Need advice on CHRONICLES OF NARNIA.

[saltpoint]

I've never read it, have 2 questions, and will appreciate info & insights.

Is there only one version or are their children's and grown-ups' versions, and can you tell me who publishes the grown-up version?

And: did you enjoy it?

[fenriswolf]

1. 1 version

its alright. I certainly didn't see why it stood out from the rest of the pack. Unless you want to throw in the christianity alagory.

[saltpoint]

2. Hi, fenriswolf. Yes -- I'd been told about the Christian allegory but

have been recently chastised for never reading it. C. S. Lewis is a complete blind spot for me. One version, then? Thank you.

[fenriswolf]

4. its not that great

watch the movie and save some time. You'd be better off reading the sword of shannara by terry brooks, much better read for the fantasy genre.

[saltpoint]

7. Uh-oh, you've exposed another blind spot. I've seen Brooks' tale but

haven't gotten to it either.

Give me a while and I'll try to get to some of these often-read series. I did enjoy Card's ENDER series (although Card's politics aren't to my liking, I think he spins a good tale), and David Eddings' BELGARION series. And of course Tolkien.

[fenriswolf]

12. actually i just saw another one at the bookstore

"genisis of shannarra" looks like i got some more reading to do.

[saltpoint]

14. How many individual titles are there in the series?

[fenriswolf]

17. There is alot more then I thought

Shannara series
GENESIS OF SHANNARA

Genesis of Shannara Trilogy(3)

Armageddon's Children
The Elves of Cintra
The Gypsy Morph (forthcoming late August 2008)

SHANNARA(4)

The Original Shannara Trilogy

The Sword of Shannara
The Elfstones of Shannara
The Wishsong of Shannara
A Shannara Short Story

Indomitable – An epilogue to The Wishsong of Shannara
A Shannara Graphic Novel

Dark Wraith of Shannara (forthcoming March 25, 2008)
The Heritage of Shannara

The Scions of Shannara
The Druid of Shannara
The Elf Queen of Shannara
The Talismans of Shannara
A Shannara Prequel

First King of Shannara
The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara

Ilse Witch
Antrax
Morgawr
High Druid of Shannara

Jarka Ruus
Tanequil
Straken



even found a game found a game !!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannara_(game)

[saltpoint]

18. O my god I'm going to have to start holding up gas stations to buy all

those books.

Well, thank you for fielding that info. I've saved the list on a Word doc and will trundle over to the bookshop one of these days with it. First, though, I'm committed to NARNIA.

Thanks, fenriswolf.

[hyphenate]

21. If you get further into epic fantasy

I highly recommend Tad Williams's Dragonbone trilogy, and you might find Robert Asprin's Xanth series a lot of fun. They're meant to be funny, and they are filled with puns. It's the British dry humor, I gather.

[saltpoint]

23. I might give them a try. Have seen them on the shelves. The British

seem to be damned good at film actors and rock groups, so they're likely good at this as well.

[fenriswolf]

25. hay did you ever read teh satirical "myth"series?

I forget the author but it was funny as heck.

[hyphenate]

28. Asprin wrote the "Myth" series

as well! I got into the Xanth series because I found them all at a second hand book store where they were all about $1.50 at the time. When you're talking about 20 books and no paycheck, they were definitely a savior to my sanity at the time.

[hyphenate]

29. I did a boo-boo

I was actually correct to say that the "Myth" books were written by Robert Asprin, but I said he wrote the Xanth series, and I was wrong--Piers Anthony wrote the Xanth stories. Sorry about that! :)

[hyphenate]

30. Just a correction

As I noted elsewhere: Robert Asprin wrote the "Myth" series, Piers Anthony wrote the "Xanth" stories. :)

[panader0]

3. Never read it, but my kids loved it.

I'm more of a Kerouac guy.

[saltpoint]

8. Don't ever apologize, please, for being in the Kerouac camp. A compelling

man.

Although then-editor Truman Capote rejected Kerouac's ON THE ROAD manuscript, explaining to his chief editor, "This isn't writing. It's typing."

Pretty mean stuff, and a pretty bad editing call, too.

[Withywindle]

11. I loved BOTH.

They're hardly mutually exclusive. Well, I just love good, vivid, musical writing, and Lewis and Kerouac both had it, in wildly different ways.

[Fierce]

5. I loved them all.

I still love them.

[Glorfindel]

6. I enjoyed it as a child

I didn't get the Christian allegory at the time; just liked the story for the adventure and fantasy. As far as I know, there's only one version.

[saltpoint]

9. One version it is. Thanks, Glorfindel.

[Withywindle]

10. I loved them as a kid

Not so much as an adult, because the Christian allegory (which I always thought was pretty obvious) is really laid on thick. But Lewis also has a fantastic imagination. I love The Voyage of the Dawn Treader still, madly.

I disagree about the movies - I say skip 'em. Or at least the new version--the BBC miniseries might be alright, I haven't seen it. But the new movie is really dumbed down.

[saltpoint]

16. I haven't made a decision about the film yet, but will weigh it all when

I get the reading over with.

You single out THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER. I love the title.

[azygous]

13. I read them and loved them

And my kids read them also when they were all small, and couldn't put them down. It was the only time I'd ever seen them quiet. Only the one version, but written at a 7th grade level. The Christian theme was very subtle, not at all what the anti-fundie faction is screaming about. I thought they were more adventure fantasy than religious when I read them. I also saw the movie, and it didn't hold a candle to the books, as usual.

[saltpoint]

15. Hi, azygous. Thanks for the info.

Ok, I'm ready to plunge in. Written at about the 7th grade level, huh? Just think how many Republicans that excludes from reading the series!

[hyphenate]

19. I read it way back when

And enjoyed it thoroughly. And I am re-reading the series right now. (I got tired of Harry Potter, having read the last four books for the 6th or 7th time)

I was in third grade when a teacher introduced me to the Narnia books, and I read them as a child with no further context. In reading them again now, I can understand the subtext behind them, but it doesn't bother me.

And no, there is only one written version.

There are currently about 10 different printings on the market, but I'm not sure of the publlsiher. Amazon should give you more information on that--I've owned the series boxed sets, never owning one of the books as a single issue.

[saltpoint]

20. I'm getting the notion that the subtext is not off-putting and that

it's Lewis' mind that I should prepare to enjoy.

What a cool teacher you had back then to introduce you to the books.

You give some good advice -- I'll poke around on Amazon and other on-line sellers and see what's up.

[hyphenate]

22. Indeed

Both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien belonged to the same literary club, and exchanged some ideas before they both went off to write their epic sagas.

Lewis also wrote an SF trilogy: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelanda and That Hideous Strength. I have not read the trilogy so I don't know how much of the Christian allegory is present in it, but it might be something to check out when you have time.

Yes, that third grade teacher was definitely one of those I will always be grateful to. She also introduced me to Jack London and The Call of the Wild.

[saltpoint]

24. If the NARNIA experience works for me, I may go to Lewis' trilogy, not sure.

I praised your third grade teacher but if she didn't think her student could handle Jack London, I doubt if the rec would have been given. You must have been a resourceful soul even then.

[azygous]

26. While you're at it

read CS Lewis's "Screwtape Letters". It's a very short, very funny book about a young devil in training for the harvesting of souls. I wouldn't be surprised that in re-reading it now, I'd see comparisons to our Republican friends.

[saltpoint]

27. LOL! Yes. Our dear friends across the aisle!

It's embarrassing how I haven't really read one syllable of Lewis and obviously need to get cracking.

Thanks for the rec.

[uppityperson]

31. I read them after hearing all the controversy and thought "meh"

They are short adventure tales with a fantasy bent that could be taken as christian allegory or read as fast simple adventure tales. I knew people who got off on them very much, but they didn't do much for me. Am working through Terry Pratchett's discworld books now, and rereading Sheri Tepper's.

[LWolf]

32. One version, it's ok.

I was suspicious 2 decades ago when xtian neighbors gave the set to my sons for xmas; I figured it was their way to inject some xtianity into our non-christian home.

So I read them first, and found them ok. Not great, but ok, with the christian themes limiting the scope of possibility within the story, but not destroying it.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

33. I highly recommend these books

I read them as a child and was just thoroughly SPELLBOUND. The children in the story exist in 2 worlds - WWII Britain and Narnia .

I LOVED The Magician's Nephew and yet it is peripheral to the rest of the stories. A couple of the other books are the same way - related, yet tangential. Yet, they all tie together and are great.

I thought the movie ,The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, was one of the most literal translations of book to movie I have ever seen and really appreciated that they did not screw up something so beloved.

I was personally amazed later in life to find out that these books are supposed to have so much Christian theology embedded in them. It's pretty subtle, if you ask me. To me, they are the most accessible of the fantasy books. No alphabets or codes or language translations involved.

I personally think it's important to read them in the order they are written.

To this day, I wonder about "Turkish delight".

[hippywife]

34. I read them as an adult

while I was in a young, non-denom Christian fellowship. I really didn't think the allegory was very strong at all and I really did enjoy reading them just from the fantasy aspect.

[saltpoint]

35. I am grateful to you all who've posted in this thread to help my

decision along.

UPDATE:

I did order the set and it has arrived.

The comments in this thread by so many of you have given me a good boot to jump into this series.

Thank you.