What is the author's style in Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis?

The novel is written mostly in the third person, from the point of view of a narrator with insight into the thoughts and motivations of the main character Ransom. The narration is mostly descriptive, but the narrator is also sometimes present in the story, as when he refers to events which take place outside the main story line. At the end of the book, the narrator takes over the story entirely and explains how he knows the main character personally and how he came to write the story based on the actual experiences of the main character. In the final chapter, the point of view shifts to the first person in the form of an excerpt from a letter written by Ransom to the narrator.

By shifting the points of view at the end of the novel, the author adds another layer of fiction to the story. By giving the character of the narrator his own name, Lewis, the author uses this extra layer of fiction to impart a sense of authenticity to the tale.

This shift also brings the story into the present day. The narrator makes reference to events the reader will supposedly be familiar with and which are related to the mystery unveiled in the novel. As this novel is the first in a trilogy of related books, the change in point of view provides a link to the next installment in the tale, and creates a framework on which the entire saga hangs.