As someone who has been known to start series smack in the middle—with both books and television shows—I tend to be a bit agnostic on the question of “what order should I read/watch these in?” With three exceptions:
Legends of Tomorrow, which everyone, without exception, should start in the second season, only tackling the first season much, much later after getting a chance to realize that these characters can actually be fun.
Blackadder, which everyone, without exception, should also start in the second season, only in this case, never return to the first season at all.
And The Chronicles of Narnia, which everyone, without exception, should read in publication order.
That is:
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Horse and His Boy
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Last Battle
At least for the first read.
It’s fair to say that not all readers, or even all publishers, agree with me. After all, the story of Narnia—its very very earliest beginnings—technically starts with the sixth book on that The Magician’s Nephew, which tells the story of the creation of Narnia, in a scene C.S. Lewis pretty much ripped off straight from the then-unpublished work of his close friend, J.R.R. Tolkien. (Tolkien later noted that he did not think overly highly of the Narnia books, with this sort of thing presumably partly why.) The events of The Horse and His Boy happen during the last few pages of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, featuring various characters from that book in various cameo appearances. And lots of people like to start a story at the very beginning.
Plus, reading the books in publication order does mean smashing head-on into arguably the weakest work of the entire Narnia series, Prince Caspian, a work that not only contains several bits that really don’t make a lot of sense, once scrutinized, but also is largely told in a flashback format, and has a comparatively weak ending that can and has left readers dissatisfied. So perhaps not the best approach.
Also, to be fair, the publication order doesn’t always match the written order. The Horse and His Boy is not just set in the last few pages of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but was also written before The Silver Chair, despite being published afterwards. It’s the sort of publishing thing that happens all the time, but for readers focused on following a writer’s development and reading books in the order that they’re written, well—publication order isn’t the best way to do that for the Narnia series.
And C.S. Lewis himself once told a young fan that chronological order was probably the best way to read the series.
This all presumably explains why several editions of The Chronicles of Narnia now list the books in chronological order—to the point where many readers now think that the chronological order is the publication order.
This is still wrong.
I say this, because in later rereads, I did try to read the Narnia books in chronological order. And let me tell you what happens when you try this:
The Magician’s Nephew pulls away quite a bit of the magic.
Part of the joy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is just how much is left unexplained—that lamppost shining in the trees, for instance, with presumably no source of gas or electricity; Mrs. Beaver’s sewing machine; why, exactly, Father Christmas is visiting a land which shouldn’t even have Christmas. Aslanmas, sure, but Christmas, no.
The Magician’s Nephew tries to explain quite a bit of this, in the process robbing the scenes of their wonder (and screwing up the geography of Narnia; the Lamppost should not be as far away from other places as it is)—while, aggravatingly, still leaving other elements—like that sewing machine—unexplained, or for that matter, making even less sense—like Father Christmas—than they did originally.
And reading these books in chronological order just spotlights how inconsistent they are. For instance, at the beginning of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Tummus the Faun is not certain that humans even exist—he even has a book on his shelves that asks that very question, presumably in the negative, given his surprise upon seeing Lucy. In The Horse and His Boy, which, again, takes place during The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, we find out that just south of Narnia—no more than a couple of days riding on horseback, is an entire empire filled with humans. That is something, frankly, a little easier to overlook, or at least accept, when you have a few books to read between these moments, including books that showcase other humans, rather than trying to suggest that the Pevensies are the only ones around.
Worse, just because The Magician’s Nephew was written and published after the other Narnia books, it includes several elements that don’t appear in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe because C.S. Lewis hadn’t thought of them yet. So, for instance, Polly and Digory look at what will be Archenland and other lands, mentioning them—places that, if you read in chronological order, won’t be mentioned for a few more books.
And although reading in publication order does mean contending with Prince Caspian fairly early on, starting with The Magician’s Nephew means beginning with another weak link in the series. Granted, in either reading order, it takes awhile to reach the best book in the series, The Silver Chair, but with publication order, you at least get to lead off with a good book. With chronological order, you get weak book first—and one that spends very little time in Narnia. Oh, the London stuff in it is all very amusing—some of the best comedy stuff that Lewis ever wrote—but it’s not Narnia.
No. Read in publication order, so that you can read along as Lewis starts discovering this world—a world that can be reached if you just find the right sort of wardrobe. A world that in many ways resembles a dream, what with the talking animals and the inexplicable sewing machines and the parcels apparently just purchased by a Faun in a land that seemingly has no stores—but is, the author assures you, quite quite real. And then, in the next book, find out that yes, it’s a world that you can return to—not on your own, but with help. Maybe. For one more trip. A world that is just a bit larger than it initially seemed. A world with dragons. A world with giants. And an entire empire that managed to go unnoticed on your first visit.
And then—only then—read how it was created, right before you read how it ends.
If you do, however, continue to wrongly insist that the books be read in chronological order, here they are:
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Horse and His Boy
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
Mari Ness Lives in central Florida.
Your are wise and correct in all you do or say. Publication order is the One True Way.
<3
I believe that in your last large paragraph you wrote “chronological” when you meant to write “publication” as the order in which Lewis discovers Narnia.
And I agree, publication order is the only thing makes sense. The Magicians Nephew exists to try to answer questions a new reader doesn’t yet know to ask.
Ursula – Corrected, and thanks!
I agree with you about the order, but I think you’re being unfair to “Magician’s Nephew.” Your points about the inconsistencies of the world-building aren’t wrong, but I think it’s a decent book in its own terms. The Charn sequence is eerie and effective, the Wood Between the Worlds is magical, I really like Diggory and Polly, and Uncle Andrew is hilarious yet believably awful.
After reading that note about The Horse and His Boy, I think the most satisfying reading order would actually be the order they were written (so, mostly-chronological but with one flashback)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – the obvious introduction to the setting
The Horse and His Boy – set in parallel to the ending, either a new viewpoint character
Prince Caspian – the original leads return, which will feel.like a bit less of a retread since we’ve had another book in between, plus we just had a look at their castle in it’s heyday at the end of the last book so seeing it in ruins will be a bit more poignant
Voyage of the Dawn Treader – direct sequel
The Silver Chair
Stop here because that’s the height of the series
If you must continue:
The Magician’s Nephew – end with the prequel showing how the setting came to be. Even though both in tone and.content it doesn’t fit with the rest in a couple of ways it’s still a decent book and has its moments.
Stop there. No, really this time.
Agree with you 100%. Thank you.
— Michael A. Burstein
Mari – thank you, thank you, thank you. I am not often fiercely argumentative about such things as “reading order”, but in this case I will(and have!) never cease to make the case that publication order is and must be the order in which the series is to be read. I thought I was going to make a longer comment here before I started reading your article, but you already hit on the main point that I was going to make – namely, that you lose the sense of magic and wonder when you start with The Magician’s Nephew. Reading LWW first will introduce you to Narnia as no other book does and the sense of awe and wonder and joy…simply beautiful. How/why would we want to rob readers of that!?? I know not.
Secondly – I do truly love Magician’s Nephew as a book…and part of the reason it is such a marvelous book to read is that when read after the rest of the books(I even read it after Last Battle, but it still works!), it answers so many questions and fleshes out the prehistory of Narnia and is a book I was stunned and oh so eager to devour when I first read it as a boy of eleven or so. It scratched that itch of understanding the history of a thing and seeing how everything fit together. When you read it first…it’s a simple origin story that really lacks a sense of gravitas because you don’t understand why you *should* care about the beginnings of Narnia etc.
Thirdly….just thank you again for writing this. You are the best.
I agree, I think they should be read in publication order. If for no other reason than that prickling-on-the-back-of-the-neck moment when, in the Magician’s Nephew, you know WHY there is a lamppost growing in the middle of the forest in the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe.
As I understand it, there were some revisions made by Lewis for the US editions from the British editions, presumably to clear up some plot issues and character consistency issues among the books. Has anyone compared them? Also, I seem to remember reading that at his death, Lewis had planned significant overall revisions to deal with worldbuilding issues as well.
I’ve started reading these aloud to my son. Our order so far has been
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Horse and His Boy
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
We haven’t progressed further yet. I moved up Horse and His Boy from publication order since it does have most of the Pevensie kids in it, at least for a bit.
Tolkien disliked Narnia because he hated allegory. He disliked people suggesting his own books were allegory for his war experiences, and in general just had no use for it. And Narnia is most definitively allegorical.
The less Jesus-y the better, I say. Magician’s Nephew is second only to The Silver Chair in this series, and The Last Battle is racist.
I read them too long ago for the first time, and too many zillions of times in no particular order after that to remember what order I first read them in. Publication order is probably wisest, but if someone did it differently and was happy, I wouldn’t say (or think) that was wrong.
The Magician’s Nephew is basically a novel-long retcon, so I feel it and the earlier books would clash whether ot not it was someone’s first Narnia book. But it definitely wasn’t mine, so I wouldn’t know.
Alternative plan: Read the first one as a child. Stop there. Accept that the state of the art when it comes to fantasy has moved on and read something else. Never realize that the whole series is actually just one weird screed.
Read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first, whatever you do.
Technically, it is never clearly stated if the Calormenes originally came from Earth or some other world, so they might not have qualified for the prophecy in Narnia. I’ll assume the White Witch managed to eliminate all the Archenlanders who were male line descendants from the first human king (sons of Adam) or female line descendants from the first queen (daughters of Eve). Any male without an Earth-human Y chromosome or a female without Earth-human mitochondria didn’t qualify.
As a child I read them in chronological order and it never struck me as a problem, so I’ve done the same when reading them to my sons, who also found nothing wrong with that. The only one that tires me to revisit as an adult is Prince Caspian, which is just dead in the water through its second half.
If I recall correctly, the Magician’s Nephew was written to prepare people for the Last Battle. He had to explain items showing up in the final book so readers weren’t confused.
I liked the Magicians Nephew, and I think it works the best of all the books save The Silver Chair. I think the book I like the least is Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, because there is just too much whimsy in it (and too much Santa Claus) for my tastes.
Of course I still agree you have to read its contents early because of the serialization problem that it creates if you omit it or leave it out. It is essentially the same problem I have with serialised television. The weakest and least likeable episodes of any show are always the ones you need to watch to get the rest of the story to make sense. Episodic storytelling not only gives you stronger stories, but also allows you to skip the ones you don’t like.
In the case of Narnia, my reading order would be:
Magicians Nephew
Horse and his Boy
Skim the Narnia Wiki for plot of Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe and pretend it was a prequel you just need for plot set up and which dicked about with the characters from A Horse and His Boy rather than the other way around.
Then read the next three books (Caspian, Dawn Treader, Silver Chair) as a trilogy. Stop there.
Do not read the Last Battle, ever.
The first time I read them I started with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe because my mum said it was where you were supposed to start (I agree that it would be madness to begin anywhere else, the first time). After that I followed chronological order because that’s how my boxset arranged them and I had no competing information at the time.
Having the context to understand what was being explained, I very much enjoyed The Magician’s Nephew and the continual realisation that this is where that thing came from. It might be my favourite. On rereads I start there, and follow chronology, and it makes sense to me.
Of course, where chronological order failed me is that I could not get into The Horse and His Boy the first time, and while I was dragging myself through it the fifth Harry Potter came out, so I jumped ship and didn’t return to the series for years, unaware that the Pevensies were even going to show up again.
I can see why you’d want to follow publication order insofar is it makes sense to read all the Pevensie stuff in order, uninterrupted, but after The Silver Chair the timeline jumps all over the place and I imagine I’d find that frustrating – though I’ve never tried reading them in that order.
The sense of wonder at discovering Aslan in his full feline glory after chapters and chapters of hinting and build up in LWW is severely undercut by having an entire prequel of “lion lion lion” come first. Publication order is best order
The other argument for publication order: In Magician’s Nephew, it doesn’t just explain the deeper mysteries (the lamp post, e.g.) — there are auctorial asides making it clear that while the events happen prior to the previous books, the tale is being told to readers who are already familiar with the previous installments. Even the opening paragraph basically says, “This is going to be a prequel.”
@21 Absolutely! And regardless of when H&HB was actually written, SC specifically references the story as one that will be told at a later time
(although before I break my arm patting myself on the back for maintaining purity of vision, I should probably admit that I did go through a lengthy period of insisting on reading Magician’s Nephew first)
On a side note, if one starts Blackadder in the 2nd season (a good choice!) and never, ever returns to the first season, then one misses Brian Blessed as King Richard IV. One should never, ever miss Brian Blessed, especially not as King Richard IV. One may as well miss Xmas (Blackadder Xmas Carol-style) as miss Brian Blessed. Especially as King Richard IV.
@24 — This is a true statement.
And skipping Blackadder S1 also means missing out on such lines as, “You ride a horse rather less well than another horse would.”
Silver Chair is best? What blasphemy?!
I may be greatly biased by my childhood preferences and I haven’t done a re-read in maybe four years but Silver Chair was always my least favorite.
Related question: WHEN should one start reading the series? I ask since I want to introduce it to a precocious and voracious-reader grand-niece of seven (who’s inherited the family trait of lapping her schoolmates) but I won’t be around when she’s reading it. I was introduced to Lewis at that age, but that was with my father reading it to me, so I’m unsure when a smart girl would be set to handle it independently
I think you make good points mostly. I myself really don’t care for the series as a whole, I think LWW, PC, VotDT are the best, SC is alright. I enjoyed Magician’s Nephew, I do agree maybe read it later.
However, the part where you highlighted the inconsistencies about humans being in the world- I think it’s safe to say that not many Narnians probably traveled outside of Narnia, and the idea is that there are no humans *in Narnia* so the other countries probably aren’t counted in that. Narnia isn’t the realm or world, it’s the country.
That’s my perception, at least.
@24 Yes! You would also miss Peter Cook’s Richard III, Frank Finlay’s Witchsmeller Pursuivant, and the episode where Blackadder becomes the Archbishop of Canterbury.
@28 I definitely agree with you on there being humans in the world of Narnia outside of the country of Narnia while the White Witch is in power. It seems to me that she is magically keeping all humans out of Narnia and that the wardrobe portal is a loophole that allows the Pevensies to get in under her magic. I think this leads to a lot of fun speculation about how the White Witch goes about doing this. She for sure has human-repelling spells at the borders of Narnia, but I also suspect that she is able to magically detect or track any human born in the Narnia world. This would be why it is important that the Pevensies come from Earth.
My recollection is that Lewis did not actually tell a young fan that internal chronology was best. The fan wrote to him saying that he wanted to shelve his books and read them in that order, and Lewis replied saying that if he wanted to do that, he could do it with Lewis’s blessing. Not at all the same thing.
Why all the hate for The Last Battle? I was moved to tears by that book.
I suggest you start reading in the library, that way you know if you want to spend the rest of the time on the books.
I’m with you on reading the sequence as it was written (as I am re Blackadder!). ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ is an origins type story: I actually think it’s best enjoyed if you’ve already finished ‘The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe’ – part of its charm is seeing how Lewis tries to explain away the inconsistencies of ‘The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe’. Ironically, I reckon the latter is so vividly written precisely because it was written without a great deal of forethought* – as if Lewis were describing a particularly memorable dream.
I only ever had four favourites: ‘The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe’, ‘The Magician’s Nephew’, ‘The Silver Chair’ & ‘The Last Battle’. ‘Prince Caspian’ has a great opening sequence, then goes steadily downhill. Fantasy novels that revolve around sea voyages are often an excuse for lazy world-building and ‘The Voyage of the Dawntreader’ is a case in point, while ‘The Horse & His Boy’ has more of an ‘Arabian Nights’ type vibe than a Narnian vibe (for me, anyhow).
* I mean (if my memory serves me correctly) the White Witch actually gives Edmund directions re how to get back home. Seriously? If she’s worried about humans venturing into Narnia maybe she should have made sure they had no way of getting there in the first place.
Now we need a similar analysis of whether it is necessary to read Susan Cooper’s “Over Sea, Under Stone” before reading “The Dark is Rising”, or whether it can be safely treated as a separate work and read independently.
What is incontestably true, however, is that no one should watch the movie that claims to be based on “The Dark is Rising”.
Love this! I am an adamant supporter of publication order for Narnia. I admit to generally being pro-publication order for most series, though. That’s partly due to things already mentioned such as The Magician’s Nephew is written with the assumption that the reader already knows Narnia. It’s harder to read without the knowledge. Additionally, if you look at the series as a journey of faith – and let’s not forget that it is about faith – then it makes more sense to go with publication order since your faith can’t be tested until you actually have that faith. You don’t get to learn the deepest secrets of your faith until you are already into it.
(Ugh, last post got munched. Should have been:)
Am I the only one here who liked The Last Battle?
And I’m amazed at all the praise for The Silver Chair. I remember it as being one of the worst, one I’d skip over on re-reads
#35 – Definitely, no one should ever (be forced to) watch that “film”. Textbook Hollywood wrecking a fine source.
Personally I think Over Sea, Under Stone (and Greenwitch) are probably best ignored. The Dark is Rising stands alone just fine, and is head and shoulders above the rest of the series. If you want more, the final two books work ok without OSUS, and GW.
Mari,
Much as I respect you and like your writing…
you’re flat out wrong on this, in part because The Magician’s Nephew is one of the best books in the series (though The Horse and His Boy of course give it a run for its money, and I’m partial to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, despite its weaknesses).
So, chronological order.
This is the order I listened to them in and I personally think it’s the best order. You get most of the story in chronological order but then, kind of like a flash back, you get the origin story, just before you see the close.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Magician’s Nephew
The Last Battle
The Last Battle: yes, it has flaws, but it also has moments of sublime beauty. Plus a tender relationship between the last king of Narnia and a unicorn. Plus a passage which has helped countless people at funerals.
“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now…Come further up, come further in!”
My vote goes with JoeNotCharles’s written order, though publication order is fine. Narnia-chronological order puts too many elements out of place.
But to make more sense of the series, which some (many?) have considered disjointed and haphazard, I strongly recommend reading C.S. Lewis scholar Dr. Michael Ward’s “Planet Narnia,” which argues, very convincingly and with voluminous evidence, that the series is based on Medieval cosmology, which was one of Lewis’ specialties and turned up in other of his books. (The gist of the argument can be read for free on the website, but the book offers much more detail and is a very good companion to the series.)
And with that background, both “The Magician’s Nephew” and “The Last Battle” make a LOT more sense.
@35 when I read Over Sea and Dark is Rising, I didn’t realize that they were even related to each other until the characters started showing up in each other’s books farther down the line.
As for Narnia, I am firmly in the published order camp.
I read Dark is Rising many times before I found out it was part of a series. I think it was because of that movie, but that’s the only good thing about it, it has nothing to do with the book except stealing some names.
Correct reading order:
Northern Lights
The Subtle Knife
The Amber Spyglass
The Book of Dust.
Why start Narnia at all when you have Pullman?
Skip the first series of Black Adder?! Madness. I must’ve seen it at least five handred hand five times over the years.
@32
The reason I dislike The Last Battle is partly the incredibly obvious religious overtones, it feels like Lewis felt enough people weren’t getting his metaphor and decided to beat us over the head with it, but mostly it is because it deals with almost the entire cast of the previous books in a way that makes Kirk having a bridge dropped on him seem like a noble and dignified exit. And the one who doesn’t die, Lewis somehow manages to make having them survive seem even more spiteful than the deaths. Plus it wraps up Narnia as a world, leaving it dead and gone. A magical world, and it is dead before we are even able to start looking for it.
The Last Battle is a book that had an entire world shot down over the sea of Japan on its way home. A feat of bitter ending not equalled until Douglas Adams published “Mostly Harmless”.
Perhaps someone more well-read than I could speak to this assumption from a better knowledge of timing and biographical “fact,” but I would certainly prefer to think of these two great minds brainstorming with their group of Inklings and choosing to go write their own versions of the central idea.
Mari@0: I’m fascinated that you consider Prince Caspian the weakest book. IMO, the movie of Voyage of the Dawn Treader broke on the basic weakness of that book, that it is not a coherent story but rather a string of random episodes with no plausible connection (AFAICT — I’ve never read it with a key to symbolism, which might make a difference.) It’s true that Eustace grows up enough to be heroic in The Silver Chair, but that’s not much of a plot (and doesn’t require nearly all the episodes).
baughwout@27: I read LWW when I was eight: young enough to be wowed by the concepts without tripping over Lewis’s presenting Christian mythology as something uniquely wonderful instead of stolen from many older mythologies. I was bright rather than precocious (e.g., an obsessive reader but didn’t learn to read early). The one thing I’d worry about for today’s young readers is how far back they have to reach to understand Lewis’s story backgrounds. e.g., both my parents served in WWII, so I knew why the Pevensies were in the countryside, and I’d seen houses like that one; would your niece trip over items like this or just breeze past them to get at the plot?
JasonD@32: The Last Battle makes Lewis’s racisms particularly blatant and emphasizes his sexism (discussed as the Problem of Susan).
Cappio@46: [snortle]
As an unrepentant completist (I once spent an entire summer reading all the Ngaio Marsh Inspector Alleyn stories – all 32 novels, anyway) I have to say that one should watch The Black Adder and then stop (that’s season one). If you must watch more then the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth almost makes up for the previous 17 episodes and Blackadder: Back and Forth has a few giggles…
First I read was _Voyage of the Dawn Treader_. It worked well enough for me.
Agree completely on Legends of Tomorrow. The first season is a long drudge, but the second season is surprisingly fun and light – hitting the right tone for a ridiculous show.
Disagree completely on favorite books in Narnia. My favorite is The Magician’s Nephew and my least favorite is The Silver Chair. My favorite scene in the Magician’s Nephew is when the queen/witch is trying to conquer London. Also, I think Prince Caspian is a fun adventure – and it has a pretty great battle.
As for order, I do prefer the publication order myself. I do think that gives a better journey through a fantastic world.
Russell H. asked about edits for the American edition. The major one is the ending of the Dark Island chapter in VDT. IMO, the American version is much stronger (and it’s the one I read first; so when I read the British version it was a bit of a jolt). FYI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Dawn_Treader#Differences_between_British_and_American_editions.
I’m an advocate of publication order, too. Reading LWW first allows a new reader to discover Narnia along with Lucy — a magical experience.
Also, I like Prince Caspian, love The Last Battle, and am so-so about The Silver Chair and The Horse and His Boy.
I’m going to have to disagree (wrongly!) and recommend the author’s preferred reading order as the series is cyclical, much in the same vein as The Dark Tower.
@54: Wow! How could I not have heard about this before? It is the pre-1994 American edition that I read. I agree it is stronger, and I think I actually prefer it (with the exception of the elimination of “stupid”)…although the preference might only be “first-read” bias.
What’s your beef with the sewing machine? Isn’t it just foot-powered? I have used a treadle machine; heavy and clunky but reliable. Those were invented between 1790-1850, no need for electricity or gas.
Read all the books, in chronological order. Then learn to read braille and stick a fork in your eyes before you ever accidentally see even one second of the abominations that were the Walden Media movies.
Lucy is blond! It’s kind of a big deal in the book. And it just goes downhill from there.
Crap, I meant chronological as to how they were published. Not Narnia timeline. I just realized my mistake.
Quinn, even a treadle powered sewing machime requires a significant industrial base to build it, to supply spare parts for it and to supply suitably smooth thread to use with it.
@50: I’ve read that the islands in VoDT exemplify different sins — greed, vanity, I don’t remember what else. But I hadn’t noticed that. I love VoDT, my favorite Narnia book, for tbe same reason it’s considered weak — it’s a series of interesting adventures with relatively low stakes. Seemingly low, anyway; Narnia would have been majorly affected if King Caspian had died or been trapped out there, but I didn’t think about that as a kid. I quite disliked the film turning it into a world-saving mission.
VoDT (like the other books) is problematic in many ways, as Ana Mardoll’s deconstructions have taught me. But I continue to love it. I performed in a middle school musical of it, a greatly fun experience.
@61 Please tell me you sang the Reepicheep song! That mouse is the reason I love VotD. I cry every time.
Yes, Reepicheep sang his prophecy, though I didn’t play him. I played a Dufflepud, a “book puppeteer” turning the pages of Coriakin’s giant spellbook (it was about as tall as me), and part of the sea serpent.
Seeing how Lewis himself said at some point that Magician’s Nephew should be read first, I see no problem with that. It’s the way I read them and I loved each and every one of them.
I’ve had the same trouble recently with MJ Sullivan’s Riyria series. I chose timeline over publication date = Chronicles over Revelations, but Chronicals 3 wasn’t stocked in our local library. Now I’m in the First Empire, further back still – and he just added another Chronicle! Really enjoying his work but another where reading order is flexible.
As to Narnia, I really scrambled them recently. I read Nephew/Horse/Caspian/Chair/Wardrobe for reasons unclear to me. Might as well go straight to That Hideous Strength now before the last battle..
I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first, and then the rest of the series in chronological order, so I agree with most folks on that, and I also like to pretend that The Last Battle doesn’t exist. However, I would really like an explanation as to what is so great about The Silver Chair and what was so bad about Prince Caspian? Personally, I think LWW is the best, but Prince Caspian and Dawn Treader were close seconds for me, and I was not that fond of the Silver Chair, though maybe I was just mad that Lucy wasn’t in it.
I absolutely agree that The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe should be your introduction to the world. After that, I don’t know how much it matters.
FWIW, I actually did read them in chronological order, BUT I grew up with an old animated version of the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe that I watched dozens of times and had basically completely memorized, so by the time I read the books (which I didn’t actually read until college) I was pretty familiar with the story.
I still think that movie is the ‘real’ Narnia movie :)
The Prequel is becoming a more common and problematic phenomenon: but in the case of Narnia, publication order is best.
I am horrified by all the hatred towards _The Last Battle_, which was for me one of the clearest experiences of Sehnsucht in my life. Why is it fashionable to say criticism of Islam (which is a race, not a religion) is racist, yet people despise Christ and Christianity? How can you recommend against a book that literally ends with everyone dying and going to Heaven? Or condemn it as any more “racist” than any of the other books? Lewis alienates many of his Evangelical readers by allowing Emeth to go to Aslan’s Country.
And before I caught on to the Christian themes in the books, I enjoyed _Prince Caspian_ far more than LWW.
Without a doubt, publication order is the way to go! I read LWW when i was eight and got through the rest in short order. Weirdly, I often thought about which books I liked the most and it usually went this way: 1. Dawn Treader 2. LWW 3. The Silver Chair 4. The Magician’s Nephew 5. Horse and His Boy 5. Prince Caspian 6. The Last Battle. I really loved the idea of the voyage and the different islands and the salvation by trial of nasty Eustace.Reepicheep!! LWW had the endless Winter, the Narnian Snow Queen, the salvation by trial of nasty Edmond and Aslan’s great sacrifice after the really frightening gathering of evil creatures.
i think that i should read it the way you suggested, but my teacher wants me to read it the way it is in order.
i dont know what to choose.
Yes, yes, and yes. YES. If you do end up with a book set in the “chron” order, please read them in the published order. You’ll be so much more pleased for all the good reasons asserted here.
Actually I reread the series a few years ago as I had never actually read them, having just watched the animated film, the tv series and the live action movies over the years. I followed the magician’s nephew novel first sequence and found that it doesn’t really work due to it sort of explaining away the mystery of Narnia (which I am sure someone if not numerous people have pointed out). I then re-read the sequence with MN second and it works so much better because The LWW sets up the lampost why the wardrobe as mysteries of a kind. However, the biggest shock to me was how short each story was upon actually reading them, somehow I always saw them as being closer to the hobbit in length if not quite LotR but I managed to read each novel in about 2 hours which always left me slightly disappointed in a “I want a meal but I got a snack” way.
As to why people tend to dislike The Last Battle, I always thought that was the most personal of the books to the author, after reading about his life, and certainly the most adult in terms of the motivations and characterisations of the characters. But I can see why people who enjoy the simple joy of the other books can feel slightly confused and disenchanted by the book.
My support stands with the few who have championed LWW before MN and then in chronological order.
While I can understand those who like having the Pevensie/Eustace stories one after another, I strongly dislike the idea of having two books of world-building leading into the end. It feels to me as though they are back-tracking the world to build up the history to allow for The Last Battle, which diminishes their value. It also raises the issue for me that introducing Digory/Polly into Narnia just before they are called to see its end does not give the same sense of meeting again old friends, instead, feeling like a massively time-displaced sequel where the Pevensies were the originals friends of Narnia (which they are not, despite being written first).
Additionally, when read in chronological order (or even with LWW and MN switched), one gets the sense of Narnia having a rich and intricate history and geography, and we are kept involved in the world in all its aspects until the point where we must farewell Narnia and accept its passing. By contrast, the published order makes me feel we are attempting to stay in a world past our time by reading stories largely unrelated to the original characters until we are forced to depart through Narnia’s death. Is not letting the world go when it is our time one of the repeating themes of the series?
Personally I started the series with Voyage of the Dawn Treader, because I liked the cover. I do not recommend this but it didn’t do me any lasting harm. So start wherever.
Can’t a sewing machine be powered by a foot pedal?
Or, since they are Beavers, water power?
It’s probably a good thing that Narnia was destroyed in The Last Battle. A portal to a universe where time runs thousands of times faster is an exceptionally dangerous object. In 1940, Narnia’s technology level was around the High Middle Ages. If you went through the wardrobe today, you’d probably encounter Skynet or something.
@78, yeah, but there would be a lot less Mad Idolatry and lion worship in it and more peaceable space exploration too.
(as anyone who watches The Orville knows)
Publication order for all of them, but skip Pullman – he sucks.
Great piece! Thanks for this. I can’t forgive publishers for reordering the books based on a haphazard comment by Lewis that was absolutely not meant to change the entire reading order of his books.
Part of the pleasure of the original order, as others noted, is discovering Narnia right along with Lucy. It’s the most magical moment in the story, that moment when the wardrobe keeps going on and on and on… and she emerges into the crisp air of a winter forest. Not to mention the revelation of who Diggory is — it means so much more to discover that later, and to realize in hindsight that this little boy will become the old professor.
I do love Magician’s Nephew and it’s definitely one of my favorites. I love the combination of tragedy and comedy, and think it’s a lovely book. I love all the books, although I always feel like poor Prince Caspian is better than it’s reported to be (and made a surprisingly great movie).
I love Silver Chair, but my heart loves Wardrobe, Dawntreader, and Magician’s Nephew the most. But I always reread them all when revisiting them.
Lewis didn’t actually say that, though. My understanding is that a fan asked him if they could read the books that way, and he basically shrugged and said, “Why not?” I don’t think he ever seriously advocated for reordering the books.
@67, That animated version had some great moments! And the score was gorgeous (it won an Emmy — I still remember the melody). I watched it again recently (it’s on YouTube) and still enjoyed it, although the White Witch just shrieks through the entire thing, which gets old quickly.
Meanwhile, I know a lot of people hate the Walden films, but I thought they were gorgeously done. I loved the kids who were cast, LOVED Tilda as the White Witch (her showing up WEARING Aslan’s mane to the battle is fantastically hardcore), and loved that Prince Caspian was a darned good movie, and arguably even better than Wardrobe. I don’t think anything else quite lived up to it (I thought Dawntreader had good moments but the sea serpent battle felt interminable to me). I know they’re supposedly returning by making Silver Chair, and I’m willing to give it a chance.
But then I’m a sucker for moments. The movies have given me enough beautiful little moments that reminded me of the first time I read those books, so I will always love them.
Meanwhile, yes, read Wardrobe first. Please do.
I’ve been reading this in publication order so far from Lion to Silver Chair & currently still catching up. I just got through reading The Magician’s Nephew and found myself enjoying it I think more than the others I’ve read. But I like Magician’s Nephew as an overall fantasy, not for the sake of continiuty.
PS- Yeah, Prince Caspian’s quite the dudd. Whats worse is that you HAVE to get through if you want to read the rest of the series.
Nice article! I just want to ask this:
“…Polly and Digory look at what will be Archenland and other lands, mentioning them—places that, if you read in chronological order, won’t be mentioned for a few more books.”.
What other places are mentioned?
I can assure you all, from reading this book to groups of 7-8 year olds for many years now, that LWW is the way to start.
I never get tired of the wonder in their eyes when the wardrobe keeps going, the fear when the bells ring outside the cave, the sadness into joy of Aslan’s return.
I leave the other books in whatever order to them and hope they find them on their own some day.
No the order goes
1 The magicians nephew
2 The lion, the witch and the wardrobe
3 The horse and his boy
4 Prince Caspian
5 The voyage of the dawn treader
6 The silver chair
7 the last battle
Would you start with the Silmarillion? (You’d abandon Tolkien if you did.)
I like the publication order, but I will say the books are pretty much readable in any order. I actually started with Caspian (which I liked). Then The Last Battle. And then reverted to the publication order.
TLB was a Little depressing for a kid, looking for an adventure story, as in the end, they “lose”, but still quite good and riveting when I first read it. Just didn’t like having to go to Heaven instead of winning like in Caspian.
I liked and still like the Horse and his Boy the best. Yes, it’s “racist” (not really, but OK, culturally biased). But it does have a fascination for the Middle East. And a love story.
@mari:
So I read these back in an era when the books were numbered on their spines in publication order. I 100% agree with the points made in the article; but if I’m being honest, I’m probably mostly a proponent of the publication order because of my own personal familiarity. It’s how everything was formed in my imagination, and it just looks so odd when I see the current sets’ numbering.
So all that said, I truly enjoyed the series, although my favorite is very clearly LWW, the first one that captured me. And admittedly, I spent most of the books wishing that there were more of the four Pevensies in them. I identified very strongly with Susan and was rather heartbroken at her dismissive ending in the seventh book. I would love to see someone rewrite an alternative version of that book once copyright laws allow!
Thanks for your writing!
mm