Out of the Silent Planet Robert McClenaghan writes, ""Out of the Silent Planet", the shortest and most straightforward of the [Space Trilogy] books, incorporates many of the elements of classic science fiction, including a space flight, meetings with fantastic aliens, and an extended depiction of another planet. Were it not for the theological backdrop (which comes into focus only toward the story's end), "Out of the Silent Planet" could pass as merely a well-written and exceptionally erudite pulp novel." John Gosling, on his website devoted to "The War of the Worlds", wrote that the novel "is a very well written and important piece of Martian
Earthling English "yrþling", in the meaning "ploughman". The sense of "inhabitant of earth" is first attested in the 1590s. Its use in science fiction dates to 1949, in "Red Planet" by Robert A. Heinlein. The word "Human" has the same imposed meaning, since it originates from a PIE word "*ǵʰmṓ" "earthling" < "*dʰéǵʰōm" "earth". Compare Latin "homo" "human" and "humus" "earth, soil". Its modern use in science fiction literature contrasts "Earth" (the planet) with outer space or hypothetical other planets with sapient life. The term was often used in 1950s science fiction film and novels by aliens to express a disdainful