Book Review: The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

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Aslan, C.S. Lewis, Digory, Inklings, Narnia, Polly, The Magician's Nephew

Title: The Magician’s Nephew

Book One in the Chronicles of Narnia

Author: C.S. Lewis

Published by: Reprint by HarperCollins (1/2/2008)

208 Pages (Paperback)

Blurb: A beautiful paperback edition of The Magician’s Nephew, book three in the classic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia, featuring cover art by three time Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator, David Wiesner, and black-and-white illustrations by the series’ original illustrator, Pauline Baynes.

On a daring quest to save a life, two friends are hurled into another world, where an evil sorceress seeks to enslave them. But then the lion Aslan’s song weaves itself into the fabric of a new land, a land that will be known as Narnia. And in Narnia, all things are possible.

Witness the creation of a magical land in The Magician’s Nephew, the first title in C. S. Lewis’s classic fantasy series, which has captivated readers of all ages for over sixty years. This is a stand-alone novel, but if you want to journey back to Narnia, read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the second book in The Chronicles of Narnia.

My Take: There is just nothing quite like exploring into Narnia, whether following the Pevensie children, Eustace and Jill, or Polly and Digory. This book, being the first chronologically (and the sixth written by Lewis), deals with the creation of Narnia and the entrance of evil into that new world. It is both uniquely different than the other books in the series, yet also strangely familiar throughout with the appearances of characters and prophecies that play important roles later in the series. This is the book that is a perfect starting point for those revisiting Narnia again, but arguably not the best book for the person making their very first venture into the series.

The scene with Aslan singing Narnia into existence was remarkable, and in itself quite similar to the approach Tolkien took toward the creation story of his fictional world in “Ainulindalë”. While there are certainly stark differences, such as Tolkien having Melkor disrupting the harmonies of the Ainur and Iluvatar during the song process, the fact that both men used music as a critical part of the creation process is certainly interesting to make note of.

Perhaps the greatest moment in the book involves a pivotal decision for Digory and whether to do what Aslan asked him, or to do something for selfish reasons. It was a powerful moment, and Aslan later hinted that the decision truly had rested with Digory but that, had he chosen differently, things may not have happened exactly how he would have hoped. This echoes into the theological debate about free will and predestination. It was moving and inspiring, as is so much that is Narnian.

Overall I loved revisiting this book. It was one I had skipped a few years ago when going back through the Narnian series for the first time as a Christian. I can safely say that I will never skip over this one again, although I think I will start my children with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when they first encounter Narnia.

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Book Review: Advent in Narnia by Heidi Haverkamp

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Advent in Narnia, C.S. Lewis, Devotional, Heidi Haverkamp, Narnia, NetGalley, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Westminster John Knox Press

Title: Advent in Narnia: Reflections for the Season

Author: Heidi Haverkamp

Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press (September 14, 2015)

Pages: 96 (Paperback)

Blurb: “Walking into Advent can be like walking through the wardrobe.”

With its enchanting themes of snow and cold, light and darkness, meals and gifts, temptation and sin, forgiveness and hope―and even an appearance by Father Christmas―C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe fits naturally into the Advent season. As the reader seeks a storied king and anticipates the glorious coming of Christmas, these twenty-eight devotions alternate between Scripture and passages from the novel to prompt meditation on Advent themes. Each devotion also includes questions for reflection. The book also provides several resources for churches, including four sessions for small group discussion and ideas for creating a “Narnia Night” for families. Readers will ultimately come to know God better while journeying through Narnia.

My Take: Devotionals that tie in with anything Tolkien or C.S. Lewis are always a welcome discovery for me. So when I noticed an Advent-themed Narnia devotional I knew that I had to get my hands on it. And let me start off by saying that this is worth every penny to put it in your collection.

So much thought clearly went in to compiling this devotional. It contains four weeks worth of devotional material, alternating between a chapter tied primarily around a scene in the book (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) and a chapter tied primarily around the Bible. Each devotion has ties with both, of course, but the primary content alternates by day which is a nice approach. The end of each day has 1-3 questions for reflection, as well, which makes this great for a family devotion, and each chapter tied to Narnia also mentions which chapter(s) in the book it pairs with.

But the real gold is what you’ll find after the devotions, and that is what elevates it from a good devotional to a great one. There is a 4-week series that I would have loved to have used when I was teaching in Children’s Ministry, each week centered around a theme from the book and the Bible. It mentions all sorts of props, activities, and many other great things to use and do, and this would be something that could even be done as a family at home providing a major focus once a week to go hand-in-hand with the daily devotions. There is a guide to the three film versions of the book, as well as some recipes and other great stuff. Crafts, props, and more are all covered in varying depths, and at the least it will spark ideas that could lead to some searching on Pinterest for how to pull them all together.

Overall this was a wonderful devotional, one I plan to pull out again in a few years once my little one is ready for his first venture into Narnia. I cannot recommend this one enough, especially with the Advent season right around the corner.

**I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.