While on a walking tour through England, Dr. Elwin Ransom becomes an unwilling guest at the home of Dr. Weston, a physicist. Weston and his colleague Dr. Devine kidnap Ransom and take him to the planet Malacandra. Ransom believes that he is meant to be handed over to the inhabitants of Malacandra as a human sacrifice. On Malacandra, Weston and Devine try to present Ransom to the beings that come to meet them, but Ransom panics and escapes when the men are attacked by a large sea creature.

Alone on an alien world, Ransom discovers that he has no survival skills that apply to his surroundings. Barely able to tell the difference between animals and plants or plants and rocks, he is unsure what to trust as safe - even his sanity begins to dissolve. Driven by curiosity, he establishes contact with what appears to be a friendly seal-like animal. The creature gives him food and drink and takes him to its village.

Ransom settles into a peaceful life with these beings, the hrossa, and slowly finds his ideas about life, religion, and humanity stretched to new horizons. But before long, Ransom is summoned before the ruler of Malacandra. Fearfully and humbly, Ransom travels to meet the mysterious ruler of this strange world. Once again, Ransom finds his assumptions about life and the workings of the universe shattered.

Out of the Silent Planet is the first of three books by C.S. Lewis about Dr. Ransom. Ransom's adventures are continued in Perelandra and That Hideous Strength.

Other titles by C. S. Lewis:
Narnia Series:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (middle school)
The Magician's Nephew (middle school)
Prince Caspian (middle school)

Space Trilogy:
Out of the Silent Planet (highschool)
Perelandra (highschool)
That Hideous Strength (highschool - book only available)

The Screwtape Letters (highschool)

Additional Resources:
Chronicles of Narnia: Boxed Book Set
Chronicles of Narnia: Audio CD Set (unabridged)