Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are suddenly pulled into Narnia by a distress call from Prince Caspian. Once, the children had been great Kings and Queens there. But since they've been gone, everything has changed. An evil King rules and magic is forbidden. The Old Narnians are in hiding.
Prince Caspian has raised an army to fight his uncle, but they are few. Will the children reach him in time to help, and where is the Great Lion Aslan?
Title: Prince Caspian, The Return to Narnia
Author: C. S. Lewis
Illustrator: Pauline Baynes (original)
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia , Book 2 or 4
Published: 1951
Pages: 238
Genre: Fiction-Fantasy
The second book published in the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis was Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (though chronologically it comes fourth). Unfortunately, since the book is set thousands of years after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe none of the Narnia characters
that I adored in the first one (like Mr. Tumnus) except Aslan of course make a reappearance but there are several new characters that I enjoyed meeting such as Reepicheep, Trumpkin, and Trufflehunter.I don’t know why but I just didn’t enjoy Prince Caspian as much as the first book I read from The Chronicles of Narnia. That’s not to say it wasn’t good though! There’s a big battle, loads of new interesting characters, and the four Pevensie children are in it but the magical feeling that the first one had wasn’t there. Also the title character,
Caspian wasn’t a very prominent figure in the book. Most of his story is told in a flash back by another character!The movie for Prince Caspian is currently in the works and is scheduled to come out in May. Narnia Web has plenty of information available at their website and Wikipedia has entries on both the upcoming movie and this book. There is also a great site called Into the Wardrobe which is run by Lewis' stepson.
Publication Order:
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Horse and His Boy
- The Magician's Nephew
- The Last Battle
Chronological order:
- The Magician's Nephew
- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
- The Horse and His Boy
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)
This one isn't the strongest in the series. It's been so long since I read the books that I don't really remember which book was which. I do appreciate your posts though as it helps sort out the cobwebs. :-)
ReplyDeleteI mentioned The Magician's Nephew in a post 'Furry Tales' (see labels) on my blog Virtual Journey if you're interested!
ReplyDeleteMy favourites in the series are The Magicians Nephew which they always sadly ignore and The Silver Chair. I re-read them a couple of years ago and hope to someday rad something else by Lewis. I expect I will go and see the film when it is released too.
ReplyDeleteI have read the entire series twice and reread Horse and his Boy about every year - one of my top ten books ever. I agree with your comments concerning Prince Caspian. Lewis does not balance the fantasical with his religious intentions very well in this piece. Magician's Nephew I would say is his most successful in that department. It also happened to be the first I ever read.
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