Perelandra is the 1956 C.S. Lewis novel in which Elwin Ransom travels to Venus. It is the second book in Lewis’s Space Trilogy, following Out of the Silent Planet and preceding That Hideous Strength.
In the novel, Venus is presented through the name Perelandra. Ransom arrives on a world dominated by ocean, floating islands, and a newly created human couple. He becomes involved in a struggle concerning obedience, temptation, and the future moral direction of the planet.
The novel combines planetary adventure with Christian theological ideas. Its Venus is not a realistic account of the physical planet known to astronomers; it is a deliberately imaginative setting used to explore free will, innocence, evil, and redemption. This distinction prevents a common misunderstanding about Lewis’s science-fiction world-building.
Ransom is the central protagonist of the trilogy. Although the books share characters and themes, each has a distinct setting: Mars in Out of the Silent Planet, Venus in Perelandra, and Earth in That Hideous Strength. The title Perelandra therefore identifies both the novel and Lewis’s fictional name for Venus.