Narnia Book Series Views

General Goods

Set in the fictional realm of Narnia, a place where animals talk, magic is common, and good battles evil, the series narrates the adventures of various children who play central roles in the unfolding history of that world. With the exception of The Horse and His Boy, the protagonists are all children from the real world magically transported to Narnia, where they are called upon by the lion Aslan to protect Narnia from evil and restore the throne to its rightful line. The books cover the entire history of Narnia, from its creation in The Magician's Nephew, to its eventual destruction in The Last Battle.

Although Lewis originally conceived what would become The Chronicles of Narnia in 1939,[1] he did not finish writing the first book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe until 1949. The Magician's Nephew, the penultimate book to be published, but the last to be written, was completed in 1954. Lewis did not write the books in the order they were originally published, nor were they published in their current chronological order of presentation.[2] The original illustrator, Pauline Baynes, created pen and ink drawings for the Narnia books which are still used in the books as published today. Lewis was awarded the 1956 Carnegie Medal for The Last Battle, the final book in the saga. Fellow children's author Roger Lancelyn Green first referred to the series as The Chronicles of Narnia, in March 1951, after he had read and discussed with Lewis his recently completed fourth book The Silver Chair, originally entitled Night under Narnia.[3]

Fans of the series often have strong opinions over the order in which the books should be read. The issue revolves around the placement of The Magician's Nephew and The Horse and His Boy in the series. Both are set significantly earlier in the story of Narnia than their publication order and fall somewhat outside the main story arc connecting the others. The reading order of the other five books is not disputed.

Prince Caspian, later to become King Caspian X of Narnia, Lord of Cair Paravel and Emperor of The Lone Islands, also called Caspian the Seafarer and Caspian the Navigator , is the title character of the second book in the series, first introduced as the young nephew of, and heir to King Miraz of Narnia. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia is set 1300 years after the rule of High King Peter and his siblings when Old Narnians have been driven into hiding by Caspian's ancestors the Telmarines. They no longer live openly in Narnia and the talking beasts are believed to be mythological. Talk of them is forbidden in Miraz's castle.