Which C.S. Lewis novel features the planet Mars under the name Malacandra?
Answer
Out of the Silent Planet
Answer
Out of the Silent Planet
Out of the Silent Planet features Mars under the name Malacandra.
C.S. Lewis published Out of the Silent Planet in 1938, introducing the philologist Elwin Ransom to a science-fiction story of interplanetary travel. Ransom is kidnapped and taken to Mars, which the inhabitants call Malacandra.
The novel is the first book in Lewis's Space Trilogy. Its depiction of Mars differs sharply from the older popular image of a dying planet inhabited by aggressive beings. Lewis instead presents several intelligent species and explores language, morality, and humanity's place in the cosmos.
The two follow-up novels are Perelandra, published in 1943, and That Hideous Strength, published in 1945. Malacandra is Lewis's fictional name for Mars, not the name of a separate planet in the trilogy.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026