Chronicles of Narnia

For those interested in the movie, check out Narnia Fans. The site contains some preliminary movie art of the Stone Table among other things. Spoilers are available but clearly marked. According to Narnia Fans, the film makers will be keeping the allegory as intact as possible.

Some people are complaining because The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is being made first instead of the chronologically first Magicians Nephew. Since 1994 the prevailing way the books have been printed is using the chronological order of the stories. Previously they were published using the publishing order which I personally think is superior. This article discusses the issues surrounding publishing vs. chronological order.

I personally think LWW makes a much better first book as it was written first. The dramatic constructs, like revealing characters like Aslan, are ruined when you already know who they are. MN was written as a prequel, but it is mostly a stand alone story that you could read anywhere in the order so it doesn't have these problems. Now if they wanted to change this around for the movies they certainly could. Creating in the new medium means they will have to change things anyway. But as for the books, read them in published order. Or at the very least, read LWW first and the Last Battle last.

The IMDB Chronicles of Narnia forum is interesting too. A lot of people are saying that The Last Battle is their favorite book. It surprised me because it is probably my least favorite. Not enough story I suppose. My favorites are probably Prince Caspian and Horse and His Boy. Last Battle is too thick for me.