The third book in the Chronicles of Narnia series is in my opinion the best of all seven books. It tells the story of Lucy and Edmund and their cousin Eustace in his first voyage to Narnia. Whilst visiting during the summer holidays the three children find an entrance to the magical land of Narnia through a painting of a great ship upon strange seas.

Prior to their entrance to Narnia through the painting in the guest room Eustace had mocked Lucy and Edmund about their tales of Narnia; he is a spoilt and cowardly boy who doesn’t believe in Narnia or the great lion that protects it; Aslan.

The children find themselves aboard The Dawn Treader, the ship of Narnia’s boy king Caspian X. Caspian, who was introduced in the second book of the series, is searching for the remainder of his father’s outcast lords, who fled during the rebellion lead by Caspian’s evil uncle. Three years have past since Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy had aided Caspian in re-taking his father’s throne and peace has been established throughout Narnia.

The ship lands at an island where the children and king are captured and sold into slavery; only to discover that the man who bought Caspian is in fact one of his lost lords. Caspian removes the greedy governor of the Lone Islands from power and decrees that Lord Bern, his father’s lost lord, take his place. Lord Bern and Caspian then help to reinstate the laws and ways or Narnia to the Lone Islands, primarily by abolishing the slave trade that flourishes there. Caspian learns that the other missing lords continued their voyage on beyond the Lone Islands.

The next island the ship visits appears to be deserted and Eustace, after wandering off, finds himself face to face with a dragon; Eustace, who has become separated from the rest of the children, witnesses the dragon’s death and then enters the monsters cave to find it full of gold and treasure. Eustace puts on a beautiful gold bracelet and falls asleep in the cave. Upon waking he discovers that over night he has been transformed into a dragon.

Eustace is forced to beg his comrades for help as he discovers he is trapped in his new dragon form. He attempts to explain to his cousins that it is he, Eustace, in the form of a dragon; however he is unable to speak and struggles to write. Finally, once his fellows realise it is him Eustace finds himself determined to make amends for his previously selfish behaviour and helps Caspian and his crew to rebuild damaged parts of the Dawn Treader. Soon Caspian realises that the golden bracelet that was still stuck around Eustace’s arm belonged to another of the missing lords, Octesian; and the group speculate that the dragon Eustace saw earlier probably killed the lord, or that he may have undergone the same fate as Eustace and been turned into a dragon himself. This part of the children’s adventure builds up a large sense of tension and intrigue, however predictable the outcome may be; however it fizzles out all of a sudden as eventually, once Eustace has changed into a more generous and helpful person Aslan appears and helps turn him back into a boy again. Those more accustomed to reading modern fantasy literature would expect some kind of epic quest to befall Eustace in which he would prove his worth, but this simply never comes to fruition. This problem plagues the rest of the book.

On the next island, which they name Deathwater, the children find a pool at the bottom of which lays what appears to be a statue of gold. They learn quickly however that it is in fact the body of a third lord, who had been turned to gold and drowned in the waters. They stop at other islands where Lucy finds herself involved in mysterious sorcery and another island where sinister dreams come true. Along the way the ship is also attacked by a huge sea serpent and they encounter Aslan again.

Lucy’s brief time as a scarceness is another strong area within the book, each encounter on the various islands would serve well as a stand alone story and the individual nature of their telling almost serves this purpose. However, as with the first two books the high expectations for the resolution of the stories are somewhat of a let down as it all happens far too quickly, with a swift visit from Aslan that sweeps all the problems away.

Finally when the ship has passed all these islands it finds itself in an immense darkness; this part of the book is undoubtedly the most intriguing and potentially scary encounter the children face. Lewis writes with a darkness and suspense that rivals many an accomplished horror author, yet the children simply flee the darkness rather than probing further into its depths. Once again readers are robbed of the adventure and resolution they would expect.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is by far the best of all the Narnia books, the third in the series; it is sometimes published as the fifth book due to the chronological order of the tales. The nature of the disparate and broken up stories lends itself very well to the moralistic and metaphorical edge of Lewis’ writing and provides the author with an opportunity to truly showcase his talent for descriptive writing and tension building. As a writer Lewis has a fantastic ability to write, it is understandable why he is so popular, however it is hard to judge if it is the fault of the writer or of the content that leaves the ending somewhat lacking. It may be that Lewis has a problem with writing endings, as many writers do, or it may be that the devout nature of his writing simply does not allow for much elaboration on the resolution front; Aslan, as a metaphor for God and Jesus, resolves the children’s problems and it may only be the cynical modern reader who needs more to satisfy themselves.

The first book in Rowling’s seven book wizardry extravaganza is quite undeniably one of the most popular books to have ever been written. For anyone who has been living under a rock for the past fifteen years the Harry Potter books tell the story of orphan Harry James Potter and the discovery of his secret magical powers and the role he plays in the safety of the hidden world of witchcraft and wizards.

The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (known as the Sorcerer’s Stone in the United States) begins on a seemingly ordinary night on a quiet street in Surrey, England. Three people gather, an elderly man, a stern faced woman and a huge bearded motorbiker, and they talk about a strange and confusing series of events, including tragedy and murder, and why this means that they must leave their charge – a sleeping babe wrapped in blankets – on the doorstep of one extremely regular house on that extremely regular street.

This tiny sleeping child is Harry Potter, whose parents supposedly died in a car crash, leaving him with a lightening bolt shaped scar across his forehead. He is raised by his mother’s sister, Petunia and her husband Vernon an office worker in a drill company. However on his eleventh birthday a series of very bizarre events lead to the discovery of Harry’s true identity, he’s a wizard.

From there he learns that his parents were murdered by an evil and power hungry psychopath named Lord Voldermort and that Harry’s true place is at Hogworts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a magical castle hidden somewhere in the UK. After a fantastic journey on a huge red steam train from a hidden on secret platform at London’s King Cross station Harry finally begins to feel at home and accepted at Hogworts, finding friendship in two fellow students Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.

All is not well however as Harry discovers that there is a dangerous secret being kept at Hogworts and that his parent’s murderer, supposed dead for over a decade, will do anything to get his hands on the fabled Philosopher’s Stone; which brings eternal life.

This first book introduces you to magical world for the first time, and it does so in a smooth and comfortable fashion, introducing both you and Harry to strange wonders never yet experienced. Doing it this way manages to make the transition into the world of magic an easy and pleasant experience. Rowling has built a strong and multi-layered world with immense amounts of detail, yet it is written in such a way that it doesn’t feel tedious or as though you are being fed all the information at once as is the case with many fantasy novels. Through Harry’s eyes you encounter wands, monsters and spells with their magical properties, purposes and history laid out in small, easily consumable chunks. This means that the book never ceases to envelope you in its world or characters, whereas many epic fantasies have a habit of pulling you aside in a rather obvious fashion and explaining every newly encountered item referenced.

The books biggest triumph however is its characters. The friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione blooms beautifully and you can not help but take the characters straight into your heart. All the characters, teachers, students and bad guys alike have truly believable personalities, all with their own eccentricities and flaws which more often than not help to make them the truly loveable and long standing characters they will become. These friendships and relationships drive the book forward, providing comical respite and emotional engagement along the way. It is this aspect of the book that is at it’s heart, without the intense and realistic friendship dynamic between the three key characters the book would never make it past chapter one.

This is very fortunate because Rowling’s writing style is hardly going to fill you with high expectations and encourage you to read on. Oftentimes her grammar is appalling and it makes the sentences seem overly complex and can be very irritating at times. Thankfully she writes speech very well and it is often that which contributes to the strength of the characters relationships.

The first book in the series does have a more adolescent feel to it as well; the simplicity on it’s surface gives way to much darker suggestions on second readings but it can make an adults first attempt a little frustrating at times. It hasn’t stopped the book becoming the immensely popular phenomenon it has though, which you would expect for many people should speak for itself.

Many adults still scoff at the Harry Potter phenomenon however, but I suspect that if they read the books they too would become captured by the characters and the brilliance of the story which combines all the best aspects of fantasy and adventure in one. Truly the story is excellent and I would wager half of Rowling’s fortune on the minds of naysayers changing before they even reach the halfway point of book one.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C. S Lewis

First published in 1950 this fantasy series tells the story of four children: siblings Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy who find their way into a magical snow covered kingdom called Narnia, where animals speak and trees’ dance.

Lucy is the first to find her way into Narnia, stumbling across it while playing with her brothers and sister. There she meets Mr Tumnus; a fawn, half goat, half man; who tells her about the evil white witch who currently rules Narnia. It is she who has doomed the place to an everlasting winter, where it is bitterly cold and Christmas never comes. Tumnus tells her of a prophecy whereby the evil queen will only be beaten when four humans – “two Sons’ of Adam and two Daughters’ of Eve” – arrive in Narnia.

Lucy’s siblings do not believe her when she tells them of this wonderful place, found only by pushing past ancient and moth ridden coats at the back of a wardrobe. It is not until after Edmund has found his way into Narnia and been tempted with Turkish delight by the evil queen and finally all four children entering the wood together, do they realise that Lucy was not lying.

Upon her third visit to the magical country Lucy discovers that her friend Mr. Tumnus has been taken by the white queen and turned to stone for hiding the fact that he met a Daughter of Eve in the forest. It transpires that the white witch turns her captives to stone, so that her castle is filled with once living statues. The children are horrified by this and determined to find and rescue Tumnus that is all save Edmund who has been tricked by the witch. The other three children then find themselves in the company of a great lion named Aslan, who they will help to overthrow the queen and bring back spring to Narnia.

For anyone who did not know, of whom I imagine there are few, the Narnia books are notoriously a Christian allegory for the fall of man, original sin and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. If you didn’t know that when you picked up the book, you would certainly know it by the end. Although no direct comparisons are ever made the book is somehow still relentlessly devout and the religious aspect of the story can be a little off putting for the atheists among us.

You can hardly name this as a flaw of the book however, as it accomplishes exactly what Lewis set out to upon writing it; and without this allegory the book would lack its biggest strength: the plot. The entire Narnia series is entirely rooted in its plot, which pulls you into the pages and winds you into fabric of the fable. Miraculously Lewis manages to keep you turning page after page after page, totally in spite of the fact that for the first two thirds of the book almost nothing seems to happen. The children simply spend their time discovering Narnia and learning the prophecies surrounding themselves and Aslan and then travelling to meet him. It is not until the final third of the book that the battle between Aslan and the white queen finally begins. Even this bout of action is short lived as before you know it Lucy and Susan are accompanying Aslan as he sacrifices himself on the great Stone Table at the hands of the queen.

His resurrection and actions after this point seem also to speed by with little of mention occurring. He frees his prisoners and together he and the children defeat the evil queen and her warriors, but there is no drama or tension in the words. They seem more like acts being recounted rather than genuine experiences. Lucy finds Tumnus as a statue in the witch’s’ great castle, and Aslan breathes upon him and he is reawakened; but you aren’t even treated to that moment in the book, it simply happens somewhere off stage, explained away in a sentence or two as the narrative ploughs forward. It is in instances like this that you feel as though very little has happened; it can almost leave you feeling a little cheated in the end.

The lack of action does not affect the skilful, precise and engaging writing style of Lewis however, and it is this aspect of the book that keeps the reader interested. After a while Lewis’ writing can become a little grating, particularly when the children of the book are involved. He has an unfortunate habit of patronizing his readers by taking a step away from the narrative and addressing the audience directly, rather than utilizing the experiences of the characters to build the reader’s understanding. This style of writing also dates the book incredibly, the conversations between the characters seems forced whilst their speech is un-natural and leaves the characters appearing stunted and unbelievable.

The complete lack of characterisation is the books biggest flaw; the absence of any singular personalities making it almost impossible to emotionally engage with the narrative. Thus, upon Aslan’s death when Lucy and Susan are beside themselves with grief and wonder all at once you can’t help but feel a little uncomfortable, as though you are intruding upon their tragedy. Surely this is not what Lewis had intended, rather you get the impression that he hoped to make the story of Christ a far more emotive experience with his books but it simply falls short.

All of this leaves you feeling a little unsatisfied upon the books’ closure, and it is only the vague intrigue brought by the words of the children’s fosterer, the Professor. Yet you will probably find yourself having enjoyed the story upon completion; the way it draws you in is strange and mysterious and yet complete and ingenious.