Chronicles of Narnia Books In Order

Publication Order of The Chronicles Of Narnia Books

Chronological Order of The Chronicles Of Narnia Books

Publication Order of The World Of Narnia Books

Publication Order of The Chronicles Of Narnia Companion Books

Speak of children’s classics and The Chronicles of Narnia Series is bound to get a mention, this series of seven volumes having sold over a hundred million copies since its publication in 1950. The creation of C.S Lewis and arguably his best work, the series has undergone several publications over its many years of popularity, transitioning from the pages of literature to the radio, to TV, even making the leap to stage before finally finding a place in modern films.

The Chronicles of Narnia Series chronicles the creation and destruction of Narnia, a fantastical realm filled with mystical and enchanted animals as well as several wonders of magic, largely narrating the adventures of those children that manage to slip through the veil to this magical land in between its two most crucial points.

The core of the series revolves around the ultimate battle between good and evil, honing in on the morally crafted challenges that its various characters undertake with the aim of thwarting the forces of evil, reclaiming the line of ancient thrones and riding into battle as the champions of the great Lion Aslan, protector of all that is good within the Narnian realm.

The Chronicles of Narnia Series has a pretty powerful place in the realm of children’s literature, its initial publication back in the 1950s setting it apart as a story quite unlike any that had been told to date, one that wasn’t afraid to dip its fingers into the world of religion, not only borrowing from Roman, Persian and Greek cultures the mythological elements that proliferated their stories, but tackling head on the themes of race, gender and equality, creating quite the controversy, and in the process setting itself apart from typical children’s tales.

The original structure of The Chronicles of Narnia Series was crafted in 1939, the result of several decades of rumination on the tales that littered Lewis’ childhood; though if anyone should take credit for the creation of the series, it would be the Umbrella carrying faun that Lewis envisaged at his 16 years of age, an image that not only stuck with him for the decades to come, but which he eventually decided to develop into a full blown story.

It is probably because of this rather odd starting point that the books arrived in their specific state, written in what some might term as a haphazard manner, in an order somewhat different from how they now appear; which, most would agree, does little to disparage the chronological structure of the book that managed to maintain cohesion.

‘And were there elements of Lewis’ own life mirrored in his greatest story?’ Some might ask; as with numerous authors, life tends to prove itself to be the greatest of inspirations, in this case Lewis himself suggesting that the departure of girls Katherine, Margaret and Mary from London to Lewis’s own home of Risinghurst in anticipation of a German raid on the city, might have influenced his creation of children Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Susan, who also had to flee London to stay with a relative to escape the Air Raids.

As for Narnia; there is indeed a town by that very name, somewhere near Rome and Assisi, from which Lewis took the name for his world famous title simply because he liked how it sounded.

The series has a pretty interesting publication history which might have affected the order in which the story was structured-at least for the readers, with the original American publisher, Macmillan, choosing to follow the book’s previous publication order, while Harper Collins, to whom the publication rights were transferred in 1994, instead chose to take into account the chronology of the story in numbering the series, hence affecting the order in which it was read for those readers that would come after-a debate still rages to this date regarding the order in which these books, specifically two particular titles, should be read.

The first volume, The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe seemed to draw upon inspiration from the belligerent atmosphere of the second world war, the escape from war of the four Pevensie children: Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Susan, quickly escalating into a magical adventure; beginning with the discovery of a mystical wardrobe in the house of their host, Professor Digory Kirke, that leads them into the fantastical world of Narnia and pouring into the epic battle against an evil white witch that had brought ice and cold to the magical world, all the while accompanied by the power of the mighty Aslan and a slew of there talking animal companions.

A compelling story indeed, seemingly wrapped in child like mischief but quickly evolving into a complex plot regarding the power of sacrifice, the true face of evil and the ululation of great victory.

Somewhat discontiguous in its approach, Prince Capsian: The return to Narnia, the second book, presented a fresh perspective to the series, somewhat breaking with the base created in the first book, allowing the story to hurtle forward into a new world, one of blood and betrayal, of new kings and family feuds, pitting the Pevensies against the tyrannical Miraz, brother to the previous king and sworn to eliminate his sibling’s only heir in an effort to usurp the powers of the throne.

And this becomes the general motif of a story that, beyond maintaining the existence of Narnia, chooses to weave and twist and turn [sometimes] at break neck speeds, almost always sweeping the plate clean to allow each new plot to exist more or less within its own self contained universe, most definitely within the Narnian world; but availing fresh new challenges, usually with fresh new faces, each plot hiding within it a moral waiting to unfold, new characters awaiting new adventures within which they may find their true selves.

While the core story seems to center around the Pevensie kids, the series has a tendency to illuminate peripheral characters, new and old, during its ran, these including Eustace Scrubb, Jill Pole, Digory Kirke, Polly Plummer, Prince Caspian, King Tirian, to mention but a few, each playing a major role during the VAST amounts of time that pass between books.

Of all the books in The Chronicles of Narnia series, The lion, the witch and the Wardrobe, Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian have been adapted into highly successful live action films over the past decade, with The Chronicles of Narnia Series proving influential in a number of mediums, from cartoons to movies to video games to popular TV series like Lost.