Out of the Silent Planet is the first novel from Lewis's Space Trilogy, (also called the Cosmic Trilogy and the Ransom Trilogy,) considered to be his chief contribution to the science-fiction genre. A planetary romance with elements of medieval mythology, the trilogy concerns Dr. Ransom, a linguist who, like Christ, is offered as a ransom for mankind. On a walking tour of the English countryside, Ransom falls in with some slightly shady characters from his old University and wakes up suddenly to find himself naked in a metal ball in the middle of the light-filled heavens. He learns that he is on his way to a world called Malacandra by its natives, who also call our world Thulcandra...the Silent Planet. The Malacandrans see planets as having a tutelary spirit: those of the other planets are good and accessible, but that of Earth is fallen and twisted.