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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Definitely the worst of the series. Though there are some lovely moments near the end, the first half reeks of racism and xenophobia to the point that it nearly ruins the series. The book is overly preach-y, and not at all in line with the wonder and magic of the rest of the series. There’s a reason it’s so forgettable.
This book made me angry, on a few different levels. I'm going to talk fairly openly about this, and there's kind of two tiers to the spoilers. The short version is I had a lot of problems with this book, and rating it 2 stars is pretty much entirely because of scenes like Jill being so good at sneaking through underbrush that she sounds like a special forces soldier or something. Tier 1 of spoilers is me talking openly about stuff in the story, but not about the ending. Tier 2 is a discussion of the ending.
If you don't want spoilers for this book published in 1956, then the take away should be that it is Not Good, and its main redeeming quality is that it's a fast read. If you don't care, then read on.
Also, fair warning: there's swearing by the end.
SPOILERS TIER 1: STORY BUT NOTHING ABOUT THE END
What the hell. Really, CS Lewis?
Alright, here's the deal: in The Final Battle, our heroes are all white, and they are good. The evil people are dark-skinned Middle Eastern stereotypes, who worship a bird-headed multiple armed god. At one point the idea that Tash could be another name for Aslan, but NOPE it turns out that Tash is totally evil and the "opposite" of Aslan, which means the racist caricatures worship the Devil. Also, the main shitty character is a talking ape who dresses up a donkey to be an imitation Aslan/Jesus. That part isn't explicitly racist on its own, but with the entire rest of the book being what it is, it's probably safe to assume it's racist and I just missed an important clue.
Also, the white characters have to go in brown face to hide among the bad characters, and the Dwarves that lose their faith in Aslan (in the story it actually makes sense they would) go around calling these bad guys "Darkies" over and over. To their faces. As a taunt.
What. In the stupid hell.
SPOILERS TIER 2: THE ENDING
So. The heroes - who by this point have done super racist things - die? I guess? It sounds like they get murdered in a fight, and are tossed into a stables to die. But Good News: God...er, Aslan...brings them to Heaven/Narnia, where they reunite with all of the other human ("Sons of Adam/Daughters of Eve") characters who crossed over to that point, and even their own parents. Well...except for Susan. Susan, you see, grew up a little bit, learned to like "lipstick" and dating, and therefore is not allowed in...Heaven, I guess? But it's a little unclear, because all these kids have died in a single massive train crash, which is why they're suddenly back in Narnia, but the Heaven Narnia.
Regular Narnia is lost to the Calormenes, aka the Racist Caricatures, and then the book speeds up. There's a clear implication that these people successfully enslave/murder all the Narnians, nobody is ever saved from this for as long as the world lasts, and then the world FUCKING ENDS AND IS EATEN BY DRAGONS, then a time giant snuffs out the sun, and the souls of all the creatures of Narnia either end up in Heaven Narnia or vanish into shadows, presumably going to Hell (which I think is...Calormene?). But all the characters that we have grown to know - these children and their Aunt and Uncle, everyone but Susan who had the gall to not be a stunted child - die in a fucking train crash.
Thanks for reading all seven books, I've murdered everyone for you!
Fuck you, CS Lewis.
If you don't want spoilers for this book published in 1956, then the take away should be that it is Not Good, and its main redeeming quality is that it's a fast read. If you don't care, then read on.
Also, fair warning: there's swearing by the end.
SPOILERS TIER 1: STORY BUT NOTHING ABOUT THE END
What the hell. Really, CS Lewis?
Alright, here's the deal: in The Final Battle, our heroes are all white, and they are good. The evil people are dark-skinned Middle Eastern stereotypes, who worship a bird-headed multiple armed god. At one point the idea that Tash could be another name for Aslan, but NOPE it turns out that Tash is totally evil and the "opposite" of Aslan, which means the racist caricatures worship the Devil. Also, the main shitty character is a talking ape who dresses up a donkey to be an imitation Aslan/Jesus. That part isn't explicitly racist on its own, but with the entire rest of the book being what it is, it's probably safe to assume it's racist and I just missed an important clue.
Also, the white characters have to go in brown face to hide among the bad characters, and the Dwarves that lose their faith in Aslan (in the story it actually makes sense they would) go around calling these bad guys "Darkies" over and over. To their faces. As a taunt.
What. In the stupid hell.
SPOILERS TIER 2: THE ENDING
So. The heroes - who by this point have done super racist things - die? I guess? It sounds like they get murdered in a fight, and are tossed into a stables to die. But Good News: God...er, Aslan...brings them to Heaven/Narnia, where they reunite with all of the other human ("Sons of Adam/Daughters of Eve") characters who crossed over to that point, and even their own parents. Well...except for Susan. Susan, you see, grew up a little bit, learned to like "lipstick" and dating, and therefore is not allowed in...Heaven, I guess? But it's a little unclear, because all these kids have died in a single massive train crash, which is why they're suddenly back in Narnia, but the Heaven Narnia.
Regular Narnia is lost to the Calormenes, aka the Racist Caricatures, and then the book speeds up. There's a clear implication that these people successfully enslave/murder all the Narnians, nobody is ever saved from this for as long as the world lasts, and then the world FUCKING ENDS AND IS EATEN BY DRAGONS, then a time giant snuffs out the sun, and the souls of all the creatures of Narnia either end up in Heaven Narnia or vanish into shadows, presumably going to Hell (which I think is...Calormene?). But all the characters that we have grown to know - these children and their Aunt and Uncle, everyone but Susan who had the gall to not be a stunted child - die in a fucking train crash.
Thanks for reading all seven books, I've murdered everyone for you!
Fuck you, CS Lewis.
I read The Last Battle as a child, but completely missed significant parts of it that shocked me as an adult. Makes me wonder if the end of this series was as traumatic for the reader as the end of Harry Potter.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A summary of how C.S. Lewis concludes the series:
...and then they died. I could tell you all about it but I won't. The end.
I did not expect a lazy ending for the series, but there it was. Aside from the ending, I didn't love the book and struggled to keep my attention for such a short book. My advice? Read books 1-6.
...and then they died. I could tell you all about it but I won't. The end.
I did not expect a lazy ending for the series, but there it was. Aside from the ending, I didn't love the book and struggled to keep my attention for such a short book. My advice? Read books 1-6.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Writing a Christian allegory that spans 7 books is an impressive feat; however, The Chronicles of Narnia series doesn't wrap up in all the ways I necessarily expected. This book is more violent than the others in the series, which maybe I should've expected given the title.
Spoilers ahead:
Spoilers ahead:
Spoiler
I think the allegory somewhat breaks down in two places. One, Lewis does Susan dirty. She grows up and gives up on the dream-like idea of Narnia, which is coded as faltering in faith, but she doesn't get to go to paradise with her siblings just because she learns to adjust to her real world? Second, there's a weird scene at the end with a Calorman named Emeth who served Tash (heavily implied to be the devil), where Aslan says that all the good deeds he did for Tash were really done for Aslan, even if Emeth didn't know it. This sounds a lot to me like universalism, which is fine, but doesn't really fit the rest of the theology of the books? I don't know. But I'm happy to discuss with anyone who has read the series.
Lewis astounds me. His picture of creation and judgement are so helpful to me. I sometimes get ashamed of myself for not feeling the same emotions when reading the Bible, but I think I wouldn’t feel so connected or emotional about Lewis’ writings if I didn’t already have a firm biblical foundation and faith.
adventurous