Malacandra is the fictional planet setting of C.S. Lewis’s first Space Trilogy novel, Out of the Silent Planet.
Published in 1938, the novel follows philologist Elwin Ransom after he is kidnapped and taken into space. The planet called Malacandra by its inhabitants is identified with Mars in the story. Ransom encounters several intelligent species and begins learning their languages and customs.
The novel’s title refers to Earth, which Malacandran inhabitants call Thulcandra, the “silent planet.” Lewis uses the science-fiction setting to explore language, colonialism, moral corruption, and humanity’s relationship with other intelligent life.
Perelandra is the setting of the second book, published in 1943, while That Hideous Strength largely returns to Earth in the third. Because the trilogy’s invented names resemble one another, readers sometimes incorrectly assign Perelandra to the opening novel.