Ranking Narnia

Happy Easter! For those of you egg hunting this morning, I hope you find them all so there’s no rotten eggs in your yard next week! For those of you going to church, He is risen indeed! For those of you who don’t celebrate Easter at all, I hope you’re having a great weekend!

I was thinking this week about how The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is literally the Easter story. In light of that, I thought it might be fun to do a Narnia post today. And since we all know how obsessed I am with ranking things…

The Chronicles of Narnia, from most favorite to least

1. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

I know, I know, what a cliche, liking The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe the best. But, you know, there’s a reason it’s everyone’s favorite. The story is the most adventurous and fun, in my opinion, the religious allegory is the most straightforward, the Pevensies are such fun characters, and the White Witch is a truly terrible villain. Anyone who would use Turkish Delight for evil has a truly warped mind. (Full disclosure, to this day I have no idea what Turkinh Delight is, lol.)

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first Narnia book to be published, and for most of us it’s our first journey into Narnia. And what a great intro! Sadly, most people I’ve talked to never read much else of the series, but if you had to pick ONE Narnia book to read, I would definitely recommend this one!

2. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

I LOVE this book! I love Reepicheep. I love the idea of sailing to the end of the world to find Aslan. I love the lessons the Pevensies learn along the way. Yes, I even love Edmund. GAH! THE END! Makes me cry every time. If you’ve never read a second Narnia book, I highly recommend you pick this one up. And don’t watch the movie thinking it will be an adequate substitute. It was a straight to DVD kind of thing.

3. The Magician’s Nephew

This might shock some people, because in might experience this is probably the least popular Narnia book. People who start the series here because that’s now how they’re numbered often never move on. A lot of people I know didn’t even finish. But whatever, I like it. Probably because I read the series in chronological order, so I always start with The Magician’s Nephew, so I’ve read this book the most times. Probably because it’s got a certain whimsey. The magic rings, tested on a guinea pig of all things!, is probably my favorite bit. But I have to admit that I love Polly. She’s got real spunk. I also think the Uncle is a deliciously despicable character, and I rather like that his mischief making leads him to trouble. But some good comes of it too: the creation of Narnia. There’s something so profound there. God can turn even the most evil, thoughtless actions to good.

4. Prince Caspian

Prince Caspian is one of those rare instances where the movie is WAAAAY better than the book. I think the filmmakers understood the allegory in this book better than Lewis did. At the very least, they executed it better. The movie has way more emotional impact, and the religious message is stronger and clearer. Also, I will always ship Caspian and Susan.

Now that I’m done gushing about the film…

Prince Caspian is kind of meh for me. It’s a unique story, and I find the time-traveling aspect so interesting. But it isn’t really fleshed out, and there’s not a whole lot of character development. Out of all the Narnia books this one probably has the most going on, but it’s still so SHORT. The whole thing just feels kind of rushed to me.

5. The Silver Chair

Another meh for me. I was never a big fan of Eustace, and the lack of any other Pevensies in this book was disappointing. Puddleglum was just weird. And the plot didn’t hold that much interest for me. My favorite bit was how as this series goes on the Pevensie family is spreading Narnia to others. It starts with the Professor, who shares it (inadvertently) with Lucy, who shares it with her brothers and sisters, who later share it with Eustace, who now shares it with Jill. God’s like that. You share Him with others, and then they get to have an amazing experience that will never be quite like yours.

6. The Last Battle

I actively dislike The Last Battle. The whole time I felt like I was missing something. Like, what’s going on here? I suppose it’s some sort of allegory for Revelation, but I’ve never understood that much either. So. Also, I’m mad with how the story ended. And Susan turning away from Narnia?! Never! Like, I see the message there, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.

7. The Horse and His Boy

What is going on with The Horse and His Boy? I’ve read it like, five times, and I still don’t see the point of it. As far as I can tell there’s not really any religious allegory or moral, and it doesn’t progress the story in any way. I don’t know, I just don’t get this book. I don’t dislike it, I just don’t care.

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What’s YOUR favorite Narnia book? Let me know in the comments!

*Side note* I picked these covers because they’re the covers of my copies. They were given to me as a Christmas gift when I was 6 or 7. As such, they are my preferred covers. I understand, they’re weird looking. Get over it. 😛