C.S. Lewis gives the protagonist of his Space Trilogy the name Elwin Ransom. Ransom is a philologist and university academic who becomes involved in interplanetary conflict across the three novels.
The trilogy begins with Out of the Silent Planet, published in 1938. It continues with Perelandra in 1943 and concludes with That Hideous Strength in 1945. The first two books follow Ransom's journeys away from Earth, while the final novel returns to Earth and broadens the conflict into a struggle involving science, power, and spiritual forces.
Ransom's surname can cause confusion because the series also includes major characters such as Edward Weston and Devine. Ransom is the central returning figure, while those other characters occupy opposing or supporting roles in the trilogy's changing settings.