The Missing Chronicle of Narnia

[Raiden]

Is it just me, or did one of the Chronicles of Narnia disappear?

Everywhere I hear about the stories, I hear people talk about how the first book "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" is so great, and they're making a movie off the first book in the series "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe".

Kind of hard to talk about the first book when you keep getting it's name wrong.

The first book in the series is "The Magician's Nephew". Why is it that no one seems to know about that one?

[Delira]

I think that "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" was written first, but that chronologically, story-wise, "The Magician's Nephew" was first.

[My Lead Airbag]

I think its actually popularity that makes people forget. Ya gotta remember that for most people, the only Narnia they know is LW&W. I only knew about the Magician's Nephew after I got the books on tape for my three year old cousin.

[yangfeili]

Incorrect. The original publication order (and the order in which I originally read them) is as follows:

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawntreader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle

Older editions number the books as such right on the cover. I would suspect that the more recent editions were renumbered because the publisher believed (perhaps rightly) that modern children lacked the mental competency to comprehend the concept of a non-chronological narrative.

[adamark]

Reminds me of how, years ago, I had a debate with someone about whether the old star wars movies were episodes 1, 2, and 3 or 4, 5, and 6. People forgot that the old ones are 4, 5, and 6. 3 hasn't even been completed yet.

[WanderingActor]

Yes, LW&W was the first written book, but The Magician's Nephew was first story wise. I doubt that whatever company is producing the movie LW&W has any ideas of doing the whole series.

On a lighter note, the British dramatic versions of the book are a good laugh if you like bad acting with funny accents.

[houkama]

I believe that the Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe is only considered the best for its basis on the Christian Bible, since the continuing novels, especially The Boy and his Horse are better.

[Daecrist]

I don't think it's fair to say that LW&W is famous because of its Christian content. Magicians Nephew and Last Battle have a far greater Christian undercurrent than the first.

Interestingly enough, in my version of the books The Horse and His Boy comes right before The Magician's Nephew.

I did always think that the original order did serve a better thematic purpose. Lewis introduces his readers to the Christian themes in the books rather slowly in the original order, and then gets on with the heavy-handed stuff in the last two books. The Magician's Nephew, while a wonderful book, kinda hits readers over the head with that theme.

[yangfeili]

Ah, by Jove, you're right. The Horse and His Boy was published after The Magician's Nephew, and I've fixed the list.

However, C.S. Lewis did indeed finish The Horse and His Boy well in advance of The Magician's Nephew (but did not publish it until later).

[Aidan305]

The Magicians Nephew and The Horse and his Boy are really fillers written to fill in the spaces and I always feel that they lack something that the other books have.

Somewhat like the last books in Asimovs Foundation series.