The Magician’s Nephew: C.S. Lewis Tells How Narnia Began
Two friends, victims of the power of some magic rings, are flung into another world where a wicked witch tries to make them her slaves. But then Aslan appears and creates Narnia, a world full of mythological creatures, talking animals and evil witches. The Magician’s Nephew (1955) is the story of how it all began.
Author: C.S. Lewis (1898–1963); illustrated by Pauline Baynes
Title: The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
Format: English paperback (HarperCollins, illustrated Chronicles of Narnia)
Scope: Book 1 of The Chronicles of Narnia in reading order (sixth published)
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/0006716830 (ASIN 0006716830)
Rings, Worlds and a Witch
Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer are neighbours in London. Digory’s uncle Andrew, a vain and foolish amateur magician, tricks them with rings that carry them out of our world, into a quiet wood between the worlds and on to the dying city of Charn. There they wake the witch Jadis, and bring her back with them by mistake.
The Creation of Narnia
The most memorable pages of the book show Aslan singing Narnia into existence: stars, rivers, trees and talking beasts appearing one after another. It explains the lamp-post, the wardrobe and the White Witch, and it is the best possible introduction to the whole series.
The Chronicles of Narnia is a classic of children’s literature. Lewis wrote this prequel after the others, which is why some readers prefer to read it sixth, in publication order; either way, it works beautifully.
A Boy and His Mother
Beneath the adventure lies something very personal. Digory’s mother is gravely ill, and his deepest wish is to find something that will cure her. Lewis lost his own mother to cancer when he was nine, and the scene in which Aslan’s eyes fill with tears at Digory’s grief is one of the most tender in the series. Digory’s temptation in the garden at the end, to steal an apple for her instead of carrying it to Aslan, gives the book its moral climax.
The Witch Loose in London
Some of the funniest chapters take place in Edwardian London, where Jadis, newly arrived, terrorises the shops, steals jewels and drives a hansom cab through the streets while Uncle Andrew, the self-important magician, tries to impress her. The London cabby and his horse are swept into Narnia too: the cabby, Frank, becomes its first king, and his horse Strawberry is transformed into Fledge, the first winged horse.
Answers to Old Questions
For readers who already know The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the book is full of revelations. The lamp-post grows from an iron bar Jadis throws at Aslan. The wardrobe is made from the wood of an apple tree grown from the core of a Narnian apple. And young Digory Kirke grows up to be the old Professor in whose house the Pevensies find the wardrobe.
Which Order?
Lewis wrote it sixth, in 1955, but modern editions number it first, following a letter in which Lewis said he thought chronological order was probably best. Many readers still prefer to start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and come to this book later, when its surprises have more effect. Either way, it is one of the strongest Narnia books.
The Wood Between the Worlds
One of Lewis’s most original inventions is the quiet, sleepy wood full of pools, each a doorway to a different world, an image readers never forget.
The Author
Clive Staples Lewis (1898–1963) was a critic, scholar and novelist, one of the great writers of children’s and young-adult fiction in the English language. He taught at Oxford and Cambridge, and wrote widely on literature and Christianity as well as fiction.
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