NARNIA READING ORDERS (Part 3): The Author

Which order did C.S. Lewis want The Chronicles of Narnia to be read? HarperCollins claims the books were renumbered in compliance with his wishes. This statement, upon close inspection, turns out to be rather misleading.
Publication order:
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)
"Chronological" Order:
#1 The Magician's Nephew
#2 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*
#3 The Horse and His Boy*
#4 Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
#5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
#6 The Silver Chair
#7 The Last Battle
*HHB actually takes place during LWW, not after.
C.S. Lewis ("Jack") died on November 22, 1963, seven years after publishing "The Last Battle."

[@Lucky0wl]

i think i read them in the order i found them lying around the house...

[@edwardatsmith]

I'm listening to the Chronicles of Narnia in my car on CD unabridged in the original order. I just wanted to say how they make sense that way. It only came to me as I finished listening to the horse and his boy and started with The Magician's Nephew. After listening to the one it works well to think - now how did it all begin. You are more likely to think that after listening to the other stories than straight away. I think chronological order is easier but less rewarding, and true chronological order would mean reading The Horse and His Boy as part of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, almost as chapters within it.

[@misseli1]

I was a kid when the 2005 LWW film was released so I saw it before I read the books. I'm glad it was the first book they decided to adapt because it meant the plot of LWW was my introduction to the series.

[@zwap9467]

My first real exposure to Narnia was when I watched the BBC version as a kid. Because of that I ended up reading the books, fell into seeing the numbers on the spine! However I did get some thrill from the links between MN and LWW because I knew the story. Great videos btw

[@Termnath]

i know so many people who stopped reading the chronicles after MN because since they didnt read in publication order they found it boring, and harper collins wonders why books sales dropafter MN (besides LWW)

[@tomakalinus]

Great, well-explained argument. #3 is particularly useful for refuting those who make such a big deal out of that one letter. Also, he says, "When I wrote THE LION I did not know there would be any more," meaning he intended it as a standalone, not as the second part of a larger story! And in SC, we were promised that Jill & Eustace would come back one last time. It's so much more satisfying to finally see it in LB, 2 books later, than it is when we just saw them in the previous book.

[@DSAS1946]

Also got a copy of Beyond the Wardrobe, learned so many things... but the first book I read in the Narnia chronicles is Prince Caspian then Voyage and so on. When I read the Magicians Nephew, I haven't read LWW (but before I read MN I watched the film of LWW).

[@Termnath]

@IamSamys ok so does that mean that if somebody is interested in middle earth they should read the sillmaron 1st no because its like if they read MN 1st, they would just find it boring, publication order is better and more interesting period

[@danck941]

Naythan Millya Um I read the books in chronological order the first time I read the series. I loved MN and did not find the book boring in the slightest.

[@derekicenhour8647]

Awesome! I would love to watch a movie in the order it was shot! Great point. :)

[@FishTheJim]

A few years ago I learned of this argument because I wanted to replace my set of Narnia books that I had lost. I was very disappointed to find that Harper-Collins had changed the order to chronological and so I decided not to purchase the set of books. This may seem a little silly but later on I began to think about why they would choose to do this. Here I am with money in hand ready to purchase a new set of books and I change my mind over the order. Curious. Could it be that Harper-Collins have some sort of agenda where it concerns Narnia books and actually want people to stop buying them? Is this also the reason why the British publisher chooses to present them chronologically because they also do not like the Narnia books? A bit mysterious but it only leads me to believe that either way we have people in charge of publishing who are clearly very thickheaded.

[@zraptoor8503]

Why does it matter? Read them how you want let others read them how they want. Bofh are great for drastically different way. Just let people enjoy the series how they want.

[@Glumpuddle]

It was just a defective book. A rare, random mistake during printing. I worked at a bookstore at the time. My boss was going to send the book back to the publisher and get a replacement, but I saw it and went "That is so cool! I'll buy it!" She thought I was crazy, haha.

[@aMinotaursJourney]

So cool! Didn't know there was going to be a part 3! Fantastic work, with the topic thoroughly researched and presented in very professional way. A+ audio quality, lighting, and chroma keying. The graphics were top-notch, with many subtle effects that really enhanced the finished product like just the right amount of motion blur, camera shake, and 'old tv' effect (did you still have to do that separately on iMovie? haha) All that 3D keyframing is impressive. Thanks for an enjoyable video!

[@Glumpuddle]

Thanks! ... Now you're on the clock. Where's your VDT review?? No need for iMovie, fortunately. I edited the main part (me talking) in Premiere, and then did everything else in After Effects.

[@desireelangel3479]

Such a high quality video... should definitely have more views

[@xyZora]

Hmmm I wonder why LWW was inside a MN cover. Did that happen to the horse and his boy or any other book?

[@TinyMiniStealth]

Chron was amazing, but i do wish i could do the other order just to see :)

[@ChocolateisIsNice]

Good 3 part video! I agree with you on pretty much everything you said!

[@DSAS1946]

At last! I've been waiting for this. (DominicLovesNarnia) here. :D

[@Lucky0wl]

so in fact i read magicians nephew last

[@Termnath]

@Naythan Millya *silmarillion

[@Termnath]

@Naythan Millya *silmarllion

[@weathergeek4ever]

Omg it's been forever glumpuddle. How you been?

[@NostalgiNorden]

What is it in your hand?

[@bettyamiina3933]

Good statement, though!

[@erikabutterfly]

Well obviously it wasn't super important to him, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN READING THEM IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER IS WRONG! Therefore I don't think he'd be shocked about the changed order. In fact it would probably have cost him a lot of trouble and money convincing the publischers to release a new edition of his books purely to change the numbers on the spines. For him to do THAT would mean that it would have been SUPER important to him that NOBODY reads them in publication order, which would contradict the last part of the letter you showed at the beginning.

[@calebebner2101]

Erika Butterfly well he never said that it was wrong he just said that it would be the best way to experience the series in publication order. BTW sorry for replying 5 months later

[@IamSamys]

OK, so if someone read the books after seeing the films, they should read it in chronological order? Makes sense to me...

[@starwarscast1783]

I believe in what Douglas says.

[@thomasjefferson6]

While C.S. Lewis gave a mild preference for chronological order, the fact remains that the books do not work as well if read in that way, nor was it possible to be read them that way when they were published. The Narnia books would need some significant modifications in order for them to work as well if read chronologically, but Lewis never got around to re-writing them to make the chronological work well. He obviously did not take a lot of things into consideration which are involved if the chronological order is to be preferred, or, if he did, he never made the necessary changes to make the chronological order work as well as the publication order. It is fun to read the books in chronological order after one has read them in publication order, but the impact of the stories is lessened if one opts for chronological order. Whether Lewis ever expressed a preference for publication order subsequent to the 1957 letter is not known, but the fact remains that he never publicly asked people to read these books in chronological order, nor did he ask the publisher to make such a recommendation, nor did he made any attempt to redo the books so that the chronological order work as well as the publication order (e.g. character development).

[@erikabutterfly]

Well to me they worked well in chronological order, so it not working can't really be considered a "fact".

[@bettyamiina3933]

Which is better the chronicle or the publication so read the story in the order of the Chronicle!

[@tomn6800]

I know that was a year ago, but publication order! 1. Lion 2. Caspian 3. Voyage 4. Chair 5. Horse 6. Nephew 7. Battle

[@allieoneal2033]

My dad read them to us when I was too young to read, and he read them strictly chronologically, even going as far as pausing TLtWatW to read THahB. I read them that way myself as soon as I could. My first experience with publication order was a friend of mine who stopped reading the whole series because she found Caspian to be long and boring. I was probably about 11 at the time, and I told her it might make more sense to her if she'd read The Magician's Nephew. You make a lot of sense.

[@bettyamiina3933]

Then why are you defending publication order if it does'nt matter!