The Wilbur Smith Discussion Forums

“Chronicles of Narnia” and several Christian texts.
Contemporary and friend of Tolkien they created their fantastic worlds at the same time. Everyone else came after them…

I loved the Lion the witch and the wardrobe as a child but never got into any of the others

I have a well worn full paperback boxed set of The Complete Chronicles of Narnia. I have loved these books ever since I first discovered The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe when I was about 11 and was delighted when I learned there were 7 books in the series. I am aware of the religious connection but I have never read them with that in mind. They have always just been children's fantasy books to me and I suspect that's all they've been to most people. I was apprehensive when I learned they made some of the books into a TV series many years ago. If the lion hadn't been done well it could have been disastrous. Considering when they were made and with an obviously low budget, I thought they did a pretty good job of Aslan. (Some of the other animals' costumes were a bit dodgy but I don't care. I also thought their choice of child actors for the main characters was very good too. (Tom Baker of Dr. Who and more recently, Little Britain fame, played a character called Puddleglum in The Silver Chair. He was also well cast.) When she was young, we bought my eldest daughter the VHS copies of the series. They only made 4 and thankfully made them in England. Much to my delight, I received the DVD set of The Chronicles of Narnia Collector's Edition last year for my birthday. It has been presented very nicely and has numerous extras on it including a Cast Reunion of some of the actors who play the children.

I didn't go and see the latest movie version of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe last year. According to my kids, it wasn't as good as the above mentioned TV series. I don't know if they changed the story in the new movie but I believe the main reason the original series was so good was that they stuck to the stories in the books and didn't change anything. It's the old book vs. the film thing again. In this case it seems "old" although daggy, is better.

I've read all seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia and i remember that once i started the books of Pellerania but i never had the chance of finishing them. but the part that i read was very interesting.
But i prefer Tolkien, obviusly. He's the BEST, and WS off course

I simply adore the Narnia books. I started in primary school having bought The Lion... and went on to own them all. lol
I now live close to where C.S. Lewis was born and grew up, though have never seen the house, myself. There are tours which go there, though.
There's also a sculpture showing a wardrobe and (I think) Digory as an adult who is peeking into the wardrobe. And very close to that is a gorgeous mural showing C.S. Lewis on one side and Aslan on the other.