The Last Battle Book Review.

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Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Last Battle.

Author: C. S. Lewis.

Gene: Christian Fantasy, Classic.

Plot: My family’s paperback copy of this classic book is well worn out from having been read by myself so many times. The first chapter introduces us to a cunning ape named Shift and a loveable, not very bright donkey named Puzzle. They live far up west beyond Lantern Waste near the great Caldron Pool; they’re walking beside this pool one day in early spring when Shift spots something floating in the water and when Puzzle retrieves it, he discovers it to be a lion-skin which Shift, ever crafty and plotting, makes into a coat for Puzzle and talks him into pretending to be Aslan, the Great Lion. Thus, a simple walk round the swirling Pool on that fateful day sets in motion a string of events that will rock Narnia to it’s core. Three weeks later the last of the kings of Narnia is sitting out front of his hunting lodge with his best friend Jewel, the unicorn, standing nearby and they are discussing the rumor of Aslan’s return when Roonwit, the centaur, rides up in a great hurry and passionately argues against the rumors in an attempt to warn King Tirian saying, “The stars never lie, but Men and Beasts do. If Aslan were really coming to Narnia the sky would have foretold it.”

Tirian’s belief in the rumors is shattered and replaced by anger that only goes when a Dryad wanders into the little clearing begging justice from the king just minutes before she vanishes as her tree, miles away in Lantern Waste, is cut down. Acting rashly in his anger Tirian sends Roonwit off for reinforcements and sets off toward that ancient wood with Jewel and once there they kill two Calormenes who’re beating one of Narnia’s Talking Horses. His anger suddenly cooling, Tirian and Jewel surrender to the other Calormenes and are taken before an ape who is none other than Shift himself. They watch as he brainwashes the poor, distressed Narnians assembled in the clearing around him with a false lie that Aslan and the horrid god Tash are the same person. When Tirian can take it no longer he bursts out and calls the ape a liar but gets no further for he is struck in the mouth and then tied to a tree a good distance away then left alone.

That night, Tirian ponders the lives of the kings who’d come before him, eventually calling out to Aslan for aid and “immediately he was plunged into a dream {if it was a dream} more vivid than any he had had in his life.” He sees the Seven Friends of Narnia gathered round a table after their meal but vanishes before he can figure out who they are or why he can’t seem to speak to them. He wakes suddenly the next morning, wet with dew, cold and very stiff, several seconds later and he is unexpectedly joined by the youngest of the assembled seven who help him get away to a tower of safety. Along the way he learns that they are Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb, who’ve been to Narnia before during the time of King Rilian, from whom Tirian is seventh in descent.

Armed and disguised as Calormenes they set out again later that night to rescue Jewel and return to the tower very late with not only the unicorn, but also Poggin the Dwarf and good old Puzzle. It is decided late next morning to try and meet Roonwit and the reinforcements he’s bringing but they haven’t gone far before they meet Farsight the eagle who brings them ill tidings of Cair Paravel’s capture and of Roonwit’s death. The seven companions are left without a choice and wait behind the stable the rest of the afternoon before night comes and they witness Shift strengthening his lies and distressing the poor Narnians even more before they leap out and declare war upon the Calormenes and Shift, gaining the dogs, the bear, the boar and the little forest creatures to their side. Two skirmishes take place and when their number has been reduced to six reinforcements on the enemy’s side arrive and “then the last battle of the last King of Narnia began.” Through the dark door of the stable they are all one by one cast in, with Tirian going last of all only to find himself not in a horrid dark place but in a bright, sunny meadow with trees nearby, grass underfoot and blue sky overhead.

He meets the Seven Friends of Narnia again and is this time properly introduced to Digory and Polly who were at the dawn of Narnia, Peter, Edmund and Lucy who reigned as kings and queen over Narnia and of course his two companions Jill and Eustace. Aslan joins them and they watch as he judges the Narnians, some of whom enter in at the door while others fade into his great shadow, and they see all the s tars fall from the sky and enter in the door also, the sun is put out and Peter, High King of Narnia, shuts and locks the door forever on a frozen wasteland that was once Narnia. Aslan calls them to come further up and further in and joining many of their friends who’d come through the door, the whole party follows him, though not at his rapid pace of course. And on the journey they figure out that they are in Aslan’s country, which knowledge is confirmed when they come to a walled garden, out of which comes all the old heroes of that land. Reepicheep the valiant mouse, Tirian’s father, Puddleglum the Marshwiggle, King Rilian, Caspian the Seafarer and his bride, Fledge, Trumpkin the Dwarf, Cor of Archenland and his family, Bree and Hwin the Talking Horses, the two good Beavers and Tumnus the Faun. And then Aslan relieves the Seven’s fear of being sent back to England, for there was a railway accident and they can’t go back but instead live happily in that land’s version of heaven forever.

And now I leave you with the last paragraph in the book, which has always been a personal favorite. “And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

Likes/Dislikes: This is the seventh and last book in The Chronicles of Narnia and deals with death but in such a way that it doesn’t seem like death. It’s a very good book though Tirian has a hot temper toward the beginning and there is the appearance of Tash, the pagan god of the Calormenes that might unnerve very little children {or become extremely interesting to them as he did to my youngest brother}.

Rating: G-all ages.

Date Report Written: February 12^th, 2010.