The Chronicles Of Narnia

The Chronicles Of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis

First published in Great Britain between 1950 and 1956.

Made up of seven excellent books, The Chronicles Of Narnia was a series I grew up with.  I started (as most kids seem to) with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when I was about seven and then borrowed the others from the library.  I was going to choose just one of the books to write about, but decided that they all deserve some blog time as they have all been my favourite at one time or another.

I like the fact that C.S. Lewis has recommended a reading order for the Chronicles which is different to the order in which he wrote them.

The Magician's Nephew is first in his recommendation, and this is a wonderful story to introduce readers to Narnia.  In it we meet Digory, a young  boy who comes to London to live with his quirky uncle and becomes friends with a young girl named Polly.  Together, and with the help of magic rings, they enter another world and witness Aslan the lion creating the beginning of Narnia.  After several adventures the story ends with a brilliant link to the next - The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Set long after The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe introduce us to Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie.  These four children are evacuated to the countryside during the second World War and get into Narnia through a wardrobe.  Whilst there, they find that Narnia has been under an evil spell and is in a constant winter.  Slowly they gain allies and end up fighting the White Witch.  In the end they take their places at the palace at Cair Paravel and are named as Kings and Queens of Narnia forever.  This is perhaps one of the best known Narnia stories and the same characters are featured in two further stories.

The third book is probably my least favourite.  The Horse And His Boy follows on chronologically from The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, but is set in a different area of the magical world.  We meet Shasta, a boy who rescues a horse who can talk.  Shasta and the horse, Bree, flee north and meet princes and hermits.  They eventually reach Narnia but discover that Calerman (one area of their world) is planning a raid on Narnia's neighbour, Archenland.  For me, as well as this book is written it didn't add as much to the overall Chronicles as the others.  It paints a picture of Narnian life in good times, and so there are less obstacles for the characters.

The next two books are Prince Caspian and The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.  The first of these feature Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy when they are called back to Narnia to help Prince Caspian.  The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader is set mainly onboard a ship, and follows Edmund, Lucy and their cousin as they journey to find Narnian lords who have been put under a spell.  Whilst trying to make things right again the cousins come across a dragon, some Dufflepuds and meet Prince Caspian again.

The Silver Chair features Eustace again, but this time he is joined by a girl called Jill.  They get into Narnia and are given a task to find a lost prince.  I found Jill to be rather difficult to like - I'm not sure why, but I think I just feel more connected to the Pevensie children, having read their stories first.  I found the Silver Chair harder to get into, and found myself wishing the Pevensies would pop up again.

The Chronicles end with The Last Battle.  This is a book that does what it says on the tin, as it were.  The Calermenes have taken over Cair Paravel and so all allies of Narnia have been called together.  Eustace and Jill are called into Narnia to help, and end up fighting in the ultimate final battle.  The end of this book is a great tie up of everyone's stories and is one which I enjoy reading every time.

The entire series is so detailed that it is a great introduction to high fantasy for younger readers.  I remember the first time I read The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail in the characters, the geography and the history of Narnia, and how each stories was connected to another in some way.  I really like the endings to each book, they give a touch of suspense and lead brilliantly into the next one.  The adventures are all aimed at defeating evil and working together to save Narnia, and although the Narnians are a bit overly nice and chummy, it is an idealised world at the end of the day.  The books are full of metaphors and stories told within them, which help them to not be too simplistic.

Even though they are aimed at children, I would tell any readers to read these books.  The writing is not patronising at all; rather I feel I understand the layered meanings better as I have gotten older.  If you read them when you were younger I can promise that you will feel the same innocent excitement reading them again.  If you haven't read them, then do and give your imagination the perfect setting to go wild.