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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love these books. I read them as an adult and they were even more enjoyable to me than they were when I was a child. I think they are a wonderful choice for reading together with older children at bedtime or as audiobooks for a car trip or a rainy day.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
These books do hold up from my childhood. It was however extremely fascinating to view them from an adult, post-Christian lens, after deconstructing from Christian faith. The books are objectively good and it cannot be argued that they defined modern Western fantasy as much as Lord of the Rings did. It is interested just how much of a Christian allegory it is though and how much went over my head as a child. I thought it would bother me (as an ex-Christian) but it was more interesting than I thought, from a literary analysis perspective.
My favorite book in the series remains my favorite, after my reread, all these years later. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is #1, far and away, for its unparalleled imagination and cast including Lucy, easily the most lovable character, Edmund and Eustace, easily the characters with the most dynamic character arcs across the series, and our rich side cast of folks like Reepicheep and Caspian. Every side plot is a self contained story. This book is like a dream that you fall into and just keep having and when you wake up you lie there wishing you were still having it. Even years after reading this book last I would still have dreams about the vivid imagery in the final few chapters and pull it off my shelf just to read the descriptions again.
My other favorites are the Silver Chair, whose opening had me in such a chokehold as a kid that I once painted Jill looking over the cliff's edge. Rereading this one was fascinating because I began to see that this book had been referenced by other media I had seen since! Notable, that one episode in season one of Adventure Time where Finn gets captured by gnomes and taken underground. And of course there is The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which is the most widely known in the series for a reason. The lesser acclaimed Magician's Nephew deserves more praise than it gets, as this is one of the ones whose imagery most impacted me as a kid. That wood full of puddles lived in my imagination for a long, long time. The one that shocked me was one of my least favorite as a kid that I found sort of boring that was one of my very favorites upon re-reading - The Horse and His Boy. This one was such a good read. Maybe it was this new 'post-Christian' lens but it was incredibly fascinating to view it in that allegorical light, but beyond that, it was just.. good. Truly reads as a classic, epic folk tale.
Interestingly enough, my least favorites were the same as they were when I was a kid. Prince Caspian and The Final Battle. Prince Caspian spends half its time reminding you what happened in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, as if you aren't reading them one after the other. I'm pretty sure no one in the history of literature has ever just picked up Prince Caspian to read it without having read the prior books. It's tedious and frankly kind of altogether forgettable as a story.
The Final Battle is where the Christian allegory finally got too much for me. If The Horse and His Boy was a well written cultural metaphor, then The Final Battle is "what would it feel like if I taped a bible to a baseball bat and we roleplay that you're a pinata and I'm a 5 yr old with a sweet tooth." By the end of that book I remembered why I read most of the series 10-20 times as a child, EXCEPT for that last one, which I probably read twice at most.
All in all, I was really glad to finally reread them after all these years. They are always worth reading, as one of the defining series of the genre. They are at times quite outdated. You'll find deeply religious ideals and moral philosophy steeped into the narrative, archaic gender roles placed on the girls and supported by other characters and the text itself, and casual real-world racism reflected in the writing of Narnia's neighboring country, Calormen, which is characterized with dark-skinned 'barbaric' characters. They even do blackface in the last book to disguise themselves as Calormen knights. I had to set the book down for a minute there. But if anything, I think the existence of these issues makes this an even more valuable read considering what a last effect it had on the genre. Can't forget our roots, no matter how ugly they are.
My favorite book in the series remains my favorite, after my reread, all these years later. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is #1, far and away, for its unparalleled imagination and cast including Lucy, easily the most lovable character, Edmund and Eustace, easily the characters with the most dynamic character arcs across the series, and our rich side cast of folks like Reepicheep and Caspian. Every side plot is a self contained story. This book is like a dream that you fall into and just keep having and when you wake up you lie there wishing you were still having it. Even years after reading this book last I would still have dreams about the vivid imagery in the final few chapters and pull it off my shelf just to read the descriptions again.
My other favorites are the Silver Chair, whose opening had me in such a chokehold as a kid that I once painted Jill looking over the cliff's edge. Rereading this one was fascinating because I began to see that this book had been referenced by other media I had seen since! Notable, that one episode in season one of Adventure Time where Finn gets captured by gnomes and taken underground. And of course there is The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, which is the most widely known in the series for a reason. The lesser acclaimed Magician's Nephew deserves more praise than it gets, as this is one of the ones whose imagery most impacted me as a kid. That wood full of puddles lived in my imagination for a long, long time. The one that shocked me was one of my least favorite as a kid that I found sort of boring that was one of my very favorites upon re-reading - The Horse and His Boy. This one was such a good read. Maybe it was this new 'post-Christian' lens but it was incredibly fascinating to view it in that allegorical light, but beyond that, it was just.. good. Truly reads as a classic, epic folk tale.
Interestingly enough, my least favorites were the same as they were when I was a kid. Prince Caspian and The Final Battle. Prince Caspian spends half its time reminding you what happened in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, as if you aren't reading them one after the other. I'm pretty sure no one in the history of literature has ever just picked up Prince Caspian to read it without having read the prior books. It's tedious and frankly kind of altogether forgettable as a story.
The Final Battle is where the Christian allegory finally got too much for me. If The Horse and His Boy was a well written cultural metaphor, then The Final Battle is "what would it feel like if I taped a bible to a baseball bat and we roleplay that you're a pinata and I'm a 5 yr old with a sweet tooth." By the end of that book I remembered why I read most of the series 10-20 times as a child, EXCEPT for that last one, which I probably read twice at most.
All in all, I was really glad to finally reread them after all these years. They are always worth reading, as one of the defining series of the genre. They are at times quite outdated. You'll find deeply religious ideals and moral philosophy steeped into the narrative, archaic gender roles placed on the girls and supported by other characters and the text itself, and casual real-world racism reflected in the writing of Narnia's neighboring country, Calormen, which is characterized with dark-skinned 'barbaric' characters. They even do blackface in the last book to disguise themselves as Calormen knights. I had to set the book down for a minute there. But if anything, I think the existence of these issues makes this an even more valuable read considering what a last effect it had on the genre. Can't forget our roots, no matter how ugly they are.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Where to begin? I really should have taken more notes for myself bc I had a LOT of thoughts while listening to these on audio CD but this review is for the series as a whole. I also can’t believe this is going to count as only one book for my annual book count… If you don’t know ANYTHING about the Narnia series or the movies, do skip my review—not exactly spoilers per se but still.
Ranking:
1) Voyage of the Dawn Treader
2) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
3) The Silver Chair
4) The Magician’s Nephew
5) The Horse and His Boy
6) Prince Caspian
7) The Last Battle
Reasoning: Voyage is the most fun of the series, LW&W is most nostalgic and whimsical/hopeful/least Christian propaganda and Aslan is the most fun, Silver gave us a unique adventure to a realllly cool location but Jill was nearly insufferable, Magician I really enjoy the world between worlds and the origin of Jadis and Narnia—I used to rank this #1!, even though H&B is racially problematic I like the plot but dislike Old Testament Aslan, Prince Caspian was the most boring, Last Battle was bad, racist, and preachy—like a LONG Sunday school class of an allegorical Revelations but I liked the heaven part at the end. I read up to partway through Silver Chair as a child and so this was a first time for Last Battle.
Overall really good middle grade writing that is still entertaining to read as an adult. Narnia is a fun world, the stories are unique, C.S. Lewis is very good at painting pictures in the mind which is my favorite skill an author can have. I did research the order of the writing and original publications and I think that made the books make more sense—especially as the Christian themes were more salient is some of the books versus others.
My most theoretical thought is that C. S. Lewis praises the children who maintain their wonder, who embody the concept of “pure of heart”, and who have a sort of… androgynous personality of brave and tender (as we know these are of course what makes someone a boy vs a girl lol—his theme, not my opinion). He tends to “punish” or poo-poo the children when they say or do things that don’t align with these values—ex. that is why Jill is insufferable in Silver but redeems herself in Last Battle. It’s why Susan is left behind but Lucy is the most Radiant. Also, the girl children are more important overall than the boys but all the lead children who are born in Narnia are boys…? Have to think about that some more. And you can tell he lost his mother bc there are no moms in this but lots of dads/kings. Why are the two main adult women evil?
Ranking:
1) Voyage of the Dawn Treader
2) The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
3) The Silver Chair
4) The Magician’s Nephew
5) The Horse and His Boy
6) Prince Caspian
7) The Last Battle
Reasoning: Voyage is the most fun of the series, LW&W is most nostalgic and whimsical/hopeful/least Christian propaganda and Aslan is the most fun, Silver gave us a unique adventure to a realllly cool location but Jill was nearly insufferable, Magician I really enjoy the world between worlds and the origin of Jadis and Narnia—I used to rank this #1!, even though H&B is racially problematic I like the plot but dislike Old Testament Aslan, Prince Caspian was the most boring, Last Battle was bad, racist, and preachy—like a LONG Sunday school class of an allegorical Revelations but I liked the heaven part at the end. I read up to partway through Silver Chair as a child and so this was a first time for Last Battle.
Overall really good middle grade writing that is still entertaining to read as an adult. Narnia is a fun world, the stories are unique, C.S. Lewis is very good at painting pictures in the mind which is my favorite skill an author can have. I did research the order of the writing and original publications and I think that made the books make more sense—especially as the Christian themes were more salient is some of the books versus others.
My most theoretical thought is that C. S. Lewis praises the children who maintain their wonder, who embody the concept of “pure of heart”, and who have a sort of… androgynous personality of brave and tender (as we know these are of course what makes someone a boy vs a girl lol—his theme, not my opinion). He tends to “punish” or poo-poo the children when they say or do things that don’t align with these values—ex. that is why Jill is insufferable in Silver but redeems herself in Last Battle. It’s why Susan is left behind but Lucy is the most Radiant. Also, the girl children are more important overall than the boys but all the lead children who are born in Narnia are boys…? Have to think about that some more. And you can tell he lost his mother bc there are no moms in this but lots of dads/kings. Why are the two main adult women evil?
Content Warnings
The Last Battle is racist towards a fictional nation that is very middle-eastern coded. Horse and His Boy is about the same nation but isn’t as bad as the Last Battle—still problematic though.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The first time I read this book, I loved it. I haven’t read it since, and while fantasy isn’t really my thing, this one was amazing. Never before has a book made me regret reading others—because after I read this, every other book paled in comparison. I can’t believe that instead of them, I could have been reading The Chronicles of Narnia! So yeah, I loved it, and it definitely deserves this rating. After all, IT. WAS. AWESOME.