(B) The Magician's Nephew (Lewis, 1955); Grade: B-/C+

The only reason why I read this was because I was prereading for The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe(TLTWATW), which I'm halfway through. I haven't read the series in over 10 years I think. It's not the BEST book of the series, but it is the first book so it's good, but not necessary, to read if you want some insight on what happened before TLTWATW.

The book follows the adventures of Digory and Polly, long before the Pevensies existed. Digory appears in TLTWATW as "the Professor". Essentially, this book is all about how Narnia came to be, which is actually only towards the end of the book. Digory lives with his uncle who is a "Magician" because he made these rings that take people to other worlds. Digory's uncle, Andrew, is too scared to try the rings out for himself so he tricks Digory into using the rings to save his friend Polly who "accidentally" ended up in another world. We also meet the White Witch in this book and it's basically Digory's fault that she was awakened from her slumber and why she ended up in Narnia.

I never realized how this book, especially the end, is so blatantly Christian-themed. I guess when I was a child I thought I was just reading a story about fantasy and adventure. Those sneaky Christians hehe. Overall, I think the book is interesting in that you learn about where the Wardrobe came from(it came from a tree that came from an apple Digory brough back from Narnia that healed his dying mother), why there's a lampost in the middle of the wood(the witch brought it from her visit to London), and where Narnia came from(darkness...and in the beginning there was light...sound familiar?). I gave the book a B-/C+ because some parts dragged and Uncle Andrew and the White Witch were kind of annoying haha.

Commentary aka on my Harry Potter soapbox: I'm not knocking that these books are Christian. It's TOTALLY fine. What bugs the hell out of me is that some Christians think Harry Potter books are sending subliminal messages about being witches/wizards because there's a rumor going around that JK Rowling is/was a witch and put "real spells" in the book. Um...if you look at the primary themes in the Harry Potter series, it's basically GOOD VS. EVIL. Sound like a familiar theme? Why is the Chronicles of Narnia ok and not Harry Potter? I wonder if athiests/pagans/witches are revolting about Narnia....hehe.