(2) C.S. LEWIS –
NARNIA CHRONICLES (1950-1956)

 

“He’s not a tame lion.”

Yes, we’re talking about Aslan – the famous talking lion (whose name is Turkish for lion), the King of Beasts, the son of the Emperor-Over-the-Sea and the King above all High Kings in Narnia. Aslan – present in all seven volumes of the Narnia Chronicles and voiced by Liam goddamn Neeson in the films. (If only they could have worked in his famous Taken speech into the films. Stay with me here – it absolutely could have worked, over the phone to the White Witch cajoling her to return Edmund).

To paraphrase Bob Marley, Aslan is iron like a lion in Zion, aptly enough, given his religious imagery. And yes, I know, that Aslan is, in the words of Robot Chicken, the Jesus allegory lion. But quite frankly, I can more readily identify as Aslanist – after all, the dude’s a talking lion with magic coming out his mane. Who wouldn’t be an Aslanist?

Although there are any number of protagonists to choose for heroes from the seven volumes in The Chronicles of Narnia, notably the child protagonists who find themselves drawn from our world (specifically England) to Narnia through magic portals – hence the description of the Narnia Chronicles in Wikipedia as portal fantasy. (My personal favorite remains the native Narnian – or Archenlander to be precise – Shasta from The Horse and His Boy, albeit all native Narnian humans ultimately originate from our world in the first place).

But really if one character both embodies Narnia and rises above the others, albeit not so much as protagonist but as the moving force behind the world – from singing it into being in the beginning to literally closing the door on it in the end – it’s Aslan.

And Aslan embodies the spirit of Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles, those seven fantasy books that continue to inspire readers and remain among the most popular fantasy books or series, strikingly so for children’s fantasy books and explicitly Christian ones at that, although many readers remain unaware of the Christian themes.

Indeed, as my second place indicates, C.S. Lewis might be considered second only to my top place entry – with whom he was a close friend and colleague – as founding father (and leading theorist) of modern fantasy literature.

The books were published in anachronic order – that is, not in sequence in terms of their in-universe chronology, albeit with two of the books out of place, most famously with the book of Narnia’s creation being the second last book (and effectively as prequel to all preceding books). Some publishers or collections place them in chronological order but I’m a publication order purist, particularly for the prequel book.

Narnia might lack the same grandeur as Middle-Earth but for me it will always have a charm and place close to my heart. And so enchanting that after reading its Chronicles, what young reader doesn’t search wardrobes for other worlds? (Or hot White Witches with Turkish delight? Except I’ll pass on the Turkish delight). I know I still do…

RATING: 5 STARS****
S-TIER (GOD TIER)