3.35k reviews for:

The Silver Chair

C.S. Lewis

3.78 AVERAGE

ar_etc's review against another edition

3.0

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Probably my favorite of the 6 Narnian books I've read so far, although the frame device here is pretty much the worst in the series. In it Lewis seems to have branched out from religious commentary to social commentary and all I have to say is "Stay in your lane, dude." Lame, skippable first and last chapters aside, this is actually a good adventure. The secondary characters were each entertaining - I liked both Prince Rillian and Puddleglum. In fact, Puddleglum is probably my favorite character in the series... Eustace seems to revert to being kind insufferable after undergoing a positive transformation in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, however I am not sure that Lewis is aware that he is being insufferable and not just a regular teenage boy.

The places they traveled to were inventive and interesting and the characters mostly solved their own dilemmas instead of waiting for divine intervention. The obvious religious allegory was toned down, except for the final chapter and I wonder if its just a coincidence that the most agreeable of the books is also the least Aslan in it? JK, i don't wonder, its obviously why I enjoyed this one the most.

I should add that I did this as an audiobook and the reading by Jeremy Northam was excellent - one of the best in the series.

simply_tiffanyyy's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

lizzypopp's review against another edition

3.0

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I LOVE Puddleglum! He's so funny! And I thought that the part close to the end was pretty interesting. (I can't say more without being afraid of spoiling something for someone)

violettinwonderland's review against another edition

5.0

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THE chivalric children’s book.

mark_halfham's review against another edition

4.0

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surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. Lewis shows a slightly darker and creepy side to Narnia and introduces a lot of new lore and characters. It retains its childlike charm despite of this. Reminds me of the movie “return to Oz”

prmckinley's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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This story is like a Plato primer aimed at kids, and well done at that. Puddleglum is easily one of my favorite Narnians.

d_a_2412's review against another edition

2.0

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Most definitely the weakest of the series so far. It lacked character depth, the pacing was all over the place, and I didn’t find myself caring about anything that happened with the exception of the witch putting them under a spell.

It was also rather frustrating how Lewis tried to play all the plot twists off as shocking, when they couldn’t have been more obvious (‘we’re having you for dinner’ like how could that NOT mean they were going to eat them-)

I guess I liked the ending, and the inclusion of Caspian in Aslan’s country, but that’s all

ashblack's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

floatsomejetsome's review against another edition

2.5

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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All the books in this series are basically the same story, but this one is the weakest so far. The story struggled to keep my interest and the characters didn’t spark anything either.

matryoshkadoll's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No