The Magician’s Nephew question

I like it the way it is. I think that The Magician's Nephew sets the stage for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Maybe you wouldn't understand everything right away, but that's the point. It would encourage you to read the second book to find out what happens in Narnia. I think the previous order doesn't make sense. Why would you care about the birth of Narnia at the end of the story?

I look at it the same way I do the Star Wars movies. The first movie was technically the forth one. The new "prequels" set the stage(even as crappy as they were) for the original trilogy. So when you watch all of them in a row, do you start at the beginning or the middle? The same goes for the Chronicles of Narnia. Even though some of books were written later, you should start with the "prequel".

I hate that it's the first book now. Massive pet peeve of mine.

I found this such a satisfying book to read, reading them in the order of publication (TLTWTW #1, this #6) because it revealed and explained a number of those curiosities (e.g., why is there a lamppost in Lantern Waste?) and I don't think it would have been nearly as significant to me if I read this first-- Sure, it explains the creation of Narnia - but Narnia doesn't MEAN anything yet: who is Aslan? why are humans important in a land of talking animals? etc. I fear it greatly undercuts the power of the series if read (for the first time, anyway) in Narnian chronological order. My 2 cents!!

C s lewis wrote the magicians nephew because everyone kept asking him what is narnia, wherevdid it come from, where is it. So yes the magicians nephew should be read first regardless of the fact it was written sixth. If you buy a set of the books, of which i have three, the magicians nephew is always marked as number 1. Personallyi think its the best of all the books anyway.

I really prefer the way it originally published, the way Lewis intended the series to be read. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe should be always be read first.

It's not really hard to grasp what's happening, I really don't believe a reader would be lost if they didn't read The Magician's Nephew first. I am actually happy it came after the other books, I like it seemed to let the reader in on a secret.

From a writer's perspective I can say the order an author writes his or her stories in is not necessarily the order in which they intend those stories to be read. The ideas for stories don't always come in a chronological order. The books in my own series were written completely out of order. I wrote the story that was finished in my head at the time, but the order in which I wrote them is totally different than the order in which I want to introduce those books to readers.

Just because Lewis wrote and published them in a particular order doesn't mean that is how he intended them to be read. That said, I think it's a matter of personal preference. I know when my mother read these books to us, she always started with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. If I were to reread these books today, I might start with The Magician's Nephew, because I like to follow the chronological timeline of stories.

Michaela wrote: "Okay, so C. S. Lewis wrote the books in this order: The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; The Silver Chair; The Horse and His Boy; The Magician's Ne..."

im pretty sure i read the magicians nepehw first and i liked it a lot. i actually prefer it to lww

I heard C. S. Lewis wrote them all and didn't totally consciously come up with an order or way they specifically fell into a date or chronology. He said I heard that he didn't think at ALL about the order. . . he just wrote them I guess. I should really get into Magician's Nephew. . . I have been reading it here and there again. . . now I should glance and see if it really stands out on its own! Good discussion mention! interesting. . .

I read The Magician's Nephew before any of the other books in the series, and it all made sense to me. I immediately fell in love with this series, and I think it makes a lot of sense to put the beginning of Narnia as the first book. The Magician's Nephew explains a lot about how the witch got there, about the lamp post, about talking animals etc. Well, in short, I'm saying that this book deserves to be first.

I read the books entirely out of order, because I was finding the piecemeal at libraries and second hand book stores. I did end up reading the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe first though and loved the delightful 'AHA' moment when I realized how the lamppost had come to be there.

I read them in the original order of publication, and I think that is probably the best way to go about it. It's true that The Magician's Nephew sets the stage for the rest of the series...and that's the problem. It answers questions about the series' universe before you've even had a chance to ask them. On your first read through of the series part of the enjoyment is the mystery of the unknown. You notice all sorts of neat unexplained things about Narnia etc, and it heightens your sense of curiosity and feeds your hunger to read more of the books. Knowing the answers before hand lessens the experience in my opinion.

That being said, the first six books in the series are largely stand alone. You could pick them up in any old order and they would still be great books.

It really bugged me that they changed the order. I loved the surprises in Magician's Nephew that would only be so magical if you had read the others first. I think the books should be read in the original order.

I read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at primary school and always loved it. When I was much, much older I decided I really ought to read the whole series so I bought a box set. This set out the books in the order they should be read. I thought. So I duly read The Magician's Nephew, which I enjoyed. Then I read TLTW&TW again which I enjoyed just as much as I always had. Then I read The Horse and His Boy...or half of it. And that's where I stopped. I never got past that because I thought it was so incredibly dull and I had no idea what was happening or why. I am surprised to see above what the actual order of reading should be. Maybe I will give them a go in that order. Did anyone else find TH&HB so dull or is it just me?

I read Magician's Nephew first and I'm Ok with that. It gave the whole series an ongoing arc. To read Lion first and go back would make it seem like an unnecessary prequel, but with Nephew first it makes a whole story.

The Magician's Nephew should be read with the other books, as a lot of it's magic (outside of the creation of a new world) comes from how it later ties in to the rest of the series. But the order in which the books are read depend on the person. Some people work in a chronological way, so reading this book after the others may wind up annoying that part of them that likes order. Others don't give a rat's petunia about order and whenever they get around to reading any of the books doesn't matter. Then others love having read the books how they were published because of the light The Magician's Nephew is then seen in. But Western Culture really likes things to be in this neat, tidy, chronological order. So, publishers are now having the main set up chronological. But, thankfully, as far as I know, those publishers do include the publication order as well somewhere besides the publication date.

I think that the magician's nephew is a really good start. it tells how narnia was created, who discovered it, etc. Also like how rita said she immediately fell in love with the series, it helps people know if they want to read the rest of the series or not.

Maybe from an Adult point of view, you can question the reasons behind making it first or what order they should be read in, BUT, I've just started reading these wonderful books to my 8 year old daughter for bedtime reading and it makes perfect sense to her and is a logical order to read them in so that she is able to predict what happens next. Now that we've read "the magicians nephew" when we read "TLTWW" she will be able to say, "oh yeh, that's the lamp-post that the witch created" and "that's the witch from the other story" and "that's the Beaver from the other story" etc etc. Making those connections at the start of this reading journey will be much more beneficial to her than having these things revealed right at the end of the journey because by then she probably would have forgotten about all those little details.

If you want true chronlogical order, you will not read the last few chapters of LWW until after reading Horse and His Boy.

Read in any order you desire.

When people first read the books they would start with this book kinda like a prequel to the lion the witch and the wardrobe because only the movies are focused on the pensive children and before that the other wanted to tell everyone about Narnia and how things are the way they are.

They set it by when it happened. The Magician's Nephew happened first, even though The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was written first.

They changed the order of the books because C. S Lewis said himself that the magicians nephew should be read first. I bought all of them i one book, and it began with C. S. Lewis telling how he wanted the books to be read in chronologically order.

The Magician's Nephew is one of my favorites. I think it explains a lot--like why there's a lamp post in Narnia.

When I read the series as a child I started with the Magician's Nephew and really enjoyed the series chronological order, to me it made perfect sense in this way. I think they may have edited the order for children, the books flow easier and makes more sense in the time-line.

However if I was to read the series as an adult I don't think I would object to the original order, I always find it more interesting to go back and find out origins after I know a little about the story line.

I think Magician's Nephew is best appreciated after reading the majority of the series, as Lewis originally published it (Magician's Nephew was sixth in publishing order, as Michaela notes). I say this because there's so much in this book that rounds out and fills in previous information throughout the series. And I also like the completeness of getting the beginning, then the end--that feeling of coming "full circle" is just so nicely created by reading those two books back-to-back.

When we first start writing, our teachers tell us to "start in the middle," and I think Lewis proves why this is useful. Starting at the very beginning can kill the flow and dynamic of a story. It can also break down some suspense and mystery. This is definitely true in this series. Without having LW&tW as a foundation, the importance of the early events aren't understood as completely. Some of the suspense of LW&tW is also killed by reading Magician's Nephew first.

I think that The Magician's Nephew is a very important book e it was the first I read (but that was because I have the compilation of the novels and it's in the right order). I like the book. I read it again after finishing the whole series and, I have to say, I like it better the second time.

The Magician's Nephew would make more be better at the very begaining. It's before Peter, Lucy and the others. It's their great uncle who has the wardrobe in The Lino The Wich and The Wardrobe. Their uncle is the one who lets the white witch lose. It was not my very favorite but it makes the story more intresting. My favorite books are also the last two in the seris

I read LW&W first, then Magician's Nephew. I almost wish I had read Magician's Nephew first, because it does explain a lot. But, hey, the books are so brilliant it really doesn't matter what order one reads them in. Just read them. Right?

Me and my sister argue about this, lol
I'm with you. Even though chronologically the events happen first, they don't mean as much without reading the rest of story the way C.S. Lewis wrote it.
He was the author, after all. I think if he'd intended Magician's Nephew first, he'd have written it that way.
I still maintain that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is #1.

I'm in favour of the old order of the books. I think this is because The Magician's Nephew is not my favourite book. If this had been the first Narnia book I had read I'm not sure if I would have read the other stories. As I read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe first and followed the series in chronological order I felt I had to read the last two books which to be honest were my least favourite of the series.

This is only my opinion and I know several other will disagree with me.

I think the chronological order makes the most sense, and that's the order I prefer them in. NEVERTHELESS, I first read them in no order whatsoever, and I still loved them just as much. So in the end, I don't believe it makes much of a difference.

It should be the author's choice. This isn't the first prequel to follow a series.

I hate that the editors thought they knew better than Lewis himself. I much prefer the original order.

My recommendation would be to first read them in their real, proper order as C.S. Lewis intended, then if you lke read them again in any order you please, including the new "chronological" order of the posthumous editors. Then you get a better understanding of Lewis' intentions.

yes, have to agree, its should go first, its like setting the stage really.
Its not the best book by far, but wouldnt we also complain if his best work was first and everything else that came after didnt measure up???

Because it shows the full life of Narnia this way. it begins with life and ends with death, to have it any other way would be pointless.