Friday Favorites: The Chronicles of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

Recommended For: All Ages

Rating: PG

Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first book in the magical series The Chronicles of Narnia, a wondrous fantasy adventure for all ages. The next book in this amazing series is titled Prince Caspian.

When I was four and I had just recently started listening to stories at night with my older two siblings, my parents decided to introduce us to the wonderful world of Narnia, and we read all seven books out loud at night (not the same night, many multiple nights until we finished them). Ever since, The Chronicles of Narnia have been a beloved favorite that the movies never have lived up to. It is my humble opinion that either you love Narnia, you read them in the wrong order (I know quite a few people who have done so), or you haven't been introduced.

Let's see, what can I say about The Chronicles of Narnia? They're awesome, they're wonderful, they have great scope for imagination...did you know that it never says in the book that Edmund was stabbed in the stomach by the White Witch's wand? (I guess we all just assumed...)

But for all you non-Narnia fans out there, you need to go read them. Now. Start with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or you probably won't love them. I don't care what everybody including the publishers say: you cannot start with The Magician's Nephew. End of story. I could give you a dozen reasons, but I will refrain. Still, though...

If you asked me what is my favorite Narnia book, I really couldn't tell you. They all have such wonderful memories and are just so awesome...but if I had to pick, I would probably pick The Last Battle. Not just because everything's (literally) perfect at the end, but because...it's so awesome. (I know, I'm using that word a lot. Bear with me here.) Shift infuriates me, and yet, he is part of what makes me love the book so much. He's so much like men of today, and how they triumph over him...it's just awesome.

Who's my favorite character? I don't know. Aslan? I love him, but...maybe Lucy, or Peter. Possibly Shasta or Aravis, Eustace or Jill, Rilian, or perhaps Caspian. I love Tirian, and you can't forget Reepicheep. And then Digory and Polly... They're just all so wonderful.

These books are a classic for a reason. Nobody, and I mean nobody should miss out on them. And you can't just watch the movies, either. The Wonderworks version is not very well made, and while The Silver Chair is a mostly faithful adaption, they...probably aren't worth it. (Except The Silver Chair, maybe.) And plus, the beavers in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe are seriously creepy.



See? Creepy.

The newer movies...The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is enough like the book to be good, but Disney ruined Prince Caspian, and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader wasn't very well made and the screenplay definitely wasn't well-written. Basically, if you want to be perfectly happy with them, sick to the books. And please read them. In the proper order. Now I'm off to work on a fanfic with Jace from Ilyon Chronicles in it.