The Dark Tower by C.S. Lewis

Probably not many people have ever heard of or read The Dark Tower by C.S. Lewis. It might be because the book isn't finished. The original manuscript was never finished for some reason. The manuscript was also damaged by handling because it's missing a few pages.
The Dark Tower probably began the now popular fiction topic of parallel universes. It tells the story of a scientist who has invented a mirror that will show the viewer a view of a parallel universe. Eventually, one of his colleagues falls into the mirror and into the parallel universe where a horned man is ordering slaves to build his tower. The man was angry because he saw an alternate version of his fiancee.
He eventually finds a library in the alternate dimension and begins reading about theories of parallel universes. The manuscript cuts off at this scene.
This book was originally going to be book two of the Space Trilogy, but Lewis discarded it, probably because he didn't know what to do next because his theories about parallel universes were running in circles. It was getting a bit too obscure. I don't really know how he would have ended it. I've heard about people coming up with ends, however.
The best thing about this book is that it hasn't been tampered with yet. No one ever added anything to it, but that's probably because Douglas Gresham, Lewis' stepson, won't allow anyone to do that.
This book is interesting if you can find it.
I'm afraid I can't rate it because it is unfinished.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

Now that Peter and Susan cannot return to Narnia, Lucy and Edmund are called back one last time to Narnia-mostly to introduce their bothersome cousin Eustace.
Eustace is one of Lewis' better characters. He's a spoiled brat who only wants certain things. He clashes a lot with Reepicheep.
This time, the three children are transported to Narnia through a picture of a ship and dropped out in the middle of an ocean. They are saved by the Dawn Treader, a Narnian ship that King Caspian mans. Their quest is to see what's beyond the Great Sea. Also, they are trying to find the seven lost lords of Narnia, which King Miraz sent on a fatal voyage across the sea.
Their first stop is the Lone Islands, in which they tangle with some illegal slave traders. After that, they visit several other islands such as ones containing one-footed dwarfs, dragons, water that turns things into gold, nothing, and more.
One of the more interesting islands is the Dark Island, an island that shows you your worst nightmares. Lewis shows off his extreme creativity with the creation of these islands.
The whole concept of the book is different from all the other Chronicles of Narnia, which is what makes this series so interesting.
The end is not one I would have predicted, but it is one that I like. It's probably the most different end of all of them.
There are no villains in this tale, save for the slave traders.
There is a romantic subplot in this book, the first for the series. It's interesting because it's introduced near the end of the book.
As I have said before, an author has yet to top the Chronicles of Narnia.
5 stars

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

Now that Eustace has been introduced into the series and since all the Pevensies are done with Narnia, it's time for Eustace to show someone around. Namely, Jill Pole.
The beginning opens and issue of the day that C.S. Lewis felt he needed to address: Experiment Houses. They were apparently new types of "schools". The "teachers" supposedly let the children run around and do whatever they wanted because they were living experiments.
Of course Eustace's parents would have put him in something like that.
Jill is a victim of the bullies that rule the school, and Eustace finds her hiding from them. Not long after, they step into Narnia after asking Aslan to take them there.
They start off at an unknown location above Narnia in which they meet Aslan. He tells Jill six signs she needs to remember in the journey ahead.
Afterward, they are blown down to Narnia just in time for Eustace to see old King Caspian board the Dawn Treader for one last voyage to the Lone Islands to see if Aslan is there.
Unfortunately, Eustace being able to meet him before he left was the first sign.
There goes number one.
Then Eustace and Jill learn from a Parliament of owls that King Caspian's son Rilian disappeared several years earlier and hasn't been heard from since. He disappeared right after Caspian's wife, the star's daughter, died from the poison of a serpent. Apparently Rilian went hunting for the serpent, and after several trips, never returned.
Eustace and Jill then go off hunting for the prince, accompanied by Puddleglum, a marshwiggle (a half man, half frog). Puddleglum is probably Lewis' best character to date.
The journey north is intriguing and entertaining. There are several new features Lewis shows off in this book, mostly giant-related things.
While most people believe that the emerald witch who is the villain is Jadis reincarnated, I don't believe so.
This is easily the third best of the series because of the interesting end.
5 stars

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

Narnia is ending. All worlds must end. But no one expected it to end this way.
Shift is a clever ape, but not as clever as he thinks he is. He only thinks he's clever because he's smarter than Puzzle, his donkey friend who does everything he wants. When Shift sees a lion skin floating in Caldron Pool, he has a grand idea. When he fits it over Puzzle, Puzzle looks an awful lot like Aslan. Especially since no one in the current generation of Narnians has seen him before. With the fake Aslan, Shift has unlimited power of the Narnians. But soon, things begin to spin out of control.
He sets up shop in front of a stable, in which he hides the new Aslan. Shift then pretends to be man, the mouthpiece of Aslan. But he begins to invite trouble on himself when he signs a treaty with the Calormen.
King Tirian, the grandson of Rilian, knows nothing about this until a dying dryad comes to him and tells him how Aslan is ordering the animals to cut down trees to sell to the Calormen. After letting his anger get the best of him, Tirian is captured, along with his trusted friend Jewel the unicorn, and tied to a tree, by orders of Aslan.
But when Eustace and Jill appear in front of him at let him go, he knows all hope isn't lost.
They proceed to try to win Narnia back and find themselves in the midst of the last battle as things spin out of control for Narnia.
This was the bestselling book of the whole series for a good reason. It was mostly because by then, everyone had heard of the series and wanted to see the end. This book is probably the best series ender ever written.
Many other alternate world series have tried to copy this end but have fallen short. I believe what makes this series unique is that each book is different, as I've said before, and also, C.S. Lewis didn't try to make the books too long. Many fantasy authors like to cram all kinds of far out ideas into one to three books and it doesn't end up working because they don't know where to stop. People think that lots of original ideas make a good book, but it's really the plot that makes the book good. That's why the Chronicles of Narnia is the only Elite Series ever.
5 stars

The Dark Tower by C.S. Lewis

Probably not many people have ever heard of or read The Dark Tower by C.S. Lewis. It might be because the book isn't finished. The original manuscript was never finished because Lewis started it right before his death. The manuscript was also damaged by handling and thus is missing a few pages.
The Dark Tower probably began the now popular fiction topic of parallel universes. It tells the story of a scientist who has invented a mirror that will show the viewer a view of a parallel universe. Eventually, one of his colleagues falls into the mirror and into the parallel universe where a horned man is ordering slaves to build his tower. The man was angry because he saw an alternate version of his fiancee.
He eventually finds a library in the alternate dimension and begins reading about theories of parallel universes. The manuscript cuts off at this scene.
My speculation is that either C.S. Lewis was tired or he didn't know what to do next because his theories about parallel universes were running in circles. It was getting a bit too obscure. I don't really know how he would have ended it. I've heard about people coming up with ends, however.
The best thing about this book is that it hasn't been tampered with yet. No one ever added anything to it, but that's probably because Douglas Gresham, Lewis' stepson, won't allow anyone to do that.
This book is interesting if you can find it.
I'm afraid I can't rate it because it is unfinished.

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

That Hideous Strength is probably the only novel I have never finished. And I did so for a good reason. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I know I'm not the only one because I've heard other people say so as well. It makes absolutely no sense.
It's something about a woman who keeps having nightmares and eventually meets Merlin, who has appeared from the past. Also, a planet is coming down on top of Earth or something.
The dialogue and chapters are spastic and impossible to follow. I'm not sure what Lewis was going for with this one, and I don't think anyone will ever know but him.
I'm afraid that, out of fairness, I cannot rate it because I did not finish it.
If you completely understand what this book is about, than email us your review and we may post it. You can find our email address on the home page.

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

Perelandra is written of a completely different tone that than of Out of the Silent Planet. This time, the professor launches himself into space because he had a dream about going to Venus, which is really Perelandra.
Perelandra is just beginning to be inhabited by life. The planet is a sea of floating islands. The islands are like ships. On one of these, he meets a green woman leading animals around.
There is really no plot structure to this book; it consists of philosophical conversation between the professor and the green woman as she shows him around the planet. This does not hold the reader's attention very well and doesn't really seem like a fiction book. It seems like Out of the Silent Planet could have stood alone and perhaps be expanded upon.
The end of the book shows the professor fighting with the Satan character, who is trying to get the green woman to succumb to his lies so that he can rule Perelandra too. since the professor knows what happened on Earth, he knows he must try to stop him. This is the most interesting part of the book because it asks the question "What if someone stopped Eve from taking the fruit?"
However, it seems like Lewis wrote the book for the end and filled up the rest of the book with philosophy.
All in all, the book is interesting if you like that type of thing. The whole idea is original, but it isn't handled correctly. This is one of the rare books by C.S. Lewis that I do not like as much.
3 stars

Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis

Lewis may have not been the first to speculate about other planets, but he wrote one of the best space books when he wrote Out of the Silent Planet.
When a university professor is kidnapped by two mad scientists, they launch him into space is a spaceship prototype. Destination: Mars. While the professor does not believe that living on Mars is possible, he is proven wrong. When he arrives on the red planet, he discovers several abnormal creatures. Actually, there are supposedly only three type of creatures on Mars. One is a tall human like creature, about the twice the height of an average human. They must be tall because of the atmosphere. The second he meets is a type of otter, only they have a language the professor eventually learns. They live just like people and are very deep into their arts. The third type of creature is a small little mole like creature that is very fast at digging and building things.
He also discovers that the nine planets have real names besides the ones the humans gave them.
After staying on the planet for a while, the professor discovers a drawing of the solar system on the side of one of the buildings. It depicts the entire solar system except for earth. Earth has been erased from the map. He soon finds out that earth is called the silent planet because it is the only one that does not have an angel ruling over it. Instead, Satan rules over it because of the Fall of Man.
The whole concept behind the book is both original and believable. I believe all of Lewis' philosophy in this book. The silent planet theory is highly probable.
As with most of Lewis' books, it isn't very long. He just wrote as much as he thought he should.
There is a "suspenseful" scene at the end involving a gun, but it's not what you think it might be. It's very different form modern "suspenseful" scenes.
If you haven't read this book, than you should as soon as possible. It's just as good as the Chronicles of Narnia.
4.5 stars

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

A common mistake readers make is reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before The Magician's Nephew. The Magician's Nephew is the most vital to the series for this reason. Perhaps the reason the read these books out of order is because C.S. Lewis originally wrote this one sixth in the series.
It tells the story of Digory and Polly, two children who do not reappear until The Last Battle. Digory's uncle Andrew is a mad scientist, so to speak. The two children find out what he's doing in the attic of his house one rainy day while they were exploring. His secret: a box of humming rings.
But not just any rings. These were supposedly the only thing saved from the lost island of Atlantis. To put on a yellow ring will send the wearer to the Wood Between the Worlds. A green ring will send them back to our world.
Inside the Word Between the Worlds are lots of pools, each one leading to another world. The first world Digory and Polly step into is Charn, a dying world in which Digory wakes up Jadis, whom we hear more of in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
After accidentally taking Jadis back to our world for a day, Uncle Andrew figures out a way to take them all back. The only problem is, they take a horse and buggy with them, along with the driver.
The other problem is that they do not end up in Charn, because Charn is now dead. They end up in a world that is being created.
That world is Narnia.
The inventive genius behind this book is extraordinary. The concept of multiple different worlds besides Narnia is something he came up with after he had already written five books.
This book comes shy of five stars mostly because the idea of magic rings is a little bizarre. But nonetheless, this book, along with the rest of the series, is Elite.
4.5 stars

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Everyone knows the story of the four Pevinsies, but I've never read a professional review of it.
When Lucy first walked through the wardrobe, I think the public fails to grasp the complete originality of C.S. Lewis' new world. Tolkien had already created the concept of an alternate world, but Lewis added the feature of someone from our world finding their way into it. If you read The Magician's Nephew first like you should, you would understand the significance of the wardrobe. This will also explain the lamppost and how it got there.
I believe C.S. Lewis fully understood the concept of taking children in during the war because he did so himself. He took in a number of children to his country home during the London Blitz.
Mr. Tumnus symbolizes the backsliders, the ones who work for Satan just because it's more popular than working for Jesus. His involvement in the plot is interesting.
The concept of the White Witch is also original especially if you know English faerie tales. Normally, the white witches were like faeries, whereas the black witches were bad. Lewis added to feature to show how deceptive Satan can be.
The snow itself is also symbolic, symbolizing Satan's hold on the world before Jesus died. Father Christmas is a nod to the youngsters of Lewis' day.
The concept of talking animals was something very "magical" in Lewis' day. No one, not even Tolkein, had come up with this one before. Today it seems normal as we see children's TV shows all the time depicting talking animals.
Dwarfs were popular in faerie tales and mythology. So were fauns, satyrs, centaurs, naiads, and dryads.
The sacrifice of Aslan on the Stone Table was the first allegorical version of Calvary ever written into a children's book. However, Tolkien had already come up with a Christ figure in his Lord of the Rings.
The main purpose of this review is to show you where and how speculative fiction was born-in the creative mind of C.S. Lewis. No other alternate world, in my mind has topped that of the Chronicles of Narnia.
5 stars

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

This installment in the series is often skipped over because no one knows where to put it. It comes third in the series because the timeline occurs during The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Shasta is a boy with a troubled life. He lives in Calormen, the nomadic country south of Archenland, which is south of Narnia. He lives with an abusive man not his father and just tries to survive from day to day. But when a Calormen official comes to stay at their hut, Shasta overhears something dreadful.
He's about to be sold as a slave to the official.
So he runs away on the official's horse. But what he doesn't know is the horse is a talking horse stolen from Narnia. Bree is his name, and he decides that he and Shasta are going to run away to "Narnia and the north".
Along the way, they hook up with another talking horse, Hwin, and her rider, a runaway Calormen girl. The two groups join together under one common goal: reaching Narnia and freedom.
But along the way, lions keep following them...
They go from large desert cities to ruthless desert battles in their quest to reach Narnia. Several surprises are introduced along the way, such as who Shasta really is.
To let past Narnia readers know that this is still a Chronicle of Narnia, Lewis throws the four grown Pevinses in as the four kings and queens of Narnia. They are visiting Calormen to talk about signing a treaty. Tumnus makes an appearance as well.
This book is not a five star book, mostly because there are several boring scenes. However, Bree is one of Lewis' better characters ever created.
4.5 stars

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

The Return to Narnia, as it is appropriately called, is the second in written order and the fourth in chronological order. It shows how the four Pevinses are pulled back into their favorite world by the blowing of Susan's horn, ironically.
When the four siblings return, they find that hundreds of Narnian years have past. The country is in ruins-especially Cair Paravel. The trees and talking animals have been silenced and humans rule the country.
The siblings eventually rescue a dwarf sentenced to die. Trumpkin is his name, and he proceeds to tell them everything that has happened and how Caspian came to blow Susan's horn.
King Miraz is a cruel dictator to his people, and he was teaching his nephew Caspian to be so as well. But Caspian had a nurse who taught him about old Narnia, as did his new tutor, a half human, half dwarf.
When Miraz's wife has a son of their own, Miraz proceeds to kill Caspian. But Caspian's tutor makes sure Caspian escapes from the castle into the woods, where he meets old Narnians in hiding.
The battle scene at the end of this book, in my opinion, is a copy of the first. However, the notion of Narnia changing after such a short time is interesting and inventive.
Lewis says he came up with the idea for this book by asking himself the question, "What if someone from that world called someone from this world instead of someone from our world going into that world?" And it worked.
It's good that C.S. Lewis did try different things with this series instead of the do the same thing over and over again. That's probably the biggest problem with series' today.
4 stars