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vaughanbyrne 's review for:
The Magician's Nephew
by C.S. Lewis
Only an audiobook narrated by Phil Collins could make this any more like Genesis.
Nevertheless it's a fun, easy read and being aware of Lewis' and Tolkeins friendship and similar context brought my awareness to some similar themes in their writing, albeit penned in completely different ways.
I found the beginning of this book the most intriguing, the way Lewis imagines moving between worlds as well as the discription of these worlds is not too dissimilar from early H.G. Wells works. In some of his short stories, Wells plays with the idea of passing into other dimensions and how it might be achieved and what it might look and feel like for those on such a journey, and in doing so coined the term "parallel worlds".
Furthermore the "magician" in his wry wickedness is also reminiscent of some Wellsian mad scientist like Doctor Moreau or the Invisible Man. On that note, the way Aslan comands his newly minted intelligent animals not to slip back into their beastly nature reminded me of Doctor Moreau's commandments to his island of modified mutant animals (but far less grotesque).
I wonder whether Lewis was at all inspired by Wells or if these similarities exist only in my imagination. If nothing else, it shows that there is a wafer thin line between the genres of science fiction and fantasy.
Nevertheless it's a fun, easy read and being aware of Lewis' and Tolkeins friendship and similar context brought my awareness to some similar themes in their writing, albeit penned in completely different ways.
I found the beginning of this book the most intriguing, the way Lewis imagines moving between worlds as well as the discription of these worlds is not too dissimilar from early H.G. Wells works. In some of his short stories, Wells plays with the idea of passing into other dimensions and how it might be achieved and what it might look and feel like for those on such a journey, and in doing so coined the term "parallel worlds".
Furthermore the "magician" in his wry wickedness is also reminiscent of some Wellsian mad scientist like Doctor Moreau or the Invisible Man. On that note, the way Aslan comands his newly minted intelligent animals not to slip back into their beastly nature reminded me of Doctor Moreau's commandments to his island of modified mutant animals (but far less grotesque).
I wonder whether Lewis was at all inspired by Wells or if these similarities exist only in my imagination. If nothing else, it shows that there is a wafer thin line between the genres of science fiction and fantasy.