Nathan Mconald

4.5

Well there we are, the end... it was a tough choice between 3 or 4 stars for this one as there was a lot I did like and a lot I didn't. It was a strange finale, it wasn't as epic as I expected, it had an odd plotline that was a little confusing at times ( I know this is for kids but I feel like either some things didn't make sense or Lewis didn't explain things properly) it was interesting having this false Aslan arc with Shift who I thought would be an interesting villain but ultimately was fairly underwhelming and went out like a chump or chimp?

I feel very torn about this book... I did enjoy it but I wanted to enjoy it more than I did, this was my first time reading it fully but when I was younger I used to listen to a radio dramatisation of it, so it holds a lot more of nostalgia for me, however reading it all the way through for the first time as an adult the book felt a bit all over the place. I liked the set up in Victorian London and the mystery behind Uncle Andrew and his rings and he proved to be a fairly interesting character, and I enjoyed the world of Charn for a change of pace and it was interesting to see that there are other worlds besides Narnia, it was also interesting seeing Jadis' again and her backstory as I feel she's been the best villain in the series so far, though with only one book to go I doubt there will be better, it was funny seeing her in London as well, once we get to Narnia though I began to lose interest, it was essentially the book of Genesis with a Narnian makeover, and it all felt quite rushed and random from all that had happened in the book previously, I also realise more and more how much it helps to be a Christian to read these books in the Aslan sections as it is just endless descriptions of how great he is and him giving lessons to everyone, as an atheist I found these sections too long. I liked the very end with explanations for how the wardrobe and lamppost came to be and wrapping up the story quite nicely.

Digory and Polly were okay enough characters, there wasn't much to them, the most interesting thing was who Digory grew up to be and the plotline with his mother. Polly was fine, she was kind of just Lewis' typical female character, feisty but never fights and is the moral good, though I liked her better than Jill. I also like the Cabby and Strawberry as characters. Ultimately this book was enjoyable and I feel like I've been really negative which isn't my intent because it's definitely worth reading and good fun, it just wasn't my favourite of the series, I will be interested upon a reread in chronological order to see if that changes the experience, as now I'm going from the first book chronologically to the last which will be an odd jump.

Still highly recommend reading and if you like Narnia don't pass this one up. Very interested to see what the Last battle will hold.

Sooo, I overall really enjoyed this book but I think it took a while to get into it. I found the ending to be the most interesting part which probably isn't a great thing. The story was fine, and a unique one as far as Narnia goes, being the only book not follow characters from our world entering Narnia. The thing I've really enjoyed about the series is that each book builds and shows us more of this world (I know that should be a given for any series) but Lewis does it so well and making each book show us different and diverse areas showing just how large this world is. I also like how previous books will hint at certain events or places and some we get to see it in subsequent books. The story had many familiar story traits, i saw lots of hints of ‘Aladdin' (with the fictional Middle Eastern country and culture and the character of Aravis very much mirrored Jasmine in a similar situation being forced to marry someone she won't) and ‘Prince and the pauper' with Shasta and Corin briefly switching places.

I found the characters to be decent enough Shasta wasn't a badly written character but was probably one of Lewis' less interesting protagonists, and I found his situation and hidden royalty more interesting than his actual character as I would struggle to tell you many of his character traits. Bree was a good character with a nice arc showing him leave behind his arrogance over the book. I was intrigued by Aravis' plot line and character however it didn't really do much for me overall not leading much and often found her a bit irritating and found her and Shasta's friendship a bit rushed and oddly paced, not spending that much of the book together. The other main character was Hwin but there really isn't much to say, she was definitely one of the strongest of the four and found her likeable and wanted to root for her but I found she just wasn't given enough time to develop and maybe they should have omitted her and spent more time on the other characters.

I don't want to go on about the badly aged racial representation of Calormenes in this book which is very clearly inspired by Middle Eastern culture and paints it in a negative light, and often making all the white characters perfect in comparison which was disappointing but it can't be changed now. The religious allegory in this book again like previous books doesn't feel as in your face as it does to some people, though with the book having less Christian themes overall, when Aslan appears it's quite jarring and being an atheist, I always find his presence quite jarring to the flow of the story and often takes away from any character growth or decisions as it feels it's all God's doing (I mean Aslan)

I'm reading these in publication so this was a jump back in time but it was nice to see Edmund Lucy and Susan in their prime during the much talked about golden reign which we hear much about but rarely see, would've been interesting to see some Peter as he is always talked about in such a high manner. Two left and I'm very intrigued as to how the series will end.

This was an interesting book, it definitely felt the most unique of all the books so far, feeling darker in places and being the first book to not feature the Pevensies. First of all I really liked the premise of the lost prince and liked the backstory with the serpent and thought the book had a really strong beginning. But as the book went on I found I was less invested and I'm honestly not sure why, maybe it was because the villain was taken out so quickly and the idea of under land didn't really interest me, and I felt for a book called ‘the silver chair' the chair wasn't in it much and would have been interested in more explanation behind it and how it's magic works. The ending was satisfying enough with a pretty emotional character death I didn't see coming but, is instantly brought back (technically in the afterlife) which I felt undermined the moment somewhat, but these stories are inspired by Christianity which has life after death, and the Christian allegory still doesn't really bother me and save for Aslan I still don't feel it's as in your face as everyone says.

Character wise this book was strong and had a tough job following the likes of Reepicheep and Trumpkin but it did a solid job, the standout being pessimistic Marshwiggle Puddleglum who is arguably the real hero of this story, and probably the funniest character in the book, really hoping this isn't the last of him in the series. Our leads this time are Eustace Scrubb fresh from the previous book having had a turn of character and is much more likeable, but similar to Edmund after his character change, there wasn't really anything particularly interesting going on with him, not to say he was a bad character. Jill was a weird one, I wouldn't say I liked her and I wouldn't say she is a bad character, she is fairly unlikeable at first which feels intentional, often clashing with others and usually driven by self preservation, but I never felt that her character had an arc of any kind, staying very the same throughout but I will say she had a stronger personality than some of the previous characters, though I think it would have been better to follow Eustace's perspective rather than hers.

Prince Rilian was very much Caspian Jr so there isn't much to say as he only appears in the latter half of the book but he is a likeable character who is very brave and has a few moments of comedy when it's shows how fearless he is. I wish we had been given more of the Lady of the Green Kirtle and some backstory behind her motivation besides just being evil or even just more page time but she was a creepy enough villain but not quite as impactful as Jadis.

To wrap up I enjoyed this book a fair amount but not as much as the first three, and I can't help feeling that Lewis peaked with LWW, not to say any of the sequels are bad but none have quite matched up, I'm still looking forward to continuing though and am interested to see what it will be like now jumping back in time for ‘The horse and his boy'.