Narnia…. a land of fantasy and adventure where magic and a Great Lion prevail. A land where so many people wish to be, a land from start to finish in The Chronicles of Narnia. Seven books written by Clive Staples Lewis have proven to be the most enchanting and mesmerizing books of all time. Pure beauty and amazing imagery allows the reader to become an explorer of Narnia and take part in the fascinating adventures bound to happen. Readers become one with the pages, not wanting to put the book down for fear of the wonderful land of Narnia escaping their minds.
Not wanting to lose the joy and bliss as the words flow, page after page, book after book. The Chronicles of Narnia were first written by C. S. Lewis with children in mind. Easy dialogue and a sense of reality in the fantasy setting allows all ages to enjoy and fall in love with these books. The adventure begins with The Magicians Nephew. The reader is introduced to Digory Kirke and Polly Plumer. Digorys Uncle Andrew, a mad magician, doesnt fully understand the magic that he is dealing with. Andrew was given four rings when he was a child and when he received them, was ordered to throw them away and never think of them again. He didnt do so.
By sheer trickery, Andrew convinces Polly to slip on one of the rings. When she did so, she opened the gates to the Woods Between the Worlds. Here, she found a wooded area with ponds as far as the eye could reach. Digory went after his beloved playmate and soon the two of them embarked on an adventure that would change their lives forever. Charn was the first world, or pond, that they entered. After exploring this dark world with ancient ruins, they stumbled into a room where statues of royal families all sat in a row. An enchantment was put on them and Digory, being a mischievous boy, broke the enchantment awakening an evil witch.
The witch, Jadis, had destroyed Charn and once the children realized how evil she was, they tried to escape, the witch had tightly gripped Pollys hair and they ended up back in England, where Andrew was cowardly waiting. Jadis, who was also very power hungry, caused havoc in England until the children devised a plan to rid her and send her back to Charn. In order to do so, they had to slip on their rings and hold onto her. Something happened though, instead of going to Charn, they stumbled in to a different world, a world that was completely black.
The children stood in the emptiness of this unfounded world arguing with Jadis about leaving her there. Before they had a chance to get away, something happened, something extraordinary. A sound of music filled their ears and all were stunned when a huge lion appeared in the darkness, stunned by his size and the fact that he was singing the beautiful notes. All at once things began to happen around the children. Earth formed under their feet, stars appeared above their heads, it was clear to the children that the Lion was creating a new world. After mountains, rivers, and lakes were formed, life began to spring up all around them.
Trees shot up through the new earth, animals began walking toward the great Lion. The assembly now got under way. The Lion introduced himself as Aslan, and much to the childrens surprise, the other animals greeted him with words and not sounds. Aslan named the animals and the trees, and told them this was their new home, this, was Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe tells the story of how four more children came encounter with this delightful world. Digory was now an old man, a professor, living in an old mansion in England. Friends of his had a crisis and asked him to look after their four children.
He willingly agreed. Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevens felt otherwise, but, reluctantly went. Before Digory had left Narnia, Aslan instructed him to bury the rings. He did this and a huge tree had grown in the very spot he had placed the rings when he was just a child. When he moved from that house into his mansion, he cut the tree down and made a huge wardrobe and placed it in an empty room inside his house. The Pevensies soon became bored and decided to play a game of hide and seek. While playing this game the children had climbed into the wardrobe. This is where they entered Narnia.
An important fact of Narnia is that its time is completely different from ours. A year may pass in this world, and a million has passed in Narnia. Its impossible to guess how much time has passed since a previous visit. Also, when you enter Narnia, you may be there for fifty years, and when you leave to come back to our world, no time would have passed. You come back at the same time, the same hour, even down to the second as to which you left. Therefore, when the Pevens entered Narnia, more then a hundred years had passed since the time of Digory and Polly.
The four children met Aslan and took part in an adventure to save Narnia from Jadis, the evil witch. After various trials and tribulations, the children saved Narnia and Aslan made them Kings and Queens of the land, the talking beasts, and all others who dwelled here. The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair all deal with different adventures and different characters from our world who help to save Narnia time and time again. These four books allow the reader to see what has happened since the previous book and with each turn of a page, the reader sees the future of Narnia unfold.
These stories all lead up to the Seventh and final book of the series, The Last Battle. Two talking beasts devise a plan out of selfishness and conceit to try and make the future of Narnia go their way. This is where the reader meets Shift, an ugly ape, and Puzzle, a stupid donkey who listens to everything Shift says for he feels inferior to the ape and wants to please him at all times. Shift finds the skin of a lion and makes it into a costume for Puzzle. With the right lighting and the costume on, Puzzle somewhat resembles Aslan. Shift assembles the talking beasts at midnight and tells them that Aslan is among them.
At this point, Puzzle shows himself, the talking beast, who have never met Aslan for he comes and goes as he pleases, bow down and listen to his every command. Shift is only out to make money, he sells the free beasts of Narnia into slavery, cuts down the talking trees and plans to overthrow Narnia. All of those in Narnia fear Aslan for they know his power is not a force to be reckoned with, so, they have no choice but to obey. The current King of Narnia, Rilian, knows that there is something wrong, through all the stories of Aslan that he has ever heard, he knows Aslan would never do such horrid and unspeakable things.
By calling Jill Pole and Eustace, two former heroes who were on a train in our world with their friends, other heroes of Narnia, he is able to put up a fight, a very small fight. The people of Narnia begin to turn on each other, causing great battles and many lives. The real Aslan shows up just in time, but, instead of saving the world he has created, he destroys it and everything in it, except for those who have followed him and have proved their loyalty. All those who were spared, were brought to a different world, Aslans Country.
A world with in a world, the mirror image of Narnia with the exception that everything is much bigger and has more beauty. A place where sadness does not exist, where getting tired is not an option. Due to a train accident in our world, Lucy, Edmund, Peter, Digory, Jill, Polly, and Eustace were all killed. Though they died in our world, their lives were just beginning in Aslans Country. Digory and Polly, who were eighty years old in our world, were now children again.
All who were spared by the Great Lion, live now with him, in the true world of Narnia, where animals talk, being happy is a must, and painful memories seize to exist. The Chronicles of Narnia are filled with dreams and a longing desire to partake in the adventures. C. S. Lewis had an unmistakable talent for writing. His books will be passed down for generations to come, leaving all those who read the Narnia books with a smile on their faces and high hopes that they to may one day arrive in Narnia and live a life full of beauty, adventure, love and respect.