The Magician's Nephew - Reading Order

Reading Order

The Magician's Nephew was originally published as the sixth book in the Narnia Chronicles. Most reprintings of the novels until the 1980s also reflected the order of original publication. In 1980 HarperCollins published the series in order of chronological of the events in the novels, which meant The Magician's Nephew was numbered as first in the series. HarperCollins, which had previously published editions of the novels outside the United States, also acquired the rights to publish the novels in that country in 1994 and used this sequence in the uniform worldwide edition published in that year.

Lewis appeared to have given his blessing to this sequence of reading the novels. In a letter dated 23 April 1957, a young fan, Laurence Krieg wrote to Lewis following the publication of The Magician's Nephew. He asked for Lewis to adjudicate between his views of the correct sequence of reading the novels — according to the sequence of events, with The Magician's Nephew being placed first, and that of his mother, who thought the order of publication was more appropriate. Lewis wrote back, appearing to support the younger Krieg's views, although he did point out that the views of the author may not be the best guidance, and that perhaps it would not matter what order they were read in.

However this approach may have some effect upon Lewis' strategies for drawing readers into the world of Narnia. An example is Lucy Pevensie's discovery of the wardrobe, Narnia and a mysterious lamp post in the woods in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which creates a sense of suspense about an unknown land she is discovering for the first time. This would be affected if the reader has already been introduced to Narnia in The Magician's Nephew and discovered the origins of Narnia, the wardrobe and the lamp post. Indeed, the narrative of the The Magician's Nephew appears to assume a reader has already read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and is now being shown its beginnings.

Paul Ford cites several scholars who have weighed in against the decision of HarperCollins to present the books in the order of their internal chronology, and continues, "most scholars disagree with this decision and find it the least faithful to Lewis's deepest intentions".