What is the name of C.S. Lewis’s science-fiction trilogy set partly on Malacandra?

C.S. Lewis’s science-fiction trilogy set partly on Malacandra is called the Space Trilogy. Its three novels follow the philologist Elwin Ransom through encounters involving Earth and other worlds.

The series begins with Out of the Silent Planet, published in 1938. In that novel, Malacandra is the name used by its inhabitants for Mars. The second book, Perelandra, moves the action to the planet Venus, while the final volume, That Hideous Strength, returns to Earth.

The trilogy combines planetary adventure with mythology, theology, language, and moral philosophy. Lewis wrote it partly in conversation with the science fiction of his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, although Tolkien’s projected time-travel story was never completed in the same form.

Some reference works call the sequence the Ransom Trilogy because Elwin Ransom is its central character. That alternative label can cause confusion, but “Space Trilogy” is the title most directly associated with the series as a whole.