Review: The Magician's Nephew (novel)

Some stories are in the odd position of being written as prequels but making more sense as sequels. This is one of them.

The Magician's Nephew was published in 1955. Chronologically it's the first of the Narnia books, but it was the second-written and sixth-published.

The story begins when Digory and Polly decide to explore an abandoned house, and accidentally end up in Digory's uncle's study instead. Uncle Andrew is a magician who's been trying to find a way to another world, and he tricks Polly into going there. Digory follows her. They end up waking Jadis (who you might know better as the White Witch), accidentally bringing her back to London, and then dragging her, and Uncle Andrew, and a cab-driver and his horse, into a different world. They arrive in what seems to be nothingness, but then someone starts singing...

The Magician's Nephew is basically Narnia's equivalent of the Book of Genesis. It shows how Aslan creates a world from nothing, how evil enters the world, and how Aslan prepares to destroy that evil. But at the same time it's a great fantasy novel in its own right, with many memorable moments. The White Witch's arrival in London, and the chaos she causes, is probably the only time a scene involving her is amusing 😄

Digory's confrontation with the Witch in the garden is one of my favourite scenes in the whole series. A close second is Uncle Andrew's... ahem... "gardening adventures" 😏😆 Am I the only one who wanted to see the animals keep him as their pet?

The idea of the Wood Between the Worlds is a fascinating one, and I wish C. S. Lewis had revisited it in other books. The children's trip to Charn, and its utter emptiness, is the eeriest scene in the book. And then there's the hilarity of the Witch's trip to London, and the explanation of how a lamppost came to be in Narnia. And, of course, Aslan giving Digory a cure for his mother (which is a downright tragic scene when you consider the real-life inspiration for it).

I read this book after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, so I understood all the references and in-jokes to the rest of the series. There are so many references, though, that if you start the series with this book you'll miss out on an awful lot.

Is it available online?: I don't think so.

Rating: 10/10.