Perelandra was published by John Lane at The Bodley Head in 1943 and is the second volume of Lewis’s Space Trilogy — and arguably the finest single work of theological fiction in the English language. Ransom is sent to Perelandra (Venus) by the Oyarsa of Malacandra to prevent the repetition of Earth’s Fall: the Un-man (Weston, now possessed by demonic intelligence) has come to tempt the Green Lady, Perelandra’s Eve, into disobeying Maleldil’s one prohibition — sleeping on the Fixed Land.
The Novel
The opening chapters describe a Venus of extraordinary beauty: floating islands of golden vegetation on a warm ocean, fruit that tastes of every good flavor simultaneously, a sky permanently lit by golden clouds. Lewis’s descriptive prose reaches its peak here — the experience of the floating islands, with their constant gentle motion, is rendered with a sensory vividness that has no parallel in his other work.
The theological drama is a re-enactment of Genesis. The Un-man tempts the Green Lady with arguments that are intellectually sophisticated and emotionally seductive — essentially the argument that disobedience is maturity, that to defy God’s command is to grow up. Ransom counters, but he is outmatched rhetorically. The Un-man never tires; Ransom does. The debate goes on for days.
Lewis’s most daring narrative decision is Ransom’s realization that the temptation cannot be defeated by argument alone — it must be defeated physically. Ransom attacks the Un-man and destroys its body in a horrifying underground fight. This is Lewis’s argument that evil cannot always be reasoned with; sometimes it must simply be fought.
Collecting Perelandra
First edition (John Lane / The Bodley Head, London, 1943): Green cloth binding. Dust jacket.
Market values (with dust jacket):
- Fine in dust jacket: $5,000–$15,000
- Very good in dust jacket: $2,000–$5,000
- Without dust jacket: $400–$1,000
First American edition (Macmillan, New York, 1944): $1,000–$3,000 in dust jacket.
Wartime printing restrictions make first editions scarce, and the dust jacket — always fragile — is often missing or damaged.