I always like a fun debate in the world of fandoms. The key word is fun though, don’t include me if you’re going to start yelling or think someone isn’t a true fan of Star Wars because they don’t recall an obscure reference. Like I said, I love a light hearted debate. Although, it was always Peeta and never Gale, but I’m getting off track.
Today, I thought I would share some of my unpopular-ish Inklings opinions. And please share your thoughts and other unpopular Inklings opinions you might have!
The Order in Which You Must Read The Chronicles of Narnia
I don’t think the debate about which order you read the Narnia books matters. At all. Whether you pick the publishing year, when Lewis wrote them, or chronological order the publisher came up with, it doesn’t matter. I don’t get why people debate (well actually I do). But no matter how many articles or posts I read, it all seems silly to me. I think Lewis himself would have a laugh about the debate. However Narnia reaches you, jump right in!
I strongly believe you can start with any of the books and you’ll fall in love with the series. That’s the power of Aslan. I started with The Horse and His Boy and was hooked immediately. And look at me now!
If you’re curious and as I have had parents and people ask, this is usually the order I suggest, which is mostly chronological expect for the last one:
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 Magician’s Nephew (I like reading this after the whole series, because I think you end up appreciating the story more)
But there’s no right or wrong answer! And with kids, yes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is great to start with, but if your kid loves horses, they may love The Horse and His Boy. Or if they love ships, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader may be it.
If you’re curious, here are the different orders:
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
Published 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
The Order Lewis Wrote the Books1
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader”
The Horse and His Boy
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
The Magician’s Nephew
What Did Amazon Do?!
I didn’t hate The Rings of Power. I said it! This could be because I went in with *super* low expectations and so I could enjoy it for what it is. I think The Hobbit movies are worse because of what they did with the storyline (not the actors). They had full access to the source material, so no excuses for the chaos they created. I will forever be mad about that nonsense love triangle.
Do You Have to Read The Silmarillion?
I genuinely like The Silmarillion and the way it was published and written. Although, I feel like some Tolkien fans use that book as some kind of test, but you can still deeply love Middle Earth without having read that book. But for me, it’s a different kind of read but once I get into it, it begins to flow and I can enjoy it.
So those are the three opinions I’m starting with. What do you think? What are yours?
© 2023 Jamie Lapeyrolerie
Until very recently, I never knew that there was a Narnia reading order controversy.