The Silver Chair Book Review.

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Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair.

Author: C.S. Lewis.

Gene: Christian Fantasy, Classic.

Plot: Eustace Scrub, the reformed bratty boy from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, returns for another adventure in this continuation of the Chronicles. He and his friend Jill Pole open the story for us by running away from the bullies at their school and end up going through a normally locked door into a strange land atop a high cliff. Not five minutes after entering the different world, Jill and Eustace are separated when he falls off the cliff and Jill gets a shock when a lion rushes up and blows the boy to safety. Aslan, for it is he, then gives Jill some detailed instructions and a bit of a history lesson before sending her after Eustace who has been intently watching the departure of a king just outside his castle.

Jill tries to explain to Eustace about her task, which she was given atop the cliff, but they miss the first sign of four. While in this predicament, Glimfeather, a large talking owl, swoops down and escorts them to the palace after introducing them to the Lord Regent, Trumpkin the Dwarf, now deaf with age but still fierce. A more detailed history lesson, farther explaining to Eustace and Jill of their task and the four important signs Aslan gave them to guide them, and off they go to find the lost prince of Narnia, Rilian, son of Caspian the Tenth. They are joined in their quest by Puddleglum, the Marsh-wiggle, who graces the pages of the book with dire predictions of doom, giant bugs and all sorts of nasty things and happenings while proving at the end to be the bravest and brightest of the lot. Across Ettinsmoor, in and out of a castle filled with horrible giants, under the moor and deep into the caverns beneath Narnia itself, the children and their strange guardian journey, filling the pages with amusing arguments, short tempers and lessons to be learned. Upon escaping from the giants, the travelers are captured by Earthmen of the Underworld who march them to their dark underground city to see their queen. While waiting for Her Majesty to appear, the threesome are left in the care of a silly knight dressed all in black who thoroughly wearies them with his nonsensical talk.

The knight tells them that he is under a “grievous enchantment” when, for one hour every night, he apparently changes into “the likeness of a great serpent, hungry, fierce, and deadly.” As his hour draws near, the prince ceases his loud laughter and grows serious; he requests the presence of the children and Puddleglum during his enchantment. He loses the witless manner and appearance that he’d worn throughout the meal and begs them to release his bonds, his voice growing louder and more desperate the minute till finally he says, “Once and for all, I adjure you to set me free. By all fears and all loves, by the bright skies of Overland, by the great Lion, by Aslan himself, I charge you-“ the threesome abruptly get the shock of their lives and realize that the poor man tied to the silver chair before them is really the lost prince whom they have been sent to seek! Eustace and Puddleglum cut him free and watch as Rilian seizes his sword and chops the chair to fragments.

Before they can leave, however, the witch and queen of Underland drops in for a visit and tries unsuccessfully to cast a spell over them but Puddleglum proves his worth and stops that. The witch drops her smooth tone of voice and rapidly transforms into a horrible serpent, green as poison, and, quick as a flash, the serpent coils around Rilian, wrapping herself around his legs and throwing a loop of her body around his chest in hopes of pinning his sword-arm down but he raises his arms just in time and a short but messy fight follows, which ends in one dead snake and four victorious adventurers making a break for the stables while the witch’s kingdom begins to crumble and come undone all around them.

A long, dark trek through the tunnels leads the four to a hole in the ground through which Jill goes and brings back, of all things, Narnians. They hurriedly dig through the snow and bring up Puddleglum, Eustace and Rilian then bundle them away in a nearby cave to get warm. Their quest finished, the children sleep soundly that night.

Likes/Dislikes: There is, of course, a deal of magic in this book, a castle full of man-eating giants and a bad snake are also present. Jill and Eustace learn to work through their shortcomings and end up good friends at the end, however, which might make up for the above. A very action-packed, well written, epic adventure and a favorite at my house.

Rating: PG-10 and up, because of the magic and reading level. A good read-aloud.

Date Report Written: July 10, 2010.