Narnia set - in the right order, or doesn't matter?

[anonymousbird]

Subject says it all - does it really matter? I am borrowing them as they become available from the Library. Son is currently 3/4 way through LW & W at school (teacher reading it to them) so have lined up a couple of others, but won't be in sequence.

Now that he has LW&W under his belt, so understands the concept of what happens, and the names, how much knowledge from other earlier books do you need, I can't remember (it is over 30 years ago that I had them read to me!)

Many thanks

i started with LW&W and did some of hte others but didn't complete the series as i lost interest. i didn't realise that the Magician's Nephew was the first book and read it co-incidentally, and the sense of excitement when i realised that it was the LW&W prequel was amazing!

I didn't read them in order as a kid and think I found it a bit confusing at times.

However, my main memory is of how dull some of them are! LWW deff the best read.

yes, they do kind of need to be in order. esp some of the last few

I'd definitely read them in the right order, except for Magician's Nephew and Horse and His Boy, which can be read at any point (MN is prequel and HAHB takes place half way through LW&W).

yes horse and his boy confused me as a child, but i would read them in order.

actually i totally agree with what smittenkitten said and i remember that excitement myself

can't wait til dd is old enough, my mum read them to me as a child and i will do the same

another question though, how old do you think they need to be to have them read to them??

Ok, all very helpful! Well, I have my hands currently on Prince Caspian. I think maybe we will do that one and then move on to something COMPLETELY different, like Swallows and Amazons (personally, I cannot wait to re-read!).

I suspect one more of the Narnia's might be enough for now anyway, he is only 5, can always pick up the others later on....

Thanks for your help!

I read LW&W first, was briefly confused by the Magician's Nephew, but like smittenkitten became quite excited when I realised it was "what had gone before".

Beyond that, as long as the Last Battle comes last, I'm not convinced it matters that much. Probably better in order, but time is bent around so much in the stories anyway that you can get away with muddling them up.

I could never get in to Horse and His Boy. Lots of stuff about horses.

Yes I think it's better to read LWW before Magician's Nephew, even though Magician's Nephew is about stuff that happened at the creation of Narnia.

Chronologically, I'd read
LWW, PC, DT and SC.
Doesn't really matter when you read MN or HAHB.
The Last Battle is a tougher one, you have to be able to cope with the idea of Narnia ending and a lot of nasty bits

The Last Battle is also quite overtly religious, so be prepared for possible squirming if you're not.

Personally I did what a lot of others seemed to - started with LWW then discovered MN. Being someone who likes to do things properly I think I did read them in order after that, and there is a certain building up of momentum as you get nearer the end, but I think as long as you read The Last Battle last the order of the others doesn't matter that much (oh, except you do need to read LWW first or close to first...)