Chronological Publicational Wonderment.

Ho ho! 

Right folks, in the past few weeks I've had a discussion within two different groups about whether CS Lewis set of Narnian tales should be read in the original publication order, or in the chronological order. 

Here I lay down to you my argument for why the series should only ever be read in publication order!

First I shall set the scene, the books were published as follows: 


1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian(1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew(1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)

And the chronological order: 

1. The Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle

Swaffles lays SPOILERS ahead!

Now, I like anyone, enjoy a good bit of linear storytelling. The quintessential A to B. However in a few set scenarios, much like here with The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (LWW) it pays more to have not read The Magician's Nephew. There are little mysteries scattered throughout LWW that let your mind play with the possibilities of their being. Perhaps not intentionally so, but enough that you find the quaint features of say the lamp post that appears randomly placed in the middle of a forest, a point that niggles you so - why is it there? - or bigger plot points like who the White Witch is and how did she come to power? How did they get to Narnia through a wardrobe? All these questions may come to you when you read LWW for the first time. I can't quite remember what came to me, but you'll just have to go with me on that.

The Magician's Nephew covers all of the points I raised. You find out how Narnia was created, you find out the Witches backstory, to a degree, you find out why the lamp post - Narnia's most advanced piece of technology - is just plonked in an expansive forest. All these points, massive to future plots - or not - are explained throughout the novel. 

Now I delve into a little thing I call pay-off. If you read the books in chronological order, you discover all of these things: Aslan sings Narnia into existence, the Witch is from another world, different to ours and to Narnia. She brings a bit of the lamp post from earth to Narnia, and because Aslan is doing his best rendition of "Creation" by Celine Dion everything is mighty fertile. So a fully formed lamp post springs up... because that's the Narnian way. The magician's nephew is Diggory Kirke, who is infact the professor from LWW. Now to actually get to the point, pay-off. Reading and learning about all of these things absolutely kills the magic in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. You know that the professor has been to Narnia. You know who the Witch is and that she is as bad as they say. You know how Narnia began so it looses a lot of it's mystique. The lamp post, the quaintest little thing, is no longer a little mystery that your imagination latches onto, but an explainable thing that gives you a feeling akin to when something pops up later in a film that you witnessed in the opening scene. However with the lamp post its much more warm and fuzzy the other way round - okay, I might be clutching at the smallest of straws there. Diggory get's a fruit from Narnia and plants the seeds at home on Earth, and a tree grows - not in the Narnian sense, the good ol' traditional way - later in it's life the tree is felled and from the wood, a Wardrobe and a picture frame (The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) are made, these are the portals to Narnia. Which having read Magician's Nephew is another dead surprise. 

Now, it may seem like i'm ranting, and to be perfectly honest i'm also raving. 

To put this into context however, picture youself watching the Star Wars films. You decide to go with the chronological order, and find yourself watching episode 1, 2, and 3 first. The newer films in the series that tell the tale of Anakin Skywalker's rise to Sith Lordhood as Darth Vader. At the end of the third film his ickle twins are born - Luke and Leia. We the audience have just discovered that Vader has children, and twins at that. So we carry on our merry way to the original trilogy we start with a New Hope and we watch knowing Luke is Vader's son and Leia's brother. When they meet, we know of this relationship but they don't. Now this might not seem like a problem, because sometimes being part of an audience and knowing things the characters don't is a good hook. However in this case no. Just no George Lucas! I feel that it ruins the pivotal moment in the whole series. The cliffhanger ending to The Emprie Strikes Back, when Vader announces himself as Luke's father, not to mention the realisation in the final film of the series that he is related to a girl he tried to do the dirty with in the previous two films. 

If you're new to the series watching it in chronological order would absolutely kill the pay-off for you. I think it's the same for the Narnia series. It doesn't by any means ruin the story beyond repair but it does however take of the glamour and sheen of a good mystery. A sense of wonder as you discover how things came to be the way they are.  

So if you know someone about to embark on a journey, be it to Narnia, or that galaxy far away, or any series you could apply this to yourself. Set them straight. Obviously don't send them here, i mean, i've just killed all of the pay-off. For two series... oh well. =D