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The Last Battle

1956

  • juvenile fiction
  • science fiction & fantasy
  • fiction
  • fantasy
  • children's fiction
  • narnia (imaginary place), fiction
  • fantasy fiction
  • juvenile
  • narnia (imaginary place)
  • magic

The story

For the first time, an edition of Lewis's classic fantasy fiction packaged specifically for adults. Complementing the look of the author's non-fiction books, and anticipating the forthcoming Narnia feature films, this edition contains an exclusive "P.S." section about the history of the book, plus a round-up of the first six titles. The last days of Narnia, and all hope seems lost as lies and treachery interweave to threaten the destruction of everything. As the battle lines are drawn, old friends are summoned back to Narnia, though none can predict the outcome in this magnificent ending to the famous series. On 9 December 2005, Andrew (Shrek) Adamson's live-action film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be released by Disney, and it is already being hailed as the biggest film franchise of all time, guaranteed to appeal to adults and children across the globe. The second film is already in development. Sporting breathtaking new photographic covers, these new adult editions of the seven Chronicles of Narnia now give everyone an opportunity to experience the adventures in their original form. Re-live your childhood fantasies or discover for the first time what everyone will be talking about by Christmas and savour some of the best-loved stories ever written.

What it’s like

Plain, unhurried prose in the old British children's-book manner, with the sun-dappled, slightly faded feel of a well-thumbed hardback, and a voice that addresses the reader directly and warmly. The sensory world is built from snow, cold air, forest dusk and the smell of old stone and sea-spray, with bright moments of gold and gleaming armour set against a creeping sense that something is ending. The pacing is brisk and episodic, short chapters that open onto new scenes, and the sentences carry a steady, lulling cadence that suits reading aloud. Its mood is wistful and bittersweet, with cosy comfort gradually giving way to grief and resignation, the feeling of a door closing softly on a loved place. The emotional arcs follow an old world sliding into ruin and a few children and animals holding onto faith and courage, arriving at a quiet, luminous sense of homecoming. Violence is present but brief and mostly bloodless, with swordplay and battle described from a distance, and cruelty and fear appear in fleeting, moderate doses. It suits a rainy Sunday, a comfort reread, or a late evening read-aloud, and it is for readers who want fantasy that is gentle, reflective and faintly melancholy rather than fast or grim.

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