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How Many Books Are In The Chronicles Of Narnia? Best Guide 2022

[Ecis2023]

The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of seven fantasy novels by British writer C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and initially released between 1950 and 1956, The Chronicles of Narnia has been adapted for radio, television, stage, film, and computer games. Just how many Narnia books are there? Reading to find out more.

You are reading: How Many Books Are In The Chronicles Of Narnia? Best Guide 2022

About Clive Staples Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) was one of those intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably among the most influential authors of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he had been elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement.

He wrote over thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers each year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Out of the Silent Planet, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, and the acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia. So far, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and have now been changed into three big motion pictures.

Narnia books

How Many Narnia Books Are There?

Chronicles Of Narnia Books In Order

The books were initially published in this sequence:

  • The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
  • Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (1951)
  • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
  • The Silver Chair (1953)
  • The Horse and His Boy (1954)
  • The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
  • The Last Battle (1956)

Chronological Order

Sometime following the passing of C. S. Lewis, British variants of these books started to appear, which were numbered based on the order that the stories occur:

  • The Magician’s Nephew
  • The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
  • The Horse and His Boy
  • Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
  • The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  • The Silver Chair
  • The Last Battle

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Change to Chronological Order

For several decades, both orders have been in printing. American variants used book order while British variations were plotted.

The chronological arrangement became the global standard after HarperCollins took on the publishing in 1994.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the first book to be written and printed, is usually believed to be the ideal introduction to Narnia by fans and scholars alike.

“Most scholars disagree with [the decision to re-number the books] and find it the least faithful to Lewis’s deepest intentions,” says Dr. Paul F. Ford, author of Companion to Narnia.

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On the official site of C. S. Lewis, Dr. Charlie W. Starr asserts, Lewis scholars almost universally agree the original printed order is exceptional. He indicates the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe are somewhat more originally attractive than The Magician’s Nephew, which particular lines in Lion don’t make sense once the book isn’t read. That Nephew has higher mythic energy when read as a prequel.

Why were the books re-numbered chronologically?

Initially, HarperCollins added this excuse in the books:

“The HarperCollins editions of The Chronicles of Narnia have been re-numbered in compliance with the original wishes of the author, C. S. Lewis.”

In later versions, the justification was revised to:

“Although The Magician’s Nephew was written several years after C. S. Lewis first began The Chronicles of Narnia, he wanted it to be read as the first book in the series. HarperCollins is happy to present these books in the order in which Professor Lewis preferred.”

Take a quick look at our How Many Books Did Louis L’ Amour Write? Best Update [2022] here to learn more about the stories of Louis L’ Amour.

Narnia Books C.S.Lewis

What did C.S.Lewis say?

Back in 1957, an 11-year-old boy called Lawrence Krieg was planning to see the Narnia books for another time. Lawrence wondered whether he must re-read them, but his mother believed he must stick with the first printed order. So, Lawrence wrote a letter to the writer and received this answer:

“I believe I concur with your purchase for reading the books more than with your mom’s. The series wasn’t planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I didn’t know I was planning to write any longer. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still did not believe there are any more, and once I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it’d be the final. However, I found that I was wrong. So maybe it doesn’t matter very much in which order anyone read them”

This letter is mentioned by viewers on both sides of the contentious choice to re-number the books. Proponents see this as apparent evidence Lewis wanted the readers to see in chronological order. He was figuring out that Lewis indicated the ruling doesn’t matter much at precisely the same letter, and he might have re-numbered the books himself when he wanted to.

Douglas Gresham, the stepson of C.S. Lewis (Jack), stated:

“[HarperCollins] asked, ‘What order do you think we ought to do them in?’ And I said, ‘Well … I actually asked Jack himself what order he preferred and thought they should be read in. And he said he thought they should be read in the order of Narnian chronology.’ So I said, ‘Why don’t you go with what Jack himself wanted?’ So, it’s my fault basically—the order of Narnian chronology. And I’m not the least bit ashamed of it.” – Douglas Gresham

The Movies

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Walden Media’s Narnia films followed the first published order:

  1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
  2. Prince Caspian (2008)
  3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010)

FAQs

Is Narnia 4 coming out?

However, The Chronicles of Narnia Movie 4, The Silver Chair today will not be occurring at all… and the future is looking quite perplexing. The future of Narnia 4 is in serious doubt, as Netflix has obtained the rights to the book collection. Netflix says they will create Narnia films and TV shows (!!!) In this dreamworld.

Is Aslan Jesus?

Aslan is the only character to appear in all seven books of the Chronicles of Narnia. According to the writer, C. S. Lewis, Aslan represents Jesus Christ that uses the allegory from the books that Aslan is the Lion and the Lamb, which also states in the Bible about God.

Why did Susan stop believing in Narnia?

There comes a stage where Susan, the older woman, is missing Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick. She has become irreligious essentially because she discovered gender.

Does Netflix have Narnia 2020?

Short answer: yes. Regardless of Gresham’s remarks, Netflix is still growing Chronicles of Narnia content, according to Lewis’ books. At a recent development, Coco co-writer Matthew Aldrich was declared as ingenious architect on all Narnia jobs this past year.

Are Chronicles of Narnia religious?

Even though some saw the books as possible proselytizing material, others insisted that non-believing audiences may love the books in their merits. The Narnia books have a sizable Christian after and are commonly utilized to promote Christian thoughts.

Conclusion

The Chronicles of Narnia is a great series of books that tells the story of a magical land called Narnia. The books are full of adventure, mystery, and magic. They are perfect for readers who enjoy fantasy stories. Hopefully the above article about “how many books in the Chronicles of Narnia” will give you more chances to enrich your art resource.

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Debora Berti

Università degli Studi di Firenze, IT

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