basesurge's Full Review: C. S. Lewis - Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
It seems there is a maxim in the publishing industry, something like "every good (or even average) book deserves a sequel (preferably many of them). "Prince Caspian is the second volume in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles if Narnia series which eventually would go to seven books. The first volume was "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". The story is set in the fantastic land of Narnia where mice and moles talk and centaurs and fauns roam. In the first book the Pevensie children Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy allied with Aslan, the Lion Ruler, to displace the evil White Witch Jadis from Narnia. Now things are in a tight strait once more. Young Prince Caspian, of the title, is being kept from his rightful heritage by his usurping tyrant uncle Moraz. Forced to flee his palace he uses an ancient artifact to summon the Pevensie kids from the train platform where they're waiting to return to their dreary schooling. In Narnia Peter and his siblings were personages of some importance and they are now sorely needed. (What child, faced with the looming specter of school wouldn't leap at being offered an adventure on a fantastic land?)
Caspian is a shortish book (like all of the Narnia books) with a fairly straightforward story. It's a story of heroic daring-do and seems less interested than LWW making broad points about Theology. Aslan, the great lion still "=" Christ like in the first volume and I'm afraid once one knows this it rather knocks much of the suspense on the head. You can't lose with Jesus on your side, can you? The same may be said, more or less for the other books as well. (Note for more on this "=" business see my review of the LWW movie -- if you have the interest for some reason.) As this is the second installment in the Narnia books (as written) it is possible that Lewis is still finding his legs as far as writing about his other world. Later in the series both the writing quality in general as well as the vividness of the imagination and imagery improve markedly.
Like LWW, "Caspian" is rather written in the style of a dotty old uncle telling a story to his nephews and nieces. The same sort of style that can make Tolkien's "Hobbit" annoying to some. In it's defense it should be said that it is, after all. a book aimed at younger readers and many such books take a similar tone.
I guess it's incumbent on me to mention that a problem with the Harper-Collins combination edition I have. I won't go on and on except to say the individual books in this volume are in a strange order. See this review for details.
It's not a hundred percent mandatory for readers to read LWW before starting "Caspian". The business about the Pevensies being kings and queens of Narnia could be a bit confusing, I suppose, but Lewis explains things well enough for all but the thickest readers. Readers who want the full experience of the story should, of course, start at the beginning.
"Prince Caspian" probably isn't going to change anybody's world or bestow any cosmic epiphanies but it will keep you awake. It forms a respectable, if not especially spectacular installment in Lewis's famous fantasy series.
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