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clevermird's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Here we are. The closing chapter. The final story. The Last Battle.
In slightly less poetic words, no matter which reading order you use, this is the 7th and concluding installment of The Chronicles of Narnia.
It's been hundreds of years since Eustace and Jill freed Prince Rillian from the Emerald Witch and now, in the far western lands of Narnia, rumors are spreading that the lion has returned. But this version of Aslan is very different from the one in the old stories, and when King Tirian tries to put things right, he finds himself in the midst of a battle for the minds and souls of Narnia - one that might be a lost cause.
This story was my favorite of the series as a child, and reading it again, it's easy to see why. It's the darkest of the Chronicles with character deaths and destruction of familiar sites from other books abounding. I also loved the mythological, epic tone of the last few chapters. To say too much would spoil the story, but suffice to say that the series ends with a bang that is likely to stick with readers, especially young ones. Some of the metaphors became more obvious as an adult, which, again, without spoilers, involve false prophets and cult leaders, the importance of not blindly following mortal religious leaders, and the variety of human reactions to fear and uncertainty.
The book isn't perfect, though. First, like several of the books in this series, it takes a while to really get going and even when it does, the pacing is a bit uneven. Second, while I didn't find the depictions of the Calormines to be that bad overall in The Horse and His Boy, there's definitely some uncomfortable racial overtones in a few scenes (the brownface-as-disguise scene and the dialogue surrounding it in particular), even if Lewis pulls of a bit of a saving throw later on with a Calormine character who puts in a brief but meaningful appearance to improve matters. It doesn't dominate the book, but it definitely merits a heads up.
I feel like I would be remiss to conclude this review without mentioning the Susan Problem that so many other reviews here and elsewhere have covered. I don't think this is the place for getting into it, but my take is that the most common complaints require a bad-faith interpretation of the text and that in context, it is fairly clear that Susan's problem is not "femininity" but "holding fleeting social popularity as the ultimate goal in life".
Overall, while not as technically brilliant and perhaps no longer my favorite, The Last Battle is a book that managed to get me to tear up reading it even now and provides a satisfying conclusion for the series, and really, that's all I could ask for.
In slightly less poetic words, no matter which reading order you use, this is the 7th and concluding installment of The Chronicles of Narnia.
It's been hundreds of years since Eustace and Jill freed Prince Rillian from the Emerald Witch and now, in the far western lands of Narnia, rumors are spreading that the lion has returned. But this version of Aslan is very different from the one in the old stories, and when King Tirian tries to put things right, he finds himself in the midst of a battle for the minds and souls of Narnia - one that might be a lost cause.
This story was my favorite of the series as a child, and reading it again, it's easy to see why. It's the darkest of the Chronicles with character deaths and destruction of familiar sites from other books abounding. I also loved the mythological, epic tone of the last few chapters. To say too much would spoil the story, but suffice to say that the series ends with a bang that is likely to stick with readers, especially young ones. Some of the metaphors became more obvious as an adult, which, again, without spoilers, involve false prophets and cult leaders, the importance of not blindly following mortal religious leaders, and the variety of human reactions to fear and uncertainty.
The book isn't perfect, though. First, like several of the books in this series, it takes a while to really get going and even when it does, the pacing is a bit uneven. Second, while I didn't find the depictions of the Calormines to be that bad overall in The Horse and His Boy, there's definitely some uncomfortable racial overtones in a few scenes (the brownface-as-disguise scene and the dialogue surrounding it in particular), even if Lewis pulls of a bit of a saving throw later on with a Calormine character who puts in a brief but meaningful appearance to improve matters. It doesn't dominate the book, but it definitely merits a heads up.
I feel like I would be remiss to conclude this review without mentioning the Susan Problem that so many other reviews here and elsewhere have covered. I don't think this is the place for getting into it, but my take is that the most common complaints require a bad-faith interpretation of the text and that in context, it is fairly clear that Susan's problem is not "femininity" but "holding fleeting social popularity as the ultimate goal in life".
Overall, while not as technically brilliant and perhaps no longer my favorite, The Last Battle is a book that managed to get me to tear up reading it even now and provides a satisfying conclusion for the series, and really, that's all I could ask for.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Colonisation, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, and Racial slurs
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