The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia, #7)

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The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia Publication Order #7)

by C.S. Lewis, Pauline Baynes (Illustrator)

3.99 of 5 stars 3.99 · rating details · 87,019 ratings · 2,009 reviews

The last battle is the greatest of all battles

Narnia ... where lies breed fear ... where loyalty is tested ... where all hope seems lost.

During the last days of Narnia, the land faces its fiercest challenge -- not an invader from without but an enemy from within. Lies and treachery have taken root, and only the king and a small band of loyal followers can prevent the destr...more

Paperback, 211 pages

Published August 22nd 2000 by HarperCollins (first published 1956)

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Nov 30, 2010 Maria rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy, young-adult

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Apr 14, 2007 Josie rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childrens-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 16, 2012 Annie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first part of this book was so difficult for me to get through. I hated how Narnia had become so tainted. Everything was so utterly depressing, but thankfuly, things did not stay that way. The last half is so wonderful. I hardly knew what to do with myself after reading it for the first time.

Of any of the worlds I've read about, Narnia is the one I would most like to visit or better yet, live in forever. I think that speaks to C.S. Lewis' ability to understand the longing of the human soul t...more

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Sep 21, 2007 Meg rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-midgrade, 2007, 2012

I recently reread this series. I was very worried that my added perspective as a religious studies major and adult would mar my childhood love of the books, but honestly, this is the only one in the series that I found unpalatable. Maybe it's because I find the rapture/end-times story to be more annoying that the sacrificed God story adapted in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I don't know. That said, given the choice of reading this again and reading Left Behind again, I'd choose Left Behi...more

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Mar 05, 2009 Luke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lewis understands the way the world works better than any other writer I have ever read. It's likely due to his appreciation for story and powerful imagination fed by scripture. This book was eye opening for me to feel truth about how deception and our societies work in rebellion to God, through a fictional story. It was painful to recognize the major battle and struggle that is so slippery and subtle in our own lives. It would feel better to feel the stark good vs evil contrast in the Lion the...more

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Aug 11, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Devout Christians? Those Who Want to be Culturally Literate

Shelves: children-s, classics, fantasy, religion, popular-fiction, spirituality, fiction, novels

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I might be giving this 3 or 4 stars were it not for the penultimate paragraph of the book. My first Narnia book was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I did think the imagination and imagery striking but found the Christian Allegory too blatant. Friends told me however, that with the exception of The Last Battle, those aspects aren't so prominent in the later books, and that much of the series is wonder-full. So I found it from then on up to this book.

Well, it could be said I'd been warned--b...more

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Penelope The description of the Calormenes that you quoted really struck me as well. Although Emeth is the exception, I felt like the negative descriptions/con...more
Oct 07, 2011 03:05pm

Lisa (Harmonybites) Penelope wrote: "The description of the Calormenes that you quoted really struck me as well. Although Emeth is the exception, I felt like the negative...more
updated Oct 07, 2011 06:03pm

May 29, 2008 Amber rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

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Feb 14, 2008 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This is my third time through the Chronicles of Narnia. After finishing the final installment, I have come to the realization that I will probably never read them again.

Why?

Because they're not that good.

Lewis has an odd style. Speaking as the narrator he attempts to describe really good or bad feelings, tastes, smells and such. Now, if these sensations are beyond description, he's sure to let the reader know that should they one day visit Narnia, they should definitely check this out. As if h...more

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Sep 04, 2007 lia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: y-a

I just recently re-read this and the Horse and His Boy on the recommendation of a friend. I haven't read the Narnia books in a really long time, but had been wanting to, after reading some of CS Lewis' theology writings, and figuring out that all of those lions and daughters of Eve were morality tales in disguise.
I still enjoyed the story, but was overwhelmed by the now obvious religious undertones to everything. Intolerance of those who worship an ugly hawk faced god (brown people in turbans no...more

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Feb 05, 2009 Werner rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, classics, childrens

After reading a book or series of books, sometimes thinking over time about what you've read, mentally comparing it to other literature in the same genre, and being involved in discussions about it will lead you to value it more highly, and to give it a higher rating. That's what's happened to me with the Narnia series; my appreciation for it has steadily grown!

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Jan 21, 2013 Jordan Gregory rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is much darker than the other Narnia books, but that's not a bad thing.

In contrast to The Magician's Nephew, the volume before this which chronicles the founding of Narnia, The Last Battle chronicles the destruction of Narnia and the end (or beginning?) of King Tirian's reign. Evil enters Narnia through the cunning of Shift the ape, and the gullibility of Puzzle the donkey. They create a form of idolatry, revive slave labor, and destroy the western lands of Narnia with their wickedness. It...more This is much darker than the other Narnia books, but that's not a bad thing.

In contrast to The Magician's Nephew, the volume before this which chronicles the founding of Narnia, The Last Battle chronicles the destruction of Narnia and the end (or beginning?) of King Tirian's reign. Evil enters Narnia through the cunning of Shift the ape, and the gullibility of Puzzle the donkey. They create a form of idolatry, revive slave labor, and destroy the western lands of Narnia with their wickedness. It was all treacherous, and I loved reading about it.
Tirian and some Narnians form a resistance, and Aslan eventually sweeps in and saves the day, and then BAM! Narnia dies. Shit went down in the last forty pages, and Lewis did a splendid job with it all. The "new" Narnia established at the end of the book was interesting enough, and wrapped up the whole series in true "happily ever after" fashion, but yet it was somehow still unsettling and thought provoking. Well done, old chap.

While this book was rather enjoyable, I did have a couple problems with it.

Firstly, the Calormenes. As with The Horse and His Boy, the Calormenes are irrevocably different from the Narnians. They are unintelligent, brutish, and purely evil... which are somehow exemplified by their racial and religious differences. Tirian and his men even use black-face and act rough and unfeeling, and through this they pass as Calormenes. BLACK-FACE. I can handle racially-charged material when it's to prove a point (see: my undying love for Mark Twain and Richard Wright), but Lewis seems to be playing with race and difference to strengthen existing prejudices and make everyone who is non-white, non-European, and non-Christian as a blackened Satan worshipper.

Similarly, this book explores speculation that Aslan and Tash, the god central to Calormene doctrine, are actually the same deity. Does this sound like any modern-day theological battlefields? Lewis, for most of this book, seems largely unresolved on the issue: first Aslan is absent, and the claim seems plausible; then "true" Narnians vehemently reject it; then Tash actually DOES appear, as does Aslan, so the whole claim is hogwash; and lastly, Aslan explains in the "new" Narnia that no, they ARE kinda-actually the same, only good deeds by any name pay homage to Aslan, and wickedness is wholly Tash. So Narnians know the true name of righteousness, Aslan, but Calormenes, good or bad, know only Tash. Lewis seems to be saying that actions speak louder than words, which is lovely and all, but he's also further relegating all that is different in lifestyle, religious practice, and even skin color to evil territory. The theological implications of this are muddled, but also problematic for me.

Speaking of theology, I will always be uncomfortable with the end-of-days thing. Yes, the book is based upon Revelations, and yes, it's supposed to be uplifting with its promise of eternal life. But from my secular perspective, it's also rejecting the idea that the existing world is worth improving. The Chronicles of Narnia are about overcoming evil through morality, fortitude, and love. Yet now we suddenly have an insurmountable evil, though it appears to be no worse than any of the other Narnian forays into wickedness, so we should just give up?

Not only do they enter a "new" Narnia, but they do so through death. Yep, on the second-to-last page, Aslan drops a bombshell: they all died in a horrible, fiery train accident in England, so rejoice! Now they can stay in "new" Narnia forever and be happy. I appreciate this for being wholly unsettling and really freaking my shit out, but I also don't like the overarching theme that the current world is just a placeholder for something better, so there's no point in trying to make it better. If there should be any message to The Chronicles of Narnia, it should be that there is magic and joy to be found in being a good person, and serving others as well as yourself; I feel this message still comes through in The Last Battle, but in a more unnerving fashion.

I have one last minor qualm: Susan. She's dropped from the narrative altogether, because she has decided to label Narnia as a childhood fantasy and instead pursue becoming a vapid, man-hungry teenybopper. Lewis creates strange conceptualizations of femininity in Narnia: you can either be a crazed witch or sorceress; an Aravis, who was inexplicably maimed in The Horse and His Boy; a Lucy, who is boyish and naive and described in other volumes as "just as good as a boy"; or now, a Susan, and not be allowed into Narnia at all. Most disturbing about this scenario is that she's still in the "normal" world, not in "new" Narnia, and so just lost all three of her siblings AND her parents AND the professor in a train crash. Mother of God, her life is a Grecian tragedy. Did Lewis think no one would notice this? Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but Susan seems marginalized into suffering for just choosing a different path than Aslan. Which, once again, brings us back to my main point about otherness in Narnia.

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer in this review. I really did enjoy this volume, and even bumped it up from three stars to four after I more fully processed all that it had to say. It's a tad problematic for me, but I love it for being so thought provoking and as magical as all of its predecessors. Thank you, Narnia(s), for another wonderful adventure. (less)

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Jul 22, 2008 Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Narnia fans!

Shelves: actionadventure, animals, classics, fantasy, young-adult

I'm always torn on what rating to give the Narnia books. I think if you take the series as a whole, it is - in a way - better than the individual books.
I did enjoy "The Last Battle" quite a lot! And, unfortunately, took longer to read it than I would have liked (which probably didn't help the flow of it). But, for the most part the good and the critiques are the same as always.
The world of Narnia is beautiful! Aslan is always magnificent! What we learn of the characters is enjoyable, and often f...more

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Feb 09, 2008 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

These books may only be about 200 pages long, but Lewis sure packs a lot into those 200 pages. Love, death, despair, hope, redemption.... It's all there, and it's in this book in spades.

This is, of course, the last book in the series. A good author knows how to name his books properly. If this had been the first book, the editor might have tweaked the title a little, although I do think it would be funny to call the first book in an epic fantasy series "The Last Battle" and then have the next si...more These books may only be about 200 pages long, but Lewis sure packs a lot into those 200 pages. Love, death, despair, hope, redemption.... It's all there, and it's in this book in spades.

This is, of course, the last book in the series. A good author knows how to name his books properly. If this had been the first book, the editor might have tweaked the title a little, although I do think it would be funny to call the first book in an epic fantasy series "The Last Battle" and then have the next six books deal with the aftermath of a near-apocalypse.

But I digress.

It is the end of an age, and its main players are a drunken monkey and a donkey with self-esteem issues. When the talking Ape named Shift finds a lion skin in the river, he sees opportunity. But opportunity takes hard work, and he prefers to delegate that to his donkey friend, Puzzle, who has come to accept that Shift will always be smarter, better and more Right than a poor old donkey can ever be. The way they figure it, if Puzzle wears the skin, and Shift promotes him as Aslan, the world will be their bivalve of choice! Now you may be wondering, how could anyone be taken in by a donkey in a tatty old lion skin, when the real Aslan is bigger than life and makes you want to cry when you see him?

Answer: low lighting and some clever accomplices.

Shift falls in with some of Calormenes, who are still looking for ways to take over Narnia. Shift and the Calormenes decide to blend their gods - Tash and Aslan - to make Tashlan, a unified deity before whom all must prostrate themselves. And give up all their worldly possessions, which Shift and his associates will gladly take up the burden of administering.

The scheme works wonders. The talking Beasts of Narnia follow Shift and Puzzle because they really do think it's Aslan. They've never seen the real guy before, so some lion-looking creature in the shadows and some slick talk from the Ape make it believable. Aslan tells them to cut down the trees in the Lantern Waste? Well, he must have his reasons, so let's get to it and hope that the dryads' screaming doesn't get too shrill.

That's where the last King of Narnia comes in. King Tirian and his unicorn, Jewel, get wind that something's not right. There's someone calling himself Aslan who is ordering the denizens of Narnia to destroy their own land. Like any good king, he decides to take matters into his own hands, and promptly gets himself captured. Silly, silly king.

But there is hope. In the dead of night and at the end of his endurance, he calls out to the children who, legend has it, appear in times of great need. He begs for their intercession, and, ten minutes later, Eustace and Jill pop into view, fresh off the train. They free Tirian and Jewel, round up as many loyal Narnians as they can find, and set to unmasking the scam that Shift and the Calormen are perpetrating.

But first they have to go through Tash. And he ain't a very nice God.

As you can easily guess from the title, this is the end of the series, and it is certainly an apocalyptic one. The Destruction of Narnia is beautifully written and illustrated, and it's certainly a sad moment in fantasy history. At least until you get to the next page and remember your Plato. Needless to say, it gets very metaphysical. There are worlds within worlds here, and each of them is more real and more wonderful than the one before. The Narnia that we knew, that we loved, is but a reflection of the True Narnia, and what holds true there also holds true here. Lewis tries to describe Heaven, and makes a very good go at it. But finally he gives up and says that it's truly beyond his power to describe. He assures us that this is a happy ending, and the Diggory and Polly, Peter, Edmund and Lucy (Susan apparently Grew Up and is, in Peter's words, "no longer a friend of Narnia." Yikes), Eustace and Jill have more adventures. But their adventures are beyond his ability to tell.

And so we must simply be content in knowing that Narnia endures, and always will endure. And that, one day, we will stand on its mountaintops, look out over its endless plains and oceans, and we too shall endure...(less)

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Mar 29, 2011 Crystal Starr Light rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children, fantasy

"Would it not be better to be dead than to have this horrible fear that Aslan has come and is not like the Aslan we have believed in and longed for?"

One day, a mean, old, nasty ape named Shift spots a lion's skin and forces the obedient, somewhat witless donkey, Puzzle, to wear it and imitate the great Aslan. The ape's deception ends up turning Narnia around, and King Tirian desperately calls out to the children of Narnia (the Pevensie children, Eustace, and Jill) to save them.

I Liked:
In many wa...more

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Mar 25, 2012 jzhunagev rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People who would want a good book to read during Lent.

Recommended to jzhunagev by: the "Voice"

Shelves: award-winning-best-seller, childrens-or-middle-grade-books, classics, dark-chest-of-wonders, fantasy, from-book-to-film, religion-books, 2011-reads, adventure, fiction-contemporary, inspirational, spiritual, young-adult

So Long, Narnia
(A Book Review of The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis)

Right from its opening sentence C. S. Lewis’s concluding book in The Chronicles of Narnia series homes in that matters are off to an ominous start. News of the appearance of the great lion-deity Aslan on the edge of the forest near Lantern Waste spread like wild fire throughout the land. And who wouldn’t be elated by this knowing it’s been two hundred years since the King of Beasts and the son of the Emperor-Over-The-Sea was last se...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This is one of the best books in the Chronicles of Narnia series! The beginning got me so frustrated, as I can't stand how the ape Shift treated the donkey Puzzle; also how "puzzled" & dumb Puzzle can really be. The climax & the ending is VERY exciting! This really give me a glimpse of how heaven will be like, as I can't stop smiling and laughing in the end. What really surprised me is how the ending is so unpredictable, but is THE best happily ever ending I've ever heard. You have to re...more

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Jan 14, 2009 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who like "The Shack" or "So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore"

Shelves: fiction, fantasy-myth-metaphor-nonsense, novel, philosophy-theology-spirituality

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I really enjoyed "The Last Battle." Then again, I'm also one for allegory. This final book in the Chronicles of Narnia is the most clearly allegorical of the lot—even including "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." This is the primary reason why I liked it so much.

Like the Talking Beasts of Narnia, so many people are deceived and convinced that our God is an unkind, impatient, and vindictive God.

To think so of our "Aslan" causes many horrible things (of which, I'll give three):

1) People learn...more I really enjoyed "The Last Battle." Then again, I'm also one for allegory. This final book in the Chronicles of Narnia is the most clearly allegorical of the lot—even including "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." This is the primary reason why I liked it so much.

Like the Talking Beasts of Narnia, so many people are deceived and convinced that our God is an unkind, impatient, and vindictive God.

To think so of our "Aslan" causes many horrible things (of which, I'll give three):

1) People learn to feel genuinely frightened by Him. And when that happens, they can be easily manipulated. Fear is by far the easiest path for coercion to take. In "The Last Battle" the ape, Shift, is able to convince people that he speaks for Aslan, and with this power, he is able to redefine the way they conceive of him. At this point, he manipulates their new fears and is able to make them do his will under the guise of Aslan's will. Fear gives undeserved power to those who have the ability to induce it and it destroys the opportunity for relationship. It stratifies equal people into unnatural hierarchal structures.

2) When someone comes along and convinces people that their God is not the cold, mean God they thought him to be (as Tirian did for the Dwarfs), some people do rejoice when it dawns on them that He really is as kind and loving as they hoped he was. But, some people jump to the conclusion that there is no God at all. They hear the proof against the idea that "Aslan" is bad, and rather than decide Aslan must therefore be good, they exceed the evidence, deciding instead that Aslan must not exist at all. So, in the end, the lie can destroy not just one's concept of who God is, but one's acceptance of his existence as fact.

3) When people are frightened by something, the usual response is to put as much distance between them and it as is possible. They run, they hide, or they guard themselves. They seek a shield or a wall to keep it from touching them. They seek a buffer to lessen the power of its terror on them. They seek a mediator to deal with it so they won't have to. It is simply too horrible a thought for them to interact directly with it. Read it in the allegory in chapter 10:

      "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you," said dozens of voices. "That's what we wanted! We can go in and see him face to face. And now he'll be kind and it will all be as it used to be." And the Birds chattered, and the dogs barked excitedly. Then suddenly, there was a great stirring and a noise of creatures rising to their feet, and in a second the whole lot of them would have been rushing forward and trying to crowd into the Stable door all together.
      But the Ape shouted: "Get back! Quiet! Not so fast."
      The Beasts stopped, many of them with one paw in the air, many with tails wagging, and all of them with heads on one side.
      "I thought you said," began the Bear, but Shift interrupted.
      "Anyone can go in," he said. "But one at a time. Who'll go in first? He didn't say he was feeling very kind. He's been licking his lips a lot since he swallowed up the wicked King the other night. He's been growling a good deal this morning. I wouldn't much like to go into that Stable myself tonight. But just as you please. Who'd like to go in first? Don't blame me if he swallows you whole or blasts you into a cinder with the mere terror of his eyes. That's your affair. Now then! Who's first?"...
      But the Beasts all stood looking at one another and began backing away from the Stable. Very few tails were wagging now. The Ape waddled to and fro jeering at them. "Ho-ho-ho!" he chuckled. "I thought you were all so eager...?"
...
      "Mercy! Mercy!" wailed the Beasts. "Spare us, Lord Shift, stand between us and Aslan, you must always go in and speak to him for us. We daren't, we daren't."

(less)

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Jul 03, 2008 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well I'll be darned. Lewis did a pretty good job of redeeming himself with this final book in the chronicles. This one I solely listened to on audio. Patrick Stewart, as you'd have it, was the narrator. I'm sure his reading helped a bit. But there was a strong, bittersweet story that remained taut throughout the novel. While once again religiously overt, the story still worked on many secular levels. I do have to chastise Lewis once again for his depiction of the Calormenes. At least he introduc...more Well I'll be darned. Lewis did a pretty good job of redeeming himself with this final book in the chronicles. This one I solely listened to on audio. Patrick Stewart, as you'd have it, was the narrator. I'm sure his reading helped a bit. But there was a strong, bittersweet story that remained taut throughout the novel. While once again religiously overt, the story still worked on many secular levels. I do have to chastise Lewis once again for his depiction of the Calormenes. At least he introduces the Calormene character of Emeth. Besides offering a more balanced view of the Calormenes, his conversation with Aslan is one of the philosophical high points of the book. Intention of action is, ultimately, what defines you.

It was rather a bow tie ending that didn't even try to hide its Christian ideology. This would have bothered me a lot more were it not for the conversation between Aslan and Emeth. Still, it doesn't sit particularly well with me. In any case, the book ends appropriately for the series. The cycle is completed. Lewis seems to be writing for an older audience; gone are the disruptive assurances during events that everything will work out just fine. There is uncertainty and room allowed for conflicted characters. This is something new to Narnia. The depth it allows is refreshing. I'm speaking in particular of the dwarfs.

Finally, the reintroduction of certain characters makes a person realize how fond they were of them. One of my biggest beefs with Lewis throughout the books was his avoidance of genuine, emotional interaction between characters. It was always a quick sentence here or there. There were a few exceptions, most notably Lucy. In this book, he finally gives way and lets the love flow (terribly corny way of putting it, I know). I can see how some may find this altogether too clean or too sentimental, but I think it is what makes the ending of the story effective. The sense of loss is made the more profound by the memories these characters trigger within the reader.

The writing is good. As to the "happily ever after", that's not exactly my cup of tea, but from a literary standpoint, and I suppose equally importantly, from Lewis's personal beliefs and goals with these chronicles, it is appropriate and fitting.(less)

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Jul 02, 2008 Vanessa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 09, 2008 Liz rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The Last Battle really frustrates me. It appears that Lewis just gave up on the series, but had to end it somehow. Looks like he decided it was a great chance to get up on his soapbox about human behavior as well. While his allusions about Christianity and life were much more subtle in the earlier books in the series, that subtlety has completely gone by the wayside. It feels overwhelmingly like a condemnation of human life and an outright exhortation to repent. While the imagery is good, I thin...more The Last Battle really frustrates me. It appears that Lewis just gave up on the series, but had to end it somehow. Looks like he decided it was a great chance to get up on his soapbox about human behavior as well. While his allusions about Christianity and life were much more subtle in the earlier books in the series, that subtlety has completely gone by the wayside. It feels overwhelmingly like a condemnation of human life and an outright exhortation to repent. While the imagery is good, I think it may have been more effective had he stuck with his initial pretext.

I'm surprised also at the lack of hope in this writing (much like the same lack of hope I felt in The Silver Chair). When Tirian calls on Aslan and on the 'children from the other world' (surely, as king he should have known their names and the stories?!), you're filled with hope, but it's dashed pretty quickly with the arrival of Farsight the eagle.

The amazingly quick decline of Narnia also leaves you to wonder how the king got to be so lazy about protecting his land. You think that the trouble that seems to have come to a boiling point couldn't have happened while anyone was paying attention. Why have towers in the Western Waste if you're not going to keep sentries in them?

The resolution of the book is quite odd as well. The suspension of disbelief that is required of the reader is stretched to the limit, where events don't even seem possible given what the rest of the series has shared. Perhaps I am limited by my completely human mind, but trying to comprehend and accept that the idea of a more perfect Narnia still exists where those who had passed on now 'live' and that it's inside, yet larger, than the Narnia before it is a challenge for me. I see the allusion to heaven or, perhaps Eden, as "heaven" was 'Aslan's land,' which Jill clearly states is not where they are.

I do particularly like the conversion story of Emeth, as it provides the detail and imagery that I know Lewis is capable of.

And, might I add: Queen Susan, who no longer is a friend of Narnia, hasn't been included in the final scenes. How horrid. Really, what did this nugget add to the story, as the rest of the family doesn't seem too upset by it? And that we're not told the reason for it, beyond her interests in "invitations and stockings."

All's well that ends well, I suppose.(less)

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Aug 29, 2008 Annette rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow, talk about a cool book about times right before the millenium - symbolically of course, but CS Lewis talks of faith here and I want to read this again just to grasp the idea that our development of our faith is up to us and no one, not even Christ can just give us faith. Oh how Aslan wants to let everyone have a feast, but we see that there are those that can't see that the feast is there - but see something else or their faith limits them so they can't see beyond what their physical eyes c...more

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Oct 03, 2007 Shawna rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children

The end of Narnia has begun. A false Alsan enslaves the denizens of Narina in fear and labor, the last king fights back with help from old characters, and Narnia is destroyed with Alsan to lead those true to him to a new and better land.

I have finally completed the Narnia chronicles. Overall I did not enjoy CS Lewis's writing style. He constantly inserted the author’s voice, often in parentheticals, breaking the fantasy. I found the series patronizing and disturbing when I look back on it…pat th...more

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Dec 02, 2007 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-books

As Narnia getting closer to its end, the Narnians confused about Aslan. That is because they were tricked by a donkey, who disguised as Aslan by its friend the monkey. The Narnians confused because "Aslan" act strange, but they were not dare to seek the truth. Only the true friends of Aslan brave enough to find out who was the real Aslan and revealed who was disguising as Aslan. It's similar with the Christian as stated in the book of Revelation of the Bible. As the world getting closer to its e...more

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Dec 05, 2008 Manny rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children, science-fiction

A dismayingly poor conclusion to the series... I honestly don't understand why a fair number of people apparently like it. (I believe it even won some kind of award). The writing is flat and uninspired compared to the earlier volumes, and the preaching has completely taken over the narrative. Oddly enough, a lot of it also comes across as extremely immoral. Let's not even get into the question of whether the treatment of the Calormenes and their god Tash is racist or bigoted. The thing that real...more

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Jul 14, 2008 Nielson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This was a FABULOUS ending to the series! I love the very last page...the idea that this whole series was just the title and cover page and that their real story is just beginning with Aslan in Narnia. It was the perfect ending and was an inspiring, spiritual ending. I love how Narnia is portrayed and can picture its great beauty in my mind. I have really fallen in love with this series and am so glad that I read them. Fantasy is such a great genre to open your mind to new heights and wonders.

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May 21, 2013 Imogen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love The Chronicles of Narnia Series: the books have been part of my childhood, so I will always love them, no matter how many parts annoy me. My Dad read them all to me when I was pretty young, so I remember loving every one of them to bits then. However I did re-read the books again, and yes, I still loved each and every single one of them, but this one... not so much.

*SPOILERS DON'T READ ON ALRIGHT! STOP RIGHT THERE IF YOU HAVE NOT, I REPEAT NOT, READ THE BOOK!*

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May 02, 2013 Alden rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Summary:
This is the last book in the Narnia series. This book starts off with Tirian as the King of Narnia. Then he is told by roonwit a guy would learned off stars tells him that there is a evil coming to narnia. Then later on the evil does come. The evil thing is a ape/gorilla. The ape find a lionskin and tells the donkey (his helper) to pretend to be aslan. After that the plan does work Tiran get trapped by the ape, while his is captured he prays to aslan, then he gets a vision then after hes...more Summary:
This is the last book in the Narnia series. This book starts off with Tirian as the King of Narnia. Then he is told by roonwit a guy would learned off stars tells him that there is a evil coming to narnia. Then later on the evil does come. The evil thing is a ape/gorilla. The ape find a lionskin and tells the donkey (his helper) to pretend to be aslan. After that the plan does work Tiran get trapped by the ape, while his is captured he prays to aslan, then he gets a vision then after hes done he looks and sees that people named jill and Eustace are there to help him get free. Then they escape find a small group to help them fight. But they lose and they go to this barn. In it they find that it is a place just like Narnia but better in it they find the calormene god, also all the other characters in Narnia like Jill, Eustace, lady polly, digory, lucy, Peter, and Endmund. I kind of skipped to the last book so I don’t know who lady polly is. In the end they find Aslan and he tell them that Narnia is destroyed and that is the new world.
Assessment:
While reading the series skipping over some books I find that this is just like the fight against good and evil. With in the end how the old earth is destroyed and there is a new one like the same but so much better. I like how C.S lewis puts all these books together. Actually, for the last book horse and his boy it didn’t fit well in this series in my opinion. Next what I liked was a the think by lewis like how an evil comes pretends to be the good then when the escape to a new world they find that the evil dies. After that there isn’t that much that I can say for this book being bad. The worst thing that I can think of isn’t even that bad, it’s the end and how the find the new world how they were going back from losing then going to the new world. I kind of wanted them to beat the evil ones but I guess it show that its God’s/Aslan’s Job to destroy them and not ours/the narnian’s
Would I recommend this:
I think I have said this before in other book reports. I would defiantly recommend any of the books in the Narnia series. But if you just read one and not the others it would kind of be hard to understand. I have said that all the books are the same before. But with this one I am really happy that they kind of changed this in the final book. But back to recommendation I feel that they does a great job show the fight for good and evil and the real life. So for like someone that doesn’t know God that much I could maybe let them read this series first so they could get a better understanding for this.
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Apr 28, 2013 John Afford rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Overwhelming to say the least. A wonderful story from cover to the last two chapters. Oh I wouldn't say that last two chapters weren't wonderful, but nevertheless put the cork back on the wine bottle.

It was most certainly sad to see them all depart in a horrid accident. But in hindsight they will live out their eternal existence in the world that brought them so many adventures and memories, that their Shadowlands could not. Twofold this expresses how we should not take life for granted and str...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Rachel Burke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle is one of the best Fantasy books there is. The book won the Carnegie award in the UK. The Last Battle is really an epic ending to a magnificent series. This book takes place when there is a clash between the Narnians and the Calormen. The clash end with a victory by the Narnians in a battle that was almost lost. One thing that is great about this book is all the different cultures and religions it draws on to form a completely new story. This is a book t...more

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Mar 20, 2013 TonyS rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Last Battle
By C.S. Lewis
211 Pages
Fantasy Fiction

The Last Battle is about the final days of Narnia. It starts with an ape, Stitch, and a donkey, Puzzle. Stitch makes Puzzle think that he is not clever, and when they find a lion’s skin in Cauldron Pool, Stitch uses the fact that Puzzle isn’t clever to make Puzzle wear the lion’s skin and pretend that he is the Lord of Narnia, Aslan. This puts the king, Tirian, into a distress mode, and seeks out this Aslan, and gets arrested. Friends from beyo...more

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About C.S. Lewis

CLIVE STAPLES LEWIS (1898–1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. He wrote more th...more

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Books by C.S. Lewis

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)

The Chronicles of Narnia (Chronicles of Narnia #1-7)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chronicles of Narnia, #3)

The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)

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Quotes from The Last Battle

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now...Come further up, come further in!” — 400 people liked it

“But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.” — 251 people liked it

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The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia Publication Order #7)

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