The Chronicles of Narnia - Book Review

Book 2 - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Written by: Clive Staples Lewis
Illustrated by: Pauline Baynes
First published: 1950
Genre: Fantasy

Time Location, Our World: 1940
Time Location, Narnia: 1000-1015
Area: Central/Western Narnia
Central Characters: Lucy Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, Susan Pevensie, Peter Pevensie, Aslan and Jadis (The White Witch)

Plot:
In the second book, we're sent to professor Kirke's (yup, Digory Kirke as an old man) mansion on the countryside, in the early 1940's. Four young siblings from England are sent away from the city to live at the professors house, to escape the bombing during Wold War II.
As the children explore the stately house, Lucy finds an old wardrobe, and walks into it. Suddenly she finds herself in a wonderful, and huge forest, in the middle of winter. She meets strange creatures, who can tell her that she has entered the magical land of Narnia, where fauns, centaurs, talking animals and trees, and all kind of fantastic creatures lives. As she comes back to our world, her older siblings wont believe her - until they're all forced to hide in the wardrobe from the professor's strict housemaid. Lucy introduces her siblings to the magical world, but they soon realize not all magic is good. In Narnia, the evil White Witch has made herself queen, and cast a spell on the country that has covered it in snow for a hundred years. The children soon realize they're in big danger - as the four of them is the only ones who's got the power to save the Narnians from the evil witch. The spring is allready on it's way, as Aslan himself has come to meet the humans. The battle against the White Witch is beginning - but things get complicated when one of the children decides to betray the others - to follow the witch...

My thoughts:
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is a classic. This was one of the first books written about the battle between good and evil in a magical land - a plot that has become very popular in the later years.
This was the first book to be written out of the 7 - and it has it's own style and feeling, as if it was never planned to be a part of something bigger. This makes some of the magic of the story. You get a feeling that can happen in this story, without further explaination. A lot is left to the readers own imagination, and I'm sure there's just as many different versions of this story as there's people who have read it. On the other side, I sometimes do feel like something is missing with the short descriptions and poor use of words. Even though I love this book, I would love to read a longer, more detailed version of it.
Rate: 4/6