trilogy.

Published in 1938, the novel introduces Elwin Ransom, a Cambridge philologist who is kidnapped and taken to Mars, known in the book by its older name, Malacandra. Ransom escapes and learns about the planet’s cultures, languages, and spiritual order. The story combines planetary adventure with philosophical and theological themes.

The next books are Perelandra, published in 1943, and That Hideous Strength, published in 1945. Together, the three novels are often called the Cosmic Trilogy or Space Trilogy. Their settings and styles differ: the first two focus on planetary journeys, while the third brings the conflict to Earth.

Lewis wrote the trilogy partly as a response to the scientific romance tradition associated with H.G. Wells. He was interested in space travel as a literary setting but used it to examine human pride, colonialism, scientific power, and the nature of good and evil.