The Magician's Nephew

Although it was the sixth Narnia book to be written by C. S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew is actually the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia (chronologically speaking). Written as a prequel to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, it can be read first in the series and is now reprinted as if it were.

Digory is an inquisitive and saddened boy from the country who is forced to come to London when his mother takes ill with what appears to be a terminal illness. Along with Polly, his neighbour, he explores the attic above his Aunt's house where he discovers his Uncle Andrew's top secret study. Uncle Andrew is a magician and has been experimenting with magical wooden rings that transport the wearer to another realm. Too cowardly to try them himself, he instead tricks Digory and Polly into using them, and they soon find themselves in a 'Wood between the World' and from there they travel to the ruined and decrepit world of Charn.

The adventures continue on from here into Narnia, and this book provides a lot of backstory and answers to unanswered questions that one might have regarding The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. We see the creation of Narnia, how the Witch (Jadis) came to that world, and where the wardrobe came from. Most pleasingly though, The Magician's Nephew is also an interesting story in its own right and Digory and Polly's adventures (and misadventures) give the proceedings the thrust they need to remain engaging, so it never gets bogged down in exposition.

It's important to remember though that this is a kid's book... I still find it enjoyable, and I'm sure many other adults do too, but you'll zip through it pretty quickly and it's nowhere near as complex as, say, Harry Potter, or other modern children's fantasy novels. It's also chock-full of some very Christian imagery... linking in with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe through certain allegorical similarities to the Bible and painting Aslan as a Jesus-like figure. The Magician's Nephew draws on the Book of Genesis, with Aslan as the Creator and Jadis as a Satan-like temptress, and my sixth sense for detecting preaching had me wincing at some of the allusions to sinning and faith. I was surprised at how little it annoyed me in the end though, as it added an extra dimension to what would otherwise be a simple adventure story, and some of the later scenes in the book are quite funny so it never gets too heavy or anything like that.

Anyway, I found this book to be a lot of fun, and it's made me look forward to reading the further Narnia novels immensely. I don't think a prequel has ever been better written.