lirazel | (no subject)

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People, I am now DYING of curiosity.

What order did you read the Chronicles of Narnia? Because I read them in publication order (starting with LWW) and the set of books I grew up with numbered them in that order. But apparently nowadays they're selling them in chronological order? But I seriously cannot imagine reading The Magician's Nephew first? But maybe everyone does and I am just wrong to think that most people start with LWW?

Poll #33026 another narnia poll

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34

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in which order did you read the narnia books?

View Answers

chronological
9 (26.5%)

publication
18 (52.9%)

no particular order
6 (17.6%)

other (explain!)
1 (2.9%)

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i read them when i was like grade three and therefore all out of order because i was too young to care about that 😭

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with whether you were introduced to them by an adult, whether you had access to a whole numbered set, etc. My grandparents had a boxed set at their house, and that's what I read!

yeah that makes sense. whereas i just took them home out of the church library and promptly forgot to give them back, as eight-year-olds do

That's what I did with the Oz books! Bless church libraries! (Well, I gave them back. But otherwise: same.)

i tried to read them in publication order (which is how the box set at my smalltown library was numbered) but the library had lost its copy of The Silver Chair so I didn't read that until we moved and got access to a new library. So I think I read them all through but that one when I was 8 or 9, then read them all through it the same order again when I was 11 or 12 (but I don't think I ever bothered to reread 'The Last Battle')

Also I think the re-ordering happened at least 20 years ago and was what the Lewis estate wanted but it's never made any sense to encounter Magician's Nephew first.

but the library had lost its copy of The Silver Chair so I didn't read that until we moved and got access to a new library

I love how everybody's got some childhood story about some random gap in their childhood reading because of a library lapse!

Also I think the re-ordering happened at least 20 years ago and was what the Lewis estate wanted but it's never made any sense to encounter Magician's Nephew first.

That is so interesting! I can't imagine why they would want Magician's Nephew first? LWW is the perfect introduction to the world! I feel like it would be a completely different reading experience if you didn't read LWW first!

I'm going to guess chronological because when I was a kid, my grandma had bought me a huge brick that contained all the series, and LWW was the second novel. It's been almost 20 years, I can't recall what the first novel was (I'm guess the Magician's Nephew?)

Yeah, it would almost certainly have been Magician's Nephew. Interesting!

I didn't even know the publication dates didn't match the series' chronological order

Read the Lion witch and wardrobe when I was in my 50s, never tried to read any of the others.

that must have been an interesting experience!

It was one of several books we (all older adults) read together that might have been about death? Not sure of the exact theme anymore, but the others were Bridge to Terabithia and Tuck Everlasting.

Oh, three great books!

I accidentally voted 'chronological' but I meant 'publication' and I feel very strongly that this is the correct way to do it!! Imagine meeting Hot Jadis in Magician's Nephew without first having met Jadis as the White Witch! Absurd.

Agreed so hard!!!!!!!

Definitely publication order. I had a box set in which they were numbered that way, and I would go through them in order on every reread. (ETA: it was the exact box set that you linked to in a comment on your previous post!)

It feels really odd to me to think of starting with The Magician’s Nephew. TMN feels very… prequel-ish to me, almost like Lewis is writing fanfic of his own work. Like he wanted to go back and fill in the backstory of all the unexplained things in LWW: why is there a random lamppost in the middle of the woods? How did the wardrobe become a portal to Narnia, and how does the Professor fit in? It seems to me that getting the backstory first would make it feel flat–you’d lose that sense of depth. But obviously I’m biased given that I never experienced it that way… it would be very interesting to hear from someone who did start with TMN.

Edited (adding moment of box set recognition) 2025-04-24 04:58 (UTC)

Beloved box set! I love that we had the same one!

I could not agree more! But friend who read them in chronological order feels equally strongly in the other direction!

I have a card in my bookshop explaining that they should be read in publication order and what that is, because every single set nowadays lists The Magician's Nephew as # 1. This is BAD AND WRONG.

My heart agrees with you!

iirc I read The Horse and His Boy first because someone gifted it to me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it was either that or The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, also gifted. I think the Narnia books stand pretty well on their own.

I knew there would be people who read them in no particular order! Gifting reasons makes sense!

Hi, I found this via network and hope you don't mind a stranger weighing in! I thought I could volunteer the chronological order experience, since my mother read it out loud when I was growing up, but had not grown up with the books herself, so she read them from The Magician's Nephew onward because that was the order on the spines.

The main result of this was to make Narnia itself the main character. This was great for my brother, who adored worldbuilding (and The Magician's Nephew was his favorite). It completely undercut the impact of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe because all the mysteries propelling that volume had been explained already. I was puzzled as to why that was the most famous story, actually.

Then the Pevensie story was interrupted again with The Horse and His Boy, which we again enjoyed a lot for the worldbuilding, and each subsequent volume was chiefly appealing for what new corner of Narnia was being explored. The characters were completely decentered from the narrative.

I'm sure this was a less than ideal way to discover the series but my memories of it are still incredibly fond.

That's so interesting, thanks.

It's always fine for people to weigh in on public posts. Glad you're here!

This is absolutely fascinating and I am so happy you decided to share!

It completely undercut the impact of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe because all the mysteries propelling that volume had been explained already. I was puzzled as to why that was the most famous story, actually.

YES! This is exactly what my worry would be!

Thank you again for sharing--I am going to be pondering this!

If I come across the series at this juncture, I would definitely read it in publication order, just to semi-experience the feeling of discovering Narnia as Lewis intended.

If I had to read it to children, I am not sure precisely what I would do... but I would certainly start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!

You have a very enjoyable journal. Many interesting posts. :)

I read LWW and then everything in chronological order.

I think that’s silly, though. I would prefer publication order - but, reading to my children, we’ve read LWW and Horse and His Boy, and none of the others so far.

My only strong feeling is that LWW should be first. So long as you read that one first, I think you can read the rest of them in whatever order.

I have such strong opinions on this. I don't think I have stronger opinions on any reading order debate in any other series (for instance, my feelings on Discworld are "read them in whatever order your library has them available, they're meant to be read that way"), BUT when it comes to Narnia, I am a PURIST, it must be publication order, it must be, it must be. I still have my old falling apart Narnia books BECAUSE by god any kid who gets them or reads them MUST UNDERSTAND THE ORDER IS IMPORTANT. When I bought a compilation for one of the kids, I told her to start with LWW.

Because.

Because I absolutely hated The Magician's Nephew and if I had read that first, I never would have read the others, and also The Magician's Nephew being first spoils the whole surprise of LWW!!!!!!!!!

So. Yes.

LWW must be first.

Yeah, that's really how I feel about it!

We had a box set in publication order, so I read them that way, but I strongly feel that that's the correct way! Of course, I would, as someone who imprinted on them in that order. But I do feel that Magician's Nephew needs to be encountered as a later prequel, and not as the start to the series!

Of course, I would, as someone who imprinted on them in that order. But I do feel that Magician's Nephew needs to be encountered as a later prequel, and not as the start to the series!

Agreed with both! Obviously there's no actual right/wrong in this, but there's a very specific kind of unfolding of a world that I value a lot in the publication order!

Publication order, initially (or at least...LWW first, I can't be sure all the others were in exact order, as mine were bought one by one from second hand shops rather than in a set). But on a reread, which I really should do this year, I always start with Magician's Nephew because it's one of my favourites and I enjoy reading the story chronologically.

I agree that for a first-time read LWW is the better start though.

That makes sense to me!

Ohohoho fun! From what I remember:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
The Magician’s Nephew
Prince Caspian

It’s what happens when it’s the 90’s, you live in the province, and can’t just GET a set, so you buy/borrow books from whoever has them!

I had a bit of a crush on Edmund from VoDT and it was hilarious to go back and see what a prick he originally was, lmao. Of course the crush just intensified in The Horse and His Boy and Prince Caspian.

I am a Publication Order evangelist though. It just works, and you can SEE how Lewis’s writing and characters evolve.

Oh interesting! I'm glad to hear from someone who read them completely randomly!

Fellow Edmund-crusher!

It just works, and you can SEE how Lewis’s writing and characters evolve.

I love this aspect!

They were read to me in chronological order, so that feels natural to me. It took me a long time to realize that wasn't how they were written. I have read them in the order they were written and can see howthat works, though.

Yeah, the different orders seem to be very different experiences!

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