The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Title: The Chronicles of Narnia

Author: Clive S. Lewis

Pages: 765

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, is one of the very few sets of books that should be read three times: in childhood, early adulthood, and late in life. In brief, four children travel repeatedly to a world in which they are far more than mere children and everything is far more than it seems. Richly told, populated with fascinating characters, perfectly realized in detail of world and pacing of plot, the story is infused throughout with the timeless issues of good and evil, faith and hope. This edition includes all seven volumes.

When I first grab the book, my thought was, "Oh my! There's a whole lot to read." As you can see, I have watched the Chronicles of Narnia movies 1 to 3 (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of The Dawn Treader) before reading the book itself, and it was so thick!. So when I came across the 1st book, I was puzzled. I thought, "oh, so The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was not the first book." Which made me felt silly. Then I read on.

The Magician's Nephew was a delight read! This was the origin of the realms of Narnia. And as I have known the story of the wardrobe as their gateway to Narnia, it was exciting to know where it all started. And my curiosity was satisfied in this episode. It was like being kid again and really being in this adventure.

Then, this episode of the infamous The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was exactly as what the movie has reeled. So, while I was reading, it was confirming the story in my head as I have seen it. But it gave me a more learned sense why Aslan was someone to fear with by the enemies. So, I had admired Aslan more while reading on.

The Horse and His Boy was something else. I enjoyed every bit of it. It's like learning moral values from your father through his story. How the fate has played its part. It's a very simple story but it has a great impact to me, it became my favorite book on all 7 books. In here, there were no sons of Adam nor daughters of Eve from our world. Just a story about a prince who got separated from his family because of the prophecy that he will unknowingly fulfill. (Of course with Aslan's grace.)

The fourth book was turned into a film too...Prince Caspian. There were no love interest between Susan and Caspian in the book. The movie seemed to be grandeur than the book, nevertheless, I liked the book.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favorite movie amongst the Narnia films. It was the most exciting of their adventures as there were so many things going on in this story. They traveled to seek for the 7 Lords of Narnia and what they found was one of a kind journey to the ends of the world. I like the character of Eustace when he became the dragon (oops, that's a spoiler!) and in here Caspian found his wife.

Then, The Silver Chair was a different story where they embarked on a quests underworld. But before that, there were Gentle Giants who were not so gentle . Makes me recall the story about Jack and the Beanstalk. Exciting. Dangerous. When I started reading it, I didn't want to stop. It seemed on every page I was on the height of thrill.

Finally, The Last Battle, the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia, was a wonderful conclusion. I was so dismayed with talking ape named Shift (who was the villain) but hey, it was his job to make the reader angry. It was so effective that I wanted to port to Narnia to give him a slap in his crumpled face (because he was an old ape). So, again, Eustace and Jill came to the rescue. I was not so sure how it would go really, I thought that no one from our world would come, but they did. I was glad. Then the seven Kings and Queens came~~and I won't spoil it. You read the book to know why they came and I promised a nice ending awaits you.

While I was reading the last bit, I thought of the new heaven and earth that was promised to us by God. Because the story came to me like that, where everything is new and wonderful that you really can't describe it.

Clive S. Lewis was a great story teller. It felt like he was just there telling the story to me. How he put it to words were so amazingly simple to understand, yet very detailed and witty. I gave 5 stars to all books, they deserve it!

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