What is the name of C.S. Lewis’s first science-fiction novel, published in 1938?

Out of the Silent Planet is C.S. Lewis’s first science-fiction novel, published in 1938. It is the opening book of the trilogy later called the Space Trilogy.

The protagonist is Dr. Elwin Ransom, a Cambridge philologist who is kidnapped and taken to the planet Mars, called Malacandra in the novel. There he encounters intelligent species and learns that Earth is viewed as a fallen or corrupted world.

Lewis wrote the book partly in response to what he saw as the limited moral and spiritual imagination of much contemporary science fiction. The novel combines planetary adventure with ideas drawn from Christian theology, medieval cosmology, language, and philosophy.

Its sequels are Perelandra, published in 1943, and That Hideous Strength, published in 1945. Although the books share characters and themes, the third volume shifts from planetary travel toward a modern Earth-based conflict.