Which C.S. Lewis novel follows the protagonist Mark Studdock at the N.I.C.E.?

That Hideous Strength follows Mark Studdock as he becomes involved with the N.I.C.E.

Published in 1945, the novel is the third volume of C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy. Mark is a sociologist who joins the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments, or N.I.C.E., and becomes entangled in its attempt to use scientific and bureaucratic power to reshape humanity.

The story alternates Mark’s experience with the perspective of his wife, Jane Studdock. It combines modern institutional satire with Arthurian elements and ideas about spiritual and technological control. The N.I.C.E. is fictional, but its atmosphere reflects Lewis’s concerns about dehumanizing systems and the misuse of science.

The novel is often mistaken for a straightforward sequel to the Mars and Venus adventures. It shares the trilogy’s broad setting and themes, but its action occurs mainly on Earth and its tone is closer to dystopian social fantasy than planetary adventure.