The Chronicles of Narnia

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The Chronicles of Narnia
AuthorC.S. Lewis
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy
PublisherHarperTrophy
Publication date
1950–1956
Media typePrint
(Hardback & Paperback)
This article contains information about the series of books written by C.S. Lewis. For information about the film series, see The Chronicles of Narnia movie series.

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy books, written by British author C. S. Lewis. They have been published since 1954 and have sold over 100 million copies in 41 languages. The books were written by Lewis between 1949 and 1954, they were also illustrated by Pauline Baynes. In 2005, 2008 and 2010, the first three books were made into movies.

The seven books[change | change source]

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe[change | change source]

Completed by the end of March 1949 and published by Geoffrey Bles in London on 16 October 1950, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe tells the story of four ordinary children: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie, who have been evacuated to the English countryside from London in 1940 following the outbreak of World War II. They discover a wardrobe in Professor Digory Kirke's house that leads to the magical land of Narnia. The Pevensie children help Aslan, a talking lion, save Narnia from the evil White Witch, who has reigned over the land of Narnia for a century of perpetual winter. The children become kings and queens of this new-found land and establish the Golden Age of Narnia, leaving a legacy to be rediscovered in later books.

Prince Caspian[change | change source]

This book is set 1300 years after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Narnia is ruled by the Telmarines, a very mean people. The Pevensie children are called to Narnia by Susan's horn, which is blown by Prince Caspian. There is a big war between the Telmarines and Narnians. At the end of the book, Peter and Susan are told that they will not be able to come back to Narnia. The book was published in 1951.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader[change | change source]

In the third book, Lucy and Edmund return to Narnia with their cousin, Eustace. They travel on a ship with Caspian, now King of Narnia. They are looking for seven lords who were sent away from Narnia by Caspian's uncle, Miraz. This book was published in 1952.

The Silver Chair[change | change source]

Eustace returns to Narnia with Jill, a friend from school. He finds Caspian very old. Aslan tells Jill to find Rillian, Caspian's son, who has been missing for many years. A Marsh-Wiggle named Puddleglum travels with them. This book was published in 1953.

The Horse and His Boy[change | change source]

This book is set during the rule of the Pevensies. Shasta, is a young boy living in the country of Calormen. He decides to run away when he finds out he is not the son of Arsheesh. He heads north to Narnia with a talking horse, Bree, a Calormene noblewoman, Aravis, and her talking horse, Hwin. It was published in 1954.

The Magician’s Nephew[change | change source]

This book is set before any of the others. It tells about a boy, Digory, and his friend, Polly. They travel to Narnia through the experiments of Digory's uncle, Andrew. It describes the creation (beginning) of Narnia and the first King and Queen. It also shows the beginning of Jadis, who is called the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The book was published in 1954.

The Last Battle[change | change source]

Completed in the spring of 1953 and published in 1956, The Last Battle tells about the end of the world of Narnia. Jill and Eustace return to save Narnia from Shift, an ape, who tricks Puzzle, a donkey, into pretending to be the lion, Aslan. The Pevensie children (without Susan, who has decided that Narnia was just part of a game they played as children), along with their parents and friends, die in a train crash and lived in Narnia forever with Aslan.

Adaptations[change | change source]

This train was used in the first Narnia movie.

The Chronicles of Narnia have been made into several movies, TV films, video games, and stage plays.

The Chronicles of Narnia movie series[change | change source]

The first was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which was released in 2005, made a worldwide total of $744,783,957. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, released on May 16 2008, is the second of seven movies to be released by Disney Pictures. Disney also had plans to create the third book in the series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which was released in 2010.[1]

The New Yorker reported in July 2023 that Barbie (2023) director Greta Gerwig had been hired by Netflix to write and direct two film adaptations of the books.

Video games[change | change source]

References[change | change source]

Other websites[change | change source]

  • Media related to The Chronicles of Narnia at Wikimedia Commons
  • "Official website". harpercollinschildrens.com. Retrieved 20 July 2010.