I read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" when I was very young, and barely remember it. I never read the other books in the series. So now, as an adult, I'm reading the entire "Chronicles of Narnia." After a bit of Internet research, I decided to read them in order of publication, rather than the overall story's chronological order. I'll post individual reviews for each book, and slightly shorter opinions here.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The first in "The Chronicles of Narnia" is not a bad book, to be sure, but its characters, especially the humans, are a bit bland to stick with the reader once the book is closed. The exception is Edmund Pevensie, who is memorable only because Lewis makes him so unrelentingly obnoxious for almost the entire book. Lewis also draws on myriad old myths, fables and legends to create the hodgepodge that is Narnia, creating little from scratch. The plot of "Lion" is a bit creaky, too, with some machinations making little sense on their own, and needed solely to keep the story moving forward. I'm thinking, for example, of the note left behind at Mr. Tumnus's house after he is arrested -- a note that exists only so that the Pevensie children can find out what became of the faun. But some of the touches in Lewis's writing remain fresh almost 60 years after the book was written. Lewis never lets you forget he's telling you a story, occasionally interjecting his own opinions of the characters' doings, and more than once reminding the reader of something that happened in "the last chapter." What else makes "Lion" intersting to the adult reader? Well, there is, late in the book, some hot girl-on-girl-on-lion action. Sure, C.S. Lewis mostly was writing a religious parable for children, but he threw in some thinly veiled steaminess for his adult readers too. Don't think I don't know what you were doing, Jack. I do. Also, spoiler alert: Aslan is totally Jesus Christ. Full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....

Prince Caspian: Why does C.S. Lewis feel the need, in each "Chronicles of Narnia" book, to make one of the Pevensie children, seemingly at random, completely loathsome? In "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," it was Edmund who was a complete dick for almost the entire book, and now, in "Prince Caspian," it's Susan who's asking for a good bitch-slapping. I think I know why C.S. Lewis does this: He's not very good at making characters memorable unless he makes them totally good, totally bad, or start out totally bad and have them turn totally good partway through the story. I know these are children's books, but even children's books can have a little bit of complexity in their characterization, no? Just as in "Lion," none of the characters in "Caspian" much deserve to remain in the reader's mind after the book is closed. The possible exception is Trumpkin, and he stands out mostly by using such exclamations as "lobsters and lollipops" and "giants and junipers." Caspian himself starts out with the potential to become interesting too, but largely fades into the background once the Pevensie children return to Narnia. Getting back to Susan, I do get what C.S. Lewis is trying to do with her character in "Caspian." This is still a religious parable, after all, and in this book Susan is the one designated to stop trusting in Aslan, just as someone straying from the Christian faith will stop following Jesus. I get it, but Lewis never bothers telling us why Susan has strayed. That all being said, the story in "Caspian" is fast-moving and entertaining, and, just as in "Lion," the writing is lively and engaging. Full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: The strongest of the three "Chronicles of Narnia" books I've read so far, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" opens with a wonderful first line: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." Eustace, a cousin to the four Pevensie children, who the first two books focused on, is the designated asshole in this entry, taking up the mantle carried by Edmund in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and Susan in "Prince Caspian." I've complained about this trope in my other reviews, but I don't have as much of a problem with it this time around because Eustace is so wonderfully bitchy. With the way he talks about his cousins Edmund and Lucy, as well as the Narnians on board the Dawn Treader, particularly in his diary entries, Eustace comes across as a younger, slightly less gay Noel Coward. Most of "Voyage" is comprised of a series of set pieces that demonstrate what a lively imagination C.S. Lewis had: the kidnapping by slave traders, Eustace's transformation into a dragon and back into a boy, the pool that turns whatever touches it to gold, the sea people, and the edge of the world. This is both "Voyage"'s strength and its weakness: the scenes are inventive, but the overall story is not terribly cohesive. The writing remains strong, and is even a bit better than in the first two books. (There's a funny line early on in the book when the then-bitchy Eustace disappears and Reepicheep, who's none too fond of him, immediately vows to avenge his murder -- apparently hoping he were, in fact, murdered.) Full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

The Silver Chair: “The Silver Chair” is in some ways a more mature book than its three predecessors in the Narnia series – for one thing, C.S. Lewis finally loses the designated-asshole character I've complained about in my reviews of the preceding books – but it also has a less compelling story than the other books. I did find Eustace Scrubb's school, Experiment House, interesting, and wish we had spent a bit more time there before being whisked away to Narnia once again. I also liked the new characters Jill Pole and, especially, Puddleglum, the wonderfully curmudgeonly Marshwiggle who, when pressed, proves himself a hero. The dialog in "Silver Chair" isn't quite as witty as in the preceding book in the series, though, and after the entertaining “Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” its follow-up can't help but be a bit of a letdown. Full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

The Horse and His Boy: I get the sense that other readers of the Narnia books liked "The Horse and His Boy" a lot more than I did, with some even citing it as one of their favorites. I found its main characters less interesting than those in the preceding books, and found the biblical allusions -- the parallels between the lives of Shasta and Moses, for example -- a bit overbearing. C.S. Lewis's writing is as strong as ever, but the clever quips and asides are fewer in this volume than I'd come to expect. Full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

The Magician's Nephew: I had a lot more fun with "The Magician's Nephew" than I had with its immediate predecessor, partly because its inclusion of people from this world -- something "The Horse and His Boy" almost completely lacked -- made it easier to relate to, and partly because the villains, Jadis and Uncle Andrew, have great personalities, broadly drawn though they may be. The recapitulation of Genesis toward the end of the book is pretty heavy-handed, even for C.S. Lewis, but this still was one of the better Narnia books. Full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

The Last Battle: It's been a long, long trip, and I'm glad to finally reach the end. While I enjoyed some of the early installments in the Narnia saga, and several of the characters were compelling (some to love, others to hate), the series overstayed its welcome for me -- even after taking a break halfway through. "The Last Battle" started off OK, but suffered mightily as soon as Jesu-- er, Aslan, that is, made his usual appearance. The themes of God vs. Satan, heaven and earth, good vs. evil, and divine perfection vs. earthly imperfection that dominated the latter half of the book are hard to take, even for a reader like me who knew what he was getting into with C.S. Lewis. I can't imagine how children reading this book would react. In the end, I'm glad I finally read the entire series, but I never, ever want to read the Narnia books again. Full review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...