Perelandra is the second book in C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy.
Published in 1943, Perelandra follows Out of the Silent Planet, which introduced the philologist Elwin Ransom and the interplanetary conflict involving Earth, Mars, and Venus. In Perelandra, Ransom travels to Venus, known by its inhabitants as Perelandra. The planet is portrayed as a young world with floating islands and an unfallen human population.
The novel focuses on temptation, freedom, obedience, and the possibility of a world avoiding the historical catastrophe associated with Earth. Ransom confronts the Weston-like antagonist, now presented as a force attempting to corrupt the new world’s inhabitants. Lewis combines theological ideas with planetary romance and speculative adventure.
The trilogy’s third volume is That Hideous Strength, published in 1945. Because the three books differ greatly in setting and style, readers sometimes treat them as unrelated novels. Their continuity comes through Ransom, the cosmic conflict, and the moral consequences of humanity’s intellectual and technological ambitions. Perelandra’s title is the local name for Venus in Lewis’s fictional universe.