Search Results for: chronicles of narnia

At the Back of the North Wind: Best and worst of Victorian children’s literature

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

The Meaning Will Come with the Thing Itself…

George MacDonald wrote hundreds of stories throughout his lifetime (not surprising considering he had eleven kids!), most of which were fantasies that drew on a rich variety of sources: mythology, fairytales and Biblical mysticism. Credited by C.S. Lewis as the main inspiration behind The Chronicles of Narnia, MacDonald’s dreamy little tales (especially this one) are a strange blend of frustrating ramblings and sublime imagery. Love it or hate it,

The Book of Three: Our very highest recommendation

The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander

Lloyd Alexander’s fantastic five-part Chronicles of Prydain begins with The Book of Three, which is required reading for anyone who considers themselves a fantasy fan and/or a lover of children’s literature — or in fact anyone who loves a darn good book. And you can’t stop there — make sure you have on hand the following volumes: The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer and The High King.

The Magicians: A bandage of irony for your self-esteem

The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Lev Grossman’s The Magicians attempts to take the unreal world of fantasy — magic, spellcasting, other worlds, fabulous beasts — and tie it much more tightly to the real world than is usually done. And (I think) the attempt as well is to tell a “realistic” novel which takes as its premise that magic exists and is being used (not quite the same thing as the first). I’d say he only partially succeeds, though he does so often enough that the book makes a worthy,

July 7th, 2009. Bill Capossere, Stefan Raets, Ryan Skardal, Kelly Lasiter and Terry Weyna | Lev Grossman | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |

Reaper’s Gale: Malazan redefines fantasy

Reaper’s Gale by Steven Erikson

In modern fantasy literature, there are certain select works that define the genre such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire, the Shannara novels by Terry Brooks, and Stephen Donaldson’s Thomas Covenant Chronicles among others.

May 26th, 2009. Robert Thompson´s rating: 5 | Steven Erikson | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Puck of Pook’s Hill: Very valuable

Puck of Pook’s Hill by Rudyard Kipling

The Sword Gave the Treasure, and the Treasure Gave the Law…

Puck of Pook’s Hill is certainly not as famous as Rudyard Kipling’s earlier works The Jungle Book, Captains Courageous, or even The Complete Stalky and Co.. First published in 1906, it was his final novel (only an anthology of short stories came after it) and it is certainly an odd specimen of a book.

The Lives of Christopher Chant: A wonderful place to begin the Chrestomanci books

The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones

The Lives of Christopher Chant is set twenty-five years before the events told in Charmed Life, but was published after it in 1988. Although many would avidly insist that you must read such books in publishing rather than chronological order (just look at the debate that rages over how you’re supposed to read the Chronicles of Narnia) I would suggest reading this before Charmed Life.

The Last Battle: “Further Up and Further In!”

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

Say what you will about the correct reading order of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, one thing is certain — The Last Battle needs to be read last. It is not simply because it was written and published last in the series, that it clears up all loose ends in the previous installments and leaves no possible room for any sequels, but because it will change your entire understanding and perception of the last six books. Do what you like with the other books’ reading order,

The Song of Albion: A Pleasant Surprise!

THE SONG OF ALBION by Stephen Lawhead

My husband bought me the The Song of Albion trilogy because Lawhead is a Christian and he thought I should try some “Christian” fantasy. I’m a Christian, but I was reluctant. I tend to avoid Christian fantasy and, until recently, Christian music. If Christians are going to contribute to the arts (or science, or anything else), we need to make sure that our contributions are excellent. We can’t sacrifice the quality of the work just to promote a message. Christian music used to be just awful,

December 21st, 2007. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Stephen Lawhead | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Silver Chair: Entertaining and re-readable adventure

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

I am always vaguely amused at the debate that goes on over the reading order of The Chronicles of Narnia and how worked up some people get over it. True, some books should be read before others and The Last Battle should definitely be read last; but in my own experience The Silver Chair (published fourth, written fifth*, and chronologically sixth in the series) was read first! Was my love and appreciation of Narnia ruined because of this? Of course not!

The Silver Chair is set about a year after the proceedings of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,

City of Masks: Different opinions

City of Masks by Marry Hoffman

City of Masks is an “other world” novel, one where characters from our world can travel back and forth to another, in this case an alternate history 16th century Italy known as Talia. These travelers (and it works both ways) are known as “stravaganti,” thus the series title. While this book takes places in this world’s version of Venice (Bellezza), others in the series will range elsewhere (City of Stars, for example, is set in an alternate Sienna).

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