I just finished The Last Battle. My thoughts on the entire series are "Eh, it was pretty good."I like the characters a lot, there are so many bright and vibrant characters throughout these books. I love how mature the children become since they become incredibly wise beyond their perceived physical age since they live entire lifespans in Narnia and then revert back to being children when they go back to their own world and then when they come back to Narnia (as physical children) they have a wealth of knowledge and experience and they're able to get physically strong again in no time (despite being children) . I think the various Princes of Narnia are some of the best characters throughout the series. I love their courage, valor, and selflessness. In general, I really like the amount of agency the lead characters have. They have the power to make things happen. It's up to their determination and belief in Aslan that always allows them to see things through.I think The Silver Chair was my favorite. Eustace really grew on me as a character and the Lady reminded me a lot of the White Witch in how she feigns kindness, using deception and manipulation to lead people astray and get her way.
>>25354948Excellent. You may now proceed to the Space Trilogy.And Till We Have Faces afterward.
>>25355270i've never heard of these, I'm going to check out Out of the Silent Planet. Thanks
>>25354948>they live entire lifespans in Narnia and then revert back to being children when they go back to their own world and then when they come back to Narnia (as physical children) they have a wealth of knowledge and experienceThis bit is pretty weird when you think about it. I mean in their extended stay as kings and queens of Narnia they presumably get married and have children and stuff. So now they go back to being children with all that knowledge? You can't just say "they forget it all" since in e.g. Prince Caspian they all say stuff like "remember the moles digging the orchard?" and "remember that tournament?" etc. But is e.g. Lucy in Dawn Treader really a person with the memories of adulthood and everything that goes with it? No way.Maybe CSL had Matthew in mind: "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." But it's still just best not examined too closely.The Silver Chair isn't top-tier for me. Mostly because the Green Lady doesn't seem formidable enough (she's not much compared with the White Witch) and the final confrontation feels a bit anticlimactic after the whole extended giants episode.The Horse & His Boy has the best story I think, but it also suffers a bit from no really great antagonist. (But then only LWW & Magician's Nephew have really good villains.)
>>25355757It would've been funny to see descendants of Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy. >Looks down at these actual children>"You're my great-great grandparents!">The Silver Chair isn't top-tier for me. Mostly because the Green Lady doesn't seem formidable enough (she's not much compared with the White Witch) and the final confrontation feels a bit anticlimactic after the whole extended giants episode.The implications are what made it good. When they visited the giants, I felt fear for them when they learned the giants intended to eat them. In general, what holds back the series, like you get at with it being "anticlimactic", is that they never really dwell on anything too hard or scary. It's always full-steam ahead and they overcome challenges before the gravity of the situation can really set in.
A homeless book
>>25354948For me, it's A Horse and His Boy
>>25355270I don't say this to denigrate Clewis Slewis Lewis but to praise him:Till We Have Faces is probably the closest he has ever gotten to writing a canonical work of literature and indeed, in some circles, it has managed to achieve that canonicityIt's no coincidence that it is both among his earliest works (tracing its germination all the way back to his school years after having read The Golden Ass) and the last of his writings to be published. It was also heavily re-co-written by his wife Joy Davidson who he married quite late in both their lives (and who's death he grieved greatly soon thereafter). It is perhaps the most complete of his works.
>>25354948I hate modern covers so fucking much.
You better have read them in publishing order and not in “Chronological” order.I definitely like the different style that each book has. There aren’t really any that feel like straight up retreads. If I had to rank them, I’d probably go: Horse and His Boy > The Silver Chair > The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe > Voyage of the Dawn Treader > The Last Battle > The Magicians Nephew > Prince CaspianI still think they are all good, but found Prince Caspian to be the most forgettable. Magicians Nephew has some great parts, like exploring Charn or riding the Pegasus to the magic apple, but it also explains a bit too much.
>>25358350>Prince Caspian>most forgettableThe problem with PC is he doesn't introduce any big new thing. Everything in the book was either in LWW or easily extrapolated from it. (It even recycles the idea of Narnia under the control of a wicked power, with all the talking animals in hiding and so on.)It's a bit like a sequel to a hit film that just does all the same stuff again. Maybe that's what happened? It was the second one wasn't it? Maybe he was still nervous to go too far from what made LWW work.
>>25358350>You better have read them in publishing order and not in “Chronological” order.As a general rule everything should be watched/read in publishing order. In the real world any prequel story is written with the context of the original story in mind.
>>25358122If the edition is not illustrated by Pauline Baynes, don't even bother.
>>25358713Still doesn't get Lucy's hair the right colour.
