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The story begins with the [[philology|philologist]] [[Elwin Ransom]], some years after his return from [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] at the end of ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]]'', receiving a new mission from Oyarsa, the [[angel]]ic ruler of Mars. Ransom is to travel to Perelandra ([[Venus (planet)|Venus]]), a new [[Garden of Eden]] with a new [[Adam and Eve]], to oppose the diabolically inspired human physicist [[Professor Weston]] who has been sent to tempt the Eve figure.
 
Ransom arrives in Venus and finds it to be an oceanic paradise. One day is about 23 Earth hours, in contrast to Earth and Mars with their 24 and (roughly) 25 hour days. The sky is golden and very bright but opaque - the sun cannot be seen, hence the night is pitch black with no stars visible. TheStrange, mythical creatures roam the planetary ocean, which is dotted with floating rafts of vegetation; strange, mythical creatures roam the seas. These rafts look like small islands, and actually have plant life growing on them and animals living on them; however, due to the ocean underneath, they are in a constant state of motion like in an [[earthquake]]. Ransom quickly meets the Eve of the planet; unlike the inhabitants of Mars in ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]]'', she is human (because Maleldil became a man), but with green skin. She speaks the same Old Solar language that the hrossa of Mars taught to Ransom, so they are able to speak to each other. She mentions an island not far from there which, unlike all the floating rafts that Ransom has seen so far, is "fixed"... in other words, it is a real island, like on Earth. However, she mentions that she and her husband, the Adam of the planet, were forbidden to go to sleep on the island.
 
The tricky part of the story comes when [[Professor Weston]] arrives in a spaceship and lands on the island. He at first announces that he is a reformed man, but is obviously unconvincing; he still seeks power, but in a different way. He gets into a heated argument with Ransom, and gets angry, going so far as to invite [[demonic possession]]. However, his prayer is quickly answered as he sustains a fatal injury. Ransom flees; a demon enters into Weston who resurrects as a [[zombie]] or "Unman" and finds the Eve, trying to tempt her into spending a night on the island. Ransom meanwhile must act as the counter-tempter when he encounters them.