Book Reviews: The Silver Chair & The Last Battle
The last two books of The Chronicles of Narnia
Most of you know, or have figured out, that I’ve been reading The Chronicles of Narnia. I finished the last book, The Last Battle, just now. Below are my reviews for The Silver Chair and The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis.
The Silver Chair
C. S. Lewis
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (4/5 stars)This was a bit of a slower read, but beautiful nonetheless. I wasn’t familiar with many of the characters in this book, mainly because they were new. Once again, thousands of years have passed in Narnia even though it’s only been about a year for us in our world. Eustace and his new friend Jill enter Narnia rather unexpectedly (when does one enter Narnia expectedly though…?) and find they have been called by Aslan to rescue King Caspian’s son. His son has been missing for 10 years, Caspian has given up hope, and Eustace and Jill are given instructions by Aslan to find him… until they forget the instructions. This book focuses a lot of the faults of our human nature: forgetfulness, pride, quick judgement, temptations, and slothfulness. In a way, Lewis shows just how blatantly we forget daily that we serve a Sovereign Creator. Eustace and Jill faced things in the dark, cold, underground, and unknown that tried to steal their attention. Things of this world grab our attention and try to pull us away from God, but we need to remember our instructions.
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
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The Last Battle
C. S. Lewis
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (5/5 stars)I flew through this book so quickly, faster than I thought I would. I had the feeling the whole time of wanting to save it, to keep the last pages of Narnia unknown to me forever. That feeling of wanting to finish a book, but not wanting to finish it because then it’s the end. But finishing The Chronicles of Narnia was not the end! The first half of the story was horrendous, the Narnians had given up on Aslan, stopped believing, and turned to torturous and atrocious things. It was heartbreaking to see how Narnians treated the land and friends Aslan had given them. But then came the children, the ones of our world. I won’t spoil anything, but the second half of the story, things beginning to become right again, filled me with so much joy! It was difficult to come to the end of the story, to say goodbye to to the Pevensies, to Eustace and Jill, and even to Digory and Polly. But the joy I received from reading this story only foreshadows the immense joy I will have when I experience the same Majesty of Christ Jesus before myself!
I hope you’re enjoying my book reviews. For future use, this is how I use stars as a scale for the books:
⭐️/5 (1/5) - Not worth reading. Either I finished it and did not like it or I couldn’t make myself finish it. ⭐️⭐️/5 (2/5) - I didn’t like it. I finished the book, and it might have been okay, but I don’t recommend it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (3/5) - Average. The writing was probably mediocre and some parts gripped my attention, but I can’t justify 4 stars. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (4/5) - Good book. This is my usual rating for books. I will recommend my 4 star books to friends if I think they’ll like it. I enjoyed it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 (5/5) - Great book! I will recommend my 5 star books to everyone I can. The writing is excellent, the story is gripping, and there are deep and thoughtful concepts inside.
Soli Deo Gloria,
Laura