In what order do you read the Chronicles of Narnia books?

[Lily]

No, the Magicians Nephew is the prelude.

[Victoria]

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first one written and published. Lewis wrote The Magician's Nephew later. I'd read LWW first. You can read Magician's Nephew any time after that and before The Last Battle.

[C. J.]

Christina wrote: "But I thought The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first one."

You are right it was published first but story-wise it takes place after The Magician's Nephew.

[[deleted user]]

I read 'the Magician's Nephew' first, and I've never been sorry I did so. It gives you a little more info on Aslan, Narnia etc, and I would recommend doing it like that. You also understand much of 'Lion, witch, wardrobe' better when you've read 'mn' :)

[Φρόσω]

in case you've read the "magicians nephew" you would see that it is the first,chronologically.
But, I read "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" first too.

[Mitali]

The Chronicles of Narnia can be read in two different orders: The Publication Order (https://www.goodreads.com/series/4907...) in which case, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first one; and the Chronological Order (https://www.goodreads.com/series/4381...) in which case, The Magician's Nephew is the first one. Neither order is the right or wrong one - though some people tend to get highly passionate about one or the other. I've been reading in the Publication Order, as I was reading along with the movies, which were also made in the same order (upto The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - I don't know if further movies are planned or not).

[Michelle]

I read them in the order My Library had them in. =)

[[deleted user]]

Lily wrote: "No, the Magicians Nephew is the prelude."

PreQUEL, Prelude is for music :)

[Sammy]

The Chronological order is: The Magicians Nephew, The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, The Horse And His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle. I think your confusion is coming from the fact that the books were not written in this order, but C.S Lewis did intend from them to be read in the chronological order.

[Yan]

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first. I think it is the first book he writes.

[Scott]

There's a debate as to what Lewis's real intent was, although there is some evidence to suggest he preferred the chronological order.

Personally I think "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" is the perfect introduction to Narnia and I feel it should be read first. Aside from that I have no problem with reading the others in either chronological order or order of publication.

[Anfenwick]

If you're going to sit down and read them all from scratch, I would go for chronological order, not order of publication.

Brynn wrote: "The chronological order is: The Magicians Nephew, The Lion the Witch and the wardrobe, the horse and his boy, prince Caspian, the voyage of the dawn treader, the silver chair, and the last battle."

On the other hand, I got introduced to the Silver Chair first at the age of ten and the others in random order thereafter. It didn't matter. The Horse and his Boy is virtually self-contained. The Magician's Nephew, Lion, Witch and Wardrobe and Last Battle could be read together as Lewis's 'christian allegory fantasy for kids' books. The other three are more based on British Isles legend and folklore and could also be read together.

[John]

Do you all know what Narnia is really about?

[John]

Why do people have the need to state the same thing that's been stated once before. it gets redundant.

[Candice]

I've read them in both the chronological order and the in order of publication. Each order has its own advantages, but in a long run, it doesn't matter all that much, it's still a great series no matter how you read it.

[Anfenwick]

John wrote: "Do you all know what Narnia is really about?"

Yes, I think so, see my note above. It's fairly obvious isn't it? Speaking personally, it's not really all that important to me, just as it isn't important to me if American Gods (which I just read) is based on Nordic mythology - so long as it's a good and interesting book.

[John]

yes, you are correct. C.S. Lewis was a Christian and wrote The Chronicles of Narnia to allude towards events in The bible. That was his major intent as he was converted to the Christian faith by Tolkien

[John]

I haven't read the books themselves(but I plan to) but I know about C.S. Lewis and watched the first movie and the allusions appealed to me. And I know scholars that have read the books

[C.C.]

I read them in the correct order, and anyone who doesn't do the same is doing it wrong.

For those advocating that the books be read in order of story chronology, do you stop reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe about 90% through and read The Horse and His Boy? If not, why not as this is where it falls in Narnian chronology?

[Xime]

C.C. wrote: "I read them in the correct order, and anyone who doesn't do the same is doing it wrong.

For those advocating that the books be read in order of story chronology, do you stop reading The Lion, the ..."

Haha yeah, you are right about that.
I think there is no 'correct' order. C.S. Lewis wrote them starting with "The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe". But he suggested to read them following the chronology. But I read them in the publication order and I loved all the books anyway. It doesn't make any difference the order, people should just read them, they are excellent books!!

[Eevee]

I started with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I think I read The Magician's Nephew 6th, because that was the order of the numbers in the box set I had.

[Leogirl7]

I am reading them in chronological order. I am about to start "The Silver Chair." No, I didn't stop "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" 90% through. The stag hunt is only 2.5 pages in the edition I own (the one with all 7 books in one volume, in chronological order) and I wasn't going to stop halfway through the last chapter and then read "The Horse and His Boy" and then read the last 2.5 pages. It seems silly to stop in the middle of a chapter to read another book...
I don't think there's anything wrong with those who choose to read in publication order, either.

[Alexander]

I read it in the following order:

1. The Magicians Nephew
2. The Lion the Witch and the wardrobe
3. The horse and his boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The voyage of the dawn trader
6. The silver chair
7. The last battle.

[Robin]

I found that by reading them in chronological order a lot was gained because certain events and tidbits [such as the identity of Prof. Kirke] were much more significant when read that way.

[[deleted user]]

you read in the order:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7...

[Hannah]

I read them in the following:

2, 1, 5, 3, 4, 6, and I have not finished 7 yet

I'm not quite sure of the order I read the third and fourth books. I did see Prince Caspian the movie before I read the book.

[Ds]

i read first lion witch and wardrobe then prince caspian and the chronicals in a row

[Diane]

I read LWW first; when I first encountered them, the boxed set had LWW first. I really liked seeing the creation of Narnia, discovering Aslan's role as creator later,finding out that the Professor was also the little boy in MN. I can't say how reading MN first would affect me, now that I've re-read the story so often, as I have with Tolkien. I can imagine that it would be confusing.

[Dianna]

Many people read LWW first without any problem. I, however, read MN first since that's the way it was in the series that I inherited. Whereas I can't offer an opinion on which order is better because I only read it one way, I can say that MN really gives you a sense on how it all starts. You don't have to question where anything came from, how did this world get here, etc. Although, in fairness, it also probably answers some questions that no one would ever actually have!
I love that there are parts of MN that aren't focused on in a huge way but that show up in future books. For example, it's kind of great to know how the lamppost ended up in this forest. So, my advice, if you like to watch a story unfold and develop in logical order (yes, I am referring to logic and Narnia in the same space- hey why not?!) then read MN first. If you like to wrap it up later and have 'Oh, now it makes sense' moments then read LWW first. Either way, Narnia is the best and I wish I had that wardrobe in my house!!

[Diane]

Neat thought. Who wouldn't want to travel to Narnia via wardrobe? Or via the pools? Lewis' best one was when the picture of a ship began to move and took the kids to the Dawn Treader. That sent chills up my arms.

I liked learning about the lamp-post, which is always a symbol of Narnia for me. Guess I like the "Now-it-makes-sense" surprises.

[Yundehap]

I read The Lion the Witch and the wardrobe first.
I think because this title is more attractive and more popular.
The rest of them I read according to which book I found first at the book store:-)

The horse and his boy
Prince Caspian
The silver chair
The Magicians Nephew
The voyage of the dawn trader
The last battle

I was so thrilled when I read The Voyage of The Dawn Trader and the Last Battle. I felt as if I were there and experienced the real adventures.

[Mary]

I thought I have always read them in order...hmm. I HAVE read The Magician's Nephew but now I could not say where in the series I read it...others always in order.

[Emily]

I read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" first, rather than TMN. I think it's more magical to discover Narnia the way Lucy does than to be there from the beginning. Then you can go back and get a cool backstory.

[Zoe]

C.S.Lewis wrote the chronicles starting with the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but then wrote The Magician's Nephew as a prequel to explain how Narnia came about, who the Witch was and who the Professor was as well as how and why Narnia is accessed through a wardrobe.

[Gary]

Emily wrote: "I read "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" first, rather than TMN. I think it's more magical to discover Narnia the way Lucy does than to be there from the beginning."

Agreed. I think "discovering" Narnia in the same way Lucy did is the best way to go as a reader. It's nice and interesting to reread them another time in the books' chronological order, but I think a first read should go in the published order.

[K]

Magician's nephew; The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle.