The Silver Chair

View books by C. S. Lewis.

The Silver Chair - Rated

Fourth book printed, sixth book chronologically.

I began re-reading the Narnia series after coming across a beautiful boxed set of all seven novels. Mainly this was out of nostalgia, as these were favourites when I was young, and I was interested to see how they held up as adults. I found them all to be written very clearly with provocative descriptive prose, and narrative that often draws the reader immediately into the story.

The series falters here a little with a fairly uninspired story, broken down into a series of events that give the reader the sense that Lewis was getting a little weary with the universe he had created. As though bored of Narnia, he takes us away from that and all familiar characters but one, an admittedly well-realised Eustace.

Although it opens very well, despite Lewis interjecting regularly with his own poorly-disguised opinions on the world in general and certain types of schools in particular. Unfortunately once the story kicks in it feels a touch rushed and uninspired, the return of Caspian unemotive, and the silver chair of the title almost totally inconsequential. It's not an awful read, but there's little hear for adults and probably not a great deal for youngsters, although I would admittedly be guessing about that.

5/10

Sterling Silver - Rated
Possibly the most underappreciated of the Chronicles of Narnia, you are left wondering about the title until the very end. Like the others in the series it has a definite moral - here it is that appearances can be deceptive and even those who look good on the outside can have evil in their hearts, a message as relevant to children now as it was in the 1950s when the book was written.

The book introduces put upon Jill Pole as the schoolfriend of Eustace Scrubb, the spoilt brat of "Dawn Treader" redeemed through his adventures at the end of the world with Prince Caspian and Reepicheep. Eustace and Jill escape bullies into Narnia and are given a quest by Aslan. Jill struggles to remember Aslan's instructions, and constantly fails, until they are led straight into the giants' lair at Harfang. All the time they are lured by good things only to be deceived at every level - and almost leave the real good to its doom in underground caverns.

Pauline Baynes' illustrations, like in all the Narnia books, enliven the story and characters from the Marshwiggle to Harfang and beyond.

Carrying a moral rather than a specifically Biblical message, the book delights readers of all ages and the Chronicles as a whole should be on every child's reading list. Hopefully the new film of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" will introduce a new generation of children to this beautiful series; this book in particular develops the character of Aslan beyond "nice cuddly lion" and is worth picking up. Even though my copy is not the new edition, the cover art updates the series for the new millennium.