Chronicles of a Narnia Fan #17 - The Order Debate

242 days to go... Not much news. So I decided to make a video about a very widely-discussed topic among fans: Publication Order vs. Chronological Order. What order should the books be read in? Should they have been renumbered in the first place?

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[PainFullyUNcool14]

I think the chronological order is the best because it's less confusing. although, I do agree that the experience is better with the order in which they were published.

[GPuddle]

I totally disagree. Chronological order is far more confusing. One example I give in this video: In LWW, when the kids hear Aslan's name, the book says "None of the children knew who Aslan was anymore than you do." If you've already read MN, that's very confusing. Because then of course, you DO know who Aslan is.

There are many other examples as well. Chronological order is confusing.

[ItsAllAboutMyself]

so the order in which Harper Collins has the books isn't right?

cause i have The Chronicles of Narnia Signature Edition which at the end has something called "Beyond the Wardrobe" and there are three orders and I made a video about it but someone told me order 3 doesn't exist..

I'm all confused now! Help please?

[GPuddle]

Harper makes a rather silly argument in their defense. They say there are 3 orders.

1. The order the books were published.

2. The order Lewis actually wrote the books.

3. Chronological order.

It is true that Lewis did not publish the books in the order that he wrote them. Which is a little unusual. We can only assume he had reasons for wanting readers to read certain books first. Thus, this is actually a good argument to use for publication order.

[TheLukeskywalker2]

This is the Lawrence letter mentioned in the video. As stated that letter were to fans that had read the series already.

[xyZora]

@hilltopper2017 As i mention in other comment I was aware lf this issue before reading them. I recommend you to go for publication order. Its simply the best way and you will enjoy the reading much more. It just makes sense when you actually read them that way. So read Wardrobe first and leave Horse and Magicians after Silver Chair. ;)

[xyZora]

I read the books in publication order. Before buying them I was aware of this issue. Because prequels tend to be leant to be read after the original work, it just seemed the best option. It was a wise decition to do so!! -waterkid72

[hilltopper2017]

I'm brand new to the series. Please tell me what order I should read them in as my first time so I can enjoy them! Thanks

[Carl Schönbeck]

9801

[RosesareAllie]

that really did piss me off though cuz i was really looking forward to the horse and his boy movie not prince caspian after the lion, the witch and the wardrobe :(

[ninaxbinaxOMG]

Hah I wish I had separate books. I just have one large one. But it has all the books in the order that c.s Lewis wrote them in.

[SuperUmbreon1]

after me and my class read about 4 chapters of VDT I read LWW so then when I was on two capters till the last chapter in LWW I asked my teacher (we were almost done VDT)why is reepicheep so tall? he said to check in the magicians nephew so I read that after MN and LWW im done MN and I liked it better when it is a prequel (but I own chronilagical order but 1 day im going to put the books on display THE WAY C.S. LEWIS WROTE THEM!

[ldw73085]

order of publication for the win!! i agree with GPuddle wholeheartedly. i'm so glad i read them for the first time in 1992 at age 7, shortly before the infamous renumbering. for all the reasons you state, it's such a better experience to read LWW first.

[Jayden Goughan]

Btw, the only difference between the written order and the publication order is that Magician's Nephhew was completed AFTER the Last Battle, though it was published before it. (The chrono order is completely different, of course)