Oh my goodness. Y'all.

I just finished reading this series for the first time, and let me tell you, THESE BOOKS ARE BEAUTIFUL. I had read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe once before, and had seen the movies of both LWW and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so I had a basic idea of what happened there, but other than that knew next to nothing of Narnia (other than that it was an epic analogy for Biblical Creation up until the End Times-- and I love analogies for Christianity).

Until now.

My thoughts (spoilers ahead!):

The Magician's Nephew-- It was so very cool to see how Narnia was created, and to get a bit of Jadis's backstory (ugh, she's awful, but the scene where she ends up in England did make me laugh a bit). And I loved that the cabby and his wife, ordinary people, became the first King and Queen of Narnia! And when Aslan gave Digory the apple that would cure his mother, and it grew into a tree whose wood later became the Wardrobe and that's how the Pevensies were later able to get into Narnia-- yes.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe-- This is the classic, the one that everyone first thinks of when you bring up Narnia. Edmund's redemption arc is one of my favorite stories of all time. (Did you know that I have a Narnia closet, in our playroom? It's got a bunch of coats in it, and it's very long, and it may or may not actually lead to Narnia. ;)) I'll always love this book. (The Stone Table scene in the movie gets me every time. Agh.)

The Horse and His Boy-- Why does nobody ever talk about this book? I LOVE IT TO PIECES. The lost prince come home. Yes. And also, Bree is great. So is Corin. And Pevensie cameos! It was great to see them in their royal years. And Cor and Aravis's future relationship is so fascinating; C.S. Lewis made me ship them hardcore with just one sentence casually thrown in the end. {“Aravis also had many quarrels (and, I'm afraid even fights) with Cor, but they always made it up again: so that years later, when they were grown up they were so used to quarreling and making it up again that they got married so as to go on doing it more conveniently.”} Thank you, Mr. Lewis. (I need more stories about Cor and Aravis and all the other Archenlanders.)

Prince Caspian-- It's admittedly not one of my favorite Narnia books, but I did enjoy it. There isn't too much else to say, other than that 1.) Edmund is SO great in this book and 2.) Furthermore, so is Lucy and 3.) I'm very, very glad they got Narnia back and met Aslan again.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader-- And here we have another Epic Redemption Arc Story. I had already seen the movie, so again I had a general idea of what to expect. And I wasn't disappointed (though I hesitate to say I liked the book *better* than the movie, because it *was* such a good movie). Eustace Scrubb is incorrigible for most of the book (but he's supposed to be-- and goodness, the bits about his parents made me laugh), Lucy and Edmund are both epic (they're my favorite Pevensies), and Reepicheep is the first Mouse I've ever liked. He is awesome. This book is definitely one of my favorites.

The Silver Chair-- Out of all these stories, this one is probably my least favorite, because it doesn't really have any of the Pevensies or any of the Princes (Caspian, Cor) whom we've grown to love over the series. This book just didn't capture me like the others did. I did like how they saved Prince Rilian from the enchantment the Lady of the Green Kirtle had put him under for so many years. And it was good to see Eustace again, and how he's grown (SO MUCH) from VDT. And-- Puddleglum is my favorite, and says one of my favorite quotes of all time, so there you go.

The Last Battle-- This book, though. The beginning made me angry, but the ending was SO worth it. (And it's easy to see all the parallels between this book and the Bible's depiction of what the End Times will be like.) I love how our world was called "the Shadowlands"-- a mere shadow of the glory and the perfect world that is to come. And I loved how all the seven kings and queens of Narnia returned, and went on to Aslan's Country together, and their eyesight became crystal clear and they were all just so very glad and in awe. And the very last paragraph... what a perfect ending. I'm still smiling over it. I can't wait for that glorious ending that awaits each of us someday, in heaven with our God!

Favorite Narnian Quotes:

“One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one more thing to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things-trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Silver Chair (PUDDLEGLUM. YOU GO, SIR.)

“Courage, dear heart.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

“It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?"
"But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan.
"Are -are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund.
"I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

“Pooh! Grown-ups are always thinking of uninteresting explanations.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew

“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!”
― C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle

“Onward and Upward! To Narnia and the North!”
― C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

“Do not dare not to dare.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

“Daughter of Eve from the far land of Spare Oom where eternal summer reigns around the bright city of War Drobe, how would it be if you came and had tea with me?”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

“Child,' said the Lion, 'I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy

“To the glistening eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy the Valiant. To the great western woods, King Edmund the Just. To the radiant southern sun, Queen Susan the Gentle. And to the clear northern skies, I give you King Peter the Magnificent. Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen of Narnia. May your wisdom grace us until the stars rain down from the heavens.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

“And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle