Which 1943 C.S. Lewis novel is the second book in his Space Trilogy?

Perelandra is the second book in C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy.

Published in 1943, Perelandra follows Dr. Elwin Ransom after his journey in Out of the Silent Planet. He travels to the planet Perelandra, also known as Venus, where he becomes involved in a struggle concerning temptation, freedom, and the future of an unfallen world.

The novel is more concentrated and symbolic than its predecessor. Lewis combines planetary adventure with theological reflection, drawing on the biblical account of temptation while creating an entirely different setting and society.

That Hideous Strength followed in 1945 and completed the trilogy. The books are linked by Ransom and by recurring concerns about science, power, language, and spiritual corruption, but they do not follow the structure of a conventional modern space opera. Perelandra is sometimes incorrectly described as the first volume because it contains the trilogy’s central temptation narrative; its publication and narrative position are both second.