I disagree a bit about CS Lewis and the Space Trilogy, which I've always just known as Out of the Silent Planet. The first book, Out of the Silent Planet, is so absolutely delightful as a certain take on what was then thought of as science fiction, the late 19th century and 20th century stuff until the 1930s. Ransom gets kidnapped to Mars by questionable fuckers who think the Martians will trade a human captive for gold. Ransom escapes and goes to live with the Martians. The picture of Ransom being carried on the back of a 12 foot tall Martian (my memory may be a little off) over mountain ridges, etc. is pure joy.

The 2nd book, Perelandra, where Lewis indulges himself with Christian theology, is so horrid that I can't even think about it to this day.

The 3rd book, That Hideous Strength, which is all about Merlin and Arthur, but really about the coming Nazi war in Europe, is really amazing. It's not at all about anything Christian, but about the ancient Anglo Saxon soul of the country, so papered over by Rome, which (Rome) is a bit of a stand-in for the Christian stuff CS Lewis even claimed himself to be an apostle of. Interesting, isn't it? Even CS Lewis, perhaps unconsciously, wasn't quite the choir boy he considered himself to be.

Oh, and I never read Star Maker, but I did read Last and First Men in college. I don't know, the 23rd Men or whichever one it was, who were just giant brains without a body at all: Strange things that could keep you awake at night many many years later.