Customer Reviews (273) 
Read in order of publication date PLEASE
Great book as are the rest of the "Chronicles of Narnia". But I do encourage anyone who has not read them to do so in publication order not how the story is set out chronologically. Reading the books in publication order reveals so much more.
Adventurous, dark, encouraging, and just as good the 5th time you read it
The Magician's Nephew was the sixth novel written in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series, but it chronologically the first story within the Narnian universe and is now published with a big number "1" on the spine, so that's become the last word on reading-order, despite the fact that the book seems to presuppose a knowledge of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
TMN, in a practice common to mid-20th-century children's books, employs a friendly (and relentlessly British-sounding) narrator who intrudes into the story a bit, occasionally offering his own opinions on the action, but mercifully, not too often. I find the narration charming, as it is in Tolkien's The Hobbit, but it can seem cloying if you aren't used to the style. The book is set in London around 1900, and features Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer as the adventurous child protagonists. Though really, this is Digory's book--Polly is around to offer sensible yet plucky advice and to offer gender balance to the events.
It's a cold, wet summer and the children have nothing to do (which could be the opening of The Cat in the Hat), so they go exploring through the attic rafters of their connected tenement buildings, and accidentally stumble into the attic of Digory's nefarious Uncle Andrew. Uncle Andrew is the magician promised in the title, though he has little idea of how his own limited magical connections work--he leaves that discovery to Digory and Polly, who are coerced into traveling into an alternate dimension, the Wood Between the Worlds. From the Wood, they experiment with dimension-travel and go to the dead world of Charn where they meet a 7-foot-tall cruel beauty, Queen Jadis, and inadvertently bring her back to London with them. Jadis has no regard for human life and is bent on world domination, though her brief rampage through the streets is played for humor, and the children try to beam her back to her old world, but instead take her to...dun dun dun...
...Narnia. But it's early Narnia, just as Aslan the great Lion (and Christ figure) is singing it into existence. Jadis loses no time in expressing her hatred for the Lion, and runs away to the north to become, you guessed it, the White Witch. Digory has brought evil into the new world, and he gets to atone for it by riding a winged horse (!) to a magic garden and pick a special apple, so that it can be planted in Narnia as a tree of protection from the Witch.
A moral complication arises--Digory has a dying mother back in London, and when he finds out that he's on a mission to obtain magical, life-sustaining fruit, he would much rather bring a piece back to earth to save his mother, than trust a lion he's just met and bring it to him for his own use. Fortunately, in this story, selflessness and sacrifice is rewarded, and when Digory chooses to bring the apple back to Aslan instead, he gets to take a replacement magic apple home to his mother, who makes a full recovery.
I must admit flat-out that I am a fan of this book. Of all the Chronicles of Narnia, this one is likely my favorite, because I find it deeper, darker, and of a different style than the others. The characters are more fleshed out--Digory and Polly complain and grumble and get into fights with each other, but are also brave, adventurous, and determined to help others when the situation arises. Unlike Lucy & crew from the other books, they are painted realistically, instead of being pleasant/vacant reader avatars, and Digory's pain over his mother's illness is palpable. In a different writer's hands, or if this book had been written in modern times, I could almost see the entire story taking place in Digory's head--the imagination of a hurt child, dreaming up a world of magical justice where he can obtain a cure for his mother.
Other virtues: 1. Exquisitely rendered illustrations. Pauline Baynes' artwork is lovely and always adds to the story, helping to ground the reader with detailed visual images. 2. Humor. TMN brings out this element quite a lot, usually in connection with Uncle Andrew: in Narnia, he faints out of fear, and the talking animals conclude that since he's tall, thin, and doesn't speak he must be a tree, and therefore they must plant and water him. 3. Darkness. One of the creepier Narnian books, especially the Charn chapter and Jadis' temptation of Digory in the garden. The ominous undertone never goes on too long, but I certainly appreciate it while it's there. Reading about the streets of Charn soaked with the blood of that world's final armies, the hall of waxworks with malicious expression, and hearing passing references to the 'principal torture chambers', etc. make for chilling reading, which is good for children's books in small doses. 4. Blatantly cool elements. Early Narnia is like Eden, but more awesome. Walking trees, talking animals, winged horses? Please book my flight to the Narnian countryside immediately.
Downsides: 1. British slang. I adore it, but young readers will have to navigate 'bosh', 'jawing', 'blubbing, 'ansom cabs', 'mind your P's and Q's' and so on. 2. Repetition. When Uncle Andrew's monologuing about magicians, Digory interrupts him with the exact same protest a dozen times. It gets old. 3. One-offs. Hoping to hear more about Mrs. Lefay, the bad fairy godmother who almost died in prison? How about the origin and purpose of the box of Atlantean dust (or indeed, any other references to Atlantis, ever)? Or the mention that the royal family of Charn has giantish blood? Too bad! They are never mentioned again, and I want to hear about them all. If the Lewis estate ever authorizes sequels, I want something dark and mysterious set in Charn, and I want the connection between Narnia and Atlantis explained.
Any book I can read five times without boredom gets an "A" rating, without question. TMN can offer equal delights for children and adults, and that is why it has remained a favorite of mine for more than a decade.
Great to listen for fun and learning
Love the CD, it is so well done! We use it in our home school class time but, it is so entertaining that you can just listen for fun.Kenneth has a wonderful voice and does a beautiful job making the story come alive.
I like it so much that I bought the entire set of CD's from Harper Children's Audio!
Rings of a New World
With news that another fantasy fiction Hollywood blockbuster, perhaps similar to those based on the books of J.R.R Tolkien or J.K Rowling, would be making its box office debut sometime at the end of 2005, many an entertainment review began to talk about how C.S Lewis' The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe would compare with rival film productions. These days, the quality of the special effects is what determines whether or not such fantasy fiction movie epics become hits or fall by the wayside. Regardless, there is a strong case to be made for reading the books first simply because books give the author's own unadulterated versions of their stories and allow the reader to use his or her own imagination to its greatest potential. For C.S Lewis the stories of Narnia do not in fact start with The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe but with another epic, The Magician's Nephew.
In The Magician's Nephew, the story begins in early 20th Century London with a girl, Polly Plummer, who, together with a boy by the name of Digory, sets off on a little adventure to explore a tunnel that runs through the attic of her house. Inadvertently they end up crawling from the tunnel into the office of Digory's Uncle Andrew who launches them on a journey that sets the stage for the rest of the book. With his magical powers and eagerness to try out a set of magical rings that allow those who touch them to travel into other worlds, Uncle Andrew forces Digory and Polly to become subjects for his experiments. Sure enough, Digory and Polly quickly find themselves in Charn- a world which an evil witch, Queen Jadis, has all but destroyed with her magical powers. But as they attempt to flee back to their own world, they unwittingly bring her back to London where her intentions to conquer every land that she can lay her hands on take new meaning.
After some rather comical moments involving the witch, whose theft of a large sum of money has more than caught the attention of a rather angry London mob, Digory and Polly manage to use their magical rings to catapult themselves and the witch back out to another magical world, thus saving London from its unwanted ruler. Yet the children bring with them not only the witch but an additional entourage composed of a carriage cabby and his wife, a stolen horse by the name of Strawberry and Uncle Andrew himself. The world in which they all end up in is a world that has not yet begun- a world that consists of nothing but darkness, devoid of any other living creatures. But as a voice in the distance begins to sing, this emptiness is transformed into a universe ablaze with stars, constellations and planets, "brighter and bigger than any in our world" (p.61). As the singing continues, more of this incipient creation becomes apparent. A bright sun rising up above the horizon illuminates a river flowing eastwards while the neighboring hills become covered in grass and trees. The singing voice turns out to be none other than that of Aslan-a lion whose goodness in creation seems altogether repulsive to the evil witch. Shrieking with fear, she runs away, while the children look on in wondrous amazement at the new land rising before them.
The runaway witch becomes the focus of the adventure that unfolds. The children are given the seemingly insurmountable task of journeying to the farthest reaches of the land better known as Narnia to find a garden with an apple tree that bares a special kind of fruit- a fruit that will protect Narnia from the witch's evil influences and which they must bring back with them. Aslan gives them everything they need for the task including a winged horse by the name of Fledge (aka Strawberry) that will fly them across the forests and mountains which lie in their way. Their journey is made all the more thrilling by the scenery they encounter for these same forests and mountains make of Narnia a land that rivals any on our earth in its beauty and majesty.
As one reads The Magician's Nephew, it is all too evident at key moments in the story Lewis has borrowed scenes from the biblical creation account. The unfolding of the new world with Aslan's singing, for example, mirrors God speaking the creation into existence in the book of Genesis. At times Lewis displays a unique sense of humor even though the overall thread of the story is obviously quite serious. What is perhaps most striking about Lewis' writing is his ability to reach out to both child and adult alike in what is a story that appeals to all our senses of doing good and living a righteous life. In short, The Magician's Nephew opens up a view of the world in which a divine purpose for our lives is ever-present, ready to guide us to an end in which good conquers evil. It is an adventure story that anybody can enjoy.
The Chronicles of Narnia, The Magician's Nephew
This is the first book in "The Chonicles of Narnia" series. Digory and Polly are two kids who visit Digory's Uncle Andrew, who happens to be a magician.Uncle Andrew runs an experiment.He tests it on Digory and Polly, using two different rings. Digory and Polly are warped into another world when they place the rings on their fingers.When they get to the other world they forget that they were working on the experiment and instead they explore the world, until they find a bell.They ring the bell and a Queen comes to life.Digory and Polly bring her back to their world.
Digory is a young boy around nine or ten years old.He is an emotional boy, coping with a close member of his family who is very ill and close to dying.Polly is a compassionate girl who is concerned about others.Digory and Polly meet each other at school.The Queen is a magician and is a very powerful ruler, having overthrown the former queen.She is hated by her former peers.Azalon is lion who appears differently to each person.He is their soul and asks them to do things.All good beings listen to him, while evil beings ignore him.
I like Digory because I understand him.I can relate to his life.Polly is a good person but I don't have strong feelings for her one way or the other.I dislike the Queen, because she is evil,even though she advances the plot.
I liked the book because it is a fantasy.I would recommend the book to 10-12 year olds who like to read fantasy or to adults who like deeper meaning books.People who read series books such as Harry Potter would enjoy reading this book because it is a fantasy even though it is easier reading.
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