Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

Continuing my trek through the Chronicles of Narnia, I read Prince Caspian next, which chronologically is the 4th book in the series but the second one Lewis wrote. There are actually two orders in which the series is published and this issue still riles hardcore fans. Lewis wrote The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first and then Prince Caspian but then went back and wrote a prequel to The Lion and also a book that tells what happened between The Lion and Caspian. Nowadays, Lewis' stepson insists that the series be printed with the books being numbered as they happen chronologically (so The Lion appears as number 2 and Caspian is number 4). However, reading them in this order is out of line because of the references they make. And anyone considering reading them should do so in the original order.

I was glad to see that they were making the movies in that order. It will be both a better depiction and will bring more money at the box office because people love prequels. I actually have not seen Prince Caspian but the book was pretty good. The first 170 odd pages, just like the first book, were essentially used to set up the final battle, which was ultimately an anti-climatic one-on-one showdown. The allegory was not as rich or as blatant as in the The Lion but could be seen with knowledge of the gospels. In fact, there are probably many different interpretations of what the characters symbolize and which story or doctrine the plot parallels.

To be honest, the plot was a bit bland, and I was very surprised the story ended with its boring final fight. Basically, it has been a few centuries since the children first fell into Narnia, defeated the White Witch and were crowned Kings and Queens. In that time, Old Narnia has been all but lost. Talking animals only live on in legend... or so they think. The country is now ruled by Telmarines which are human and the new King has killed much of Narnia's old inhabitants. He is childless, however, and thinks he will give his throne to his nephew, Prince Caspian, until he finds out his wife is bearing a child, and now he plans to kill Caspian.

Caspian flees the kingdom and stumbles upon talking creatures of Old Narnia who help him call the children. The children suddenly find themselves not in England anymore but now in Narnia. Aslan makes a return, blah blah blah. There's a final fight. End of story.

Ok, it's much better than that but the chapters never really grabbed me. In a way it was nice that the metaphors weren't so simple but I also felt unsure of my guesses. The plot followed the same line as the last book, only drifting away ever now and then. I still love Lewis' work and his children's books are nice relaxers but this one fell short. I'm looking forward to continuing the series but expect the plot to twist itself much more.