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Favorite Book (and book rankings)

The cultures, creatures, geography — anything about the books!

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Which of these awesome books is just a bit more awesome than the rest?

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (LWW)
21
11%
Prince Caspian (PC)
8
4%
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (VDT)
44
24%
The Silver Chair (SC)
26
14%
The Horse and His Boy (HHB)
37
20%
The Magician's Nephew (MN)
22
12%
The Last Battle (LB)
27
15%
 
Total votes : 185

Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby HazyHays » Nov 14, 2016 1:01 pm

#1. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
#2. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
#3. The Magician's Nephew
#4. The Silver Chair
#5. The Horse and His Boy
#6. Prince Caspian
#7. The Last Battle

My reasoning on The Lion, The With, and the Wardrobe is for one it was the book that started it all off for me. Mr. Tumnus is my favorite character and he is an amazing part of the story. Plus the story just never gets old for me. I can read over and over and it is always like I am reading something fresh.
"Daughter of Eve from the far land of Spare Oom, around the bright city War Drobe, how would it be if you came and had tea with me?"~ Mr. Tumnus
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Valiant_Nymph » Apr 28, 2018 10:27 pm

1. LWW is my favourite. It sparked my imagination and sense of adventure in a way no book really has since then. It inspired me to learn how to write (because I wanted more adventurous stories with Mr. Tumnus and the beavers, etc :ymblushing: ). It just felt the most magical out of all the books.

2. HHB. I love the sense of adventure in this book. I also identified with Shasta's belief that he was made for more than the life he was living. And Aravis is one of my favourite characters in the series!

3. SC. Very exciting story. Loved the description of Underworld. Also loved the themes in this book.

4. LB. Sad story, but also inspiring. I found it epic!

5. MN. I thought the world between the worlds concept was really cool, loved Charn and enjoyed seeing the origins of Jadis and the Wardrobe.

6/7. I'm honestly not a fan of PC of VDT, although I'm not sure which one I'd rank better. I know PC is usually ranks low on people's list. I found the structure awkward, I wish Miraz was more developed as a villain. This might be horrible to other viewers but besides some cringe worthy bits (such as Suspian), I actually enjoyed the movie structure better (please don't hurt me!) :-s

So I know many people love DT. And I like some of the themes. But I really, really dislike episodic tales. So maybe this is a good book, but it just isn't my type of book.
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby fantasia » Dec 07, 2018 6:33 pm

You know it's funny... I'm reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to my kids for the first time....
I still think my favorite is The Silver Chair because there's so much in there that connects with me personally, but I think LWW is the best book and probably my second favorite. It's sooo good.
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby johobbit » Dec 20, 2018 12:00 pm

As I've said elsewhere, if I had to choose, The Silver Chair would be tops for me. Part of this is that my favourite character in the Chronicles is Puddleglum. And I especially love the themes in that tale. But The Horse and His Boy comes mighty close, and the others, very close again. ;)) I do appreciate what Doug Gresham says, "My favourite Chronicle is the one I am reading at the time." I can relate to that. :)
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Sir Edmond the just » Jan 10, 2019 11:47 am

MY favorite would have to be Magician's Nephew,

1. Magician's Nephew- I love learning about the creation of Narnia and
the history of The White Witch.


2. Its really hard to chose but i would have to say The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe-This was the first Narnia book i ever read so i would be drawn to this book, also I love the professor and all the pevensie kids.

3. As I said really hard to chose but i would say The Silver Chair-a lot of knew character but still some old ones very interest story.

4.The Horse and His Boy- first of all Best title ever, I love knowing what the pensive kids
( should say kings and queens) did when they were rulers.


5. The last battle-
yes it was dark but when everyone went into the real Narnia i was so happy.


6. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader- This book use to be my lest favorite but after reading it for the 3rd time(just read it last night) it has moved up the rankings.

7. Prince Caspian -not much do i have to say about this book.
“Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby JFG II » Apr 02, 2019 2:14 pm

Last but not least...

#7 Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia

And tying for 4th place...

#6 The Last Battle
#5 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

And tying for 3rd place...

#4 The Horse and His Boy
#3 The Magician’s Nephew

And the award almost went to...

#2 The Silver Chair

And the award goes to...

#1 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby jewel » Jun 23, 2019 7:46 am

LWW was the best! It started it all! Besides, I love the allegorical symbolism of Christ within it!
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Jonathan Paravel » Jul 10, 2019 1:56 am

My favourite book in the Chronicles of Narnia is The Horse and His Boy because:

The characters have a great deal of depth. They seem a bit more complex than the characters of some of the other Chronicles, in my opinion. I really admire Aravis and her strongwilled nature.

I really like the descriptions of the different lands portrayed in the book: The woods in Calormen, the city of Tashbaan (and what wonderful architecture!), the green haven where we meet a special character, and the desert.

The book makes me think about the themes of identity, destiny and Home.
Evacuating London and The Battle by Harry Gregson-Williams are some of the best film score ever written.
I too was changed when I met the Lion.
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Courtenay » Oct 18, 2019 11:10 am

If I absolutely HAD to choose, I'd probably say The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, simply because it was my first encounter with Narnia and the book that started it all. But I love all the other Chronicles too — each one of them has something memorable and special in it that I wouldn't want to be without — and I don't think I could bring myself to rank the rest of them!

I'm always surprised that Prince Caspian tends to rate low on people's lists, though — I've only recently revisited it and loved it as much as ever, if not more. I've never minded the big digression to tell Caspian's story in the middle of the main plot — it's a little awkward, but Lewis needed to essentially have two stories on the go at once until they intertwined, and that's the way he did it. And aside from that, I love the book's theme of a world that's lost its enchantment and how that is at last restored. I've known how that feels in my own life... ;)
"Now you are a lioness," said Aslan. "And now all Narnia will be renewed." (Prince Caspian)
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Arwen_Daeneri31 » Oct 18, 2019 9:18 pm

This is a hard one because I like all of the Narnia books. I'm going to go with the Magician's Nephew for my number one favourite as I love the world building and origins of the White witch, Narnia, and the wardrobe. It sets everything up nicely for LWW.

The imagery was great too especially the dying world in contrast with the new world which would later become Narnia, I loved the characters. It's a good introduction.

1. Magician's Nephew
2. Prince Caspian
3. Voyage of Dawn Treader
4. LWW
5. The last battle
6. The horse and his boy
7. The silver chair.

If one ranks them by favourites.
It is a good rule after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.
–C.S. Lewis
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Geekicheep » Mar 07, 2020 2:35 pm

Seven-way tie! Just kidding (sort of)! :D

Okay, if I absolutely had to rank them, I'd have to go with:
1. LWW
2. MN
3. SC
4. VDT
5. PC
6. HHB
7. LB

This was really, really hard! The top 3 are basically a 3-way tie, and 4-6 are also a 4-way tie. But if I had to pick a #1, it would definitely be LWW. It was the first one I read, and I've read it more than the others, and I can't say I love any of the others more. I could write a book about how much I love that book.

It's funny, because I actually found it a lot easier to pick my least favorite. And while I don't dislike the Last Battle, when I actually read the book the ending was just so intensely bittersweet (and the sweet is hard to see if you don't know the symbolism) that I just felt gutted. "They all DIED? And that's the END OF NARNIA? Sure, they get to stay in this other Narnia (supposedly the real one, cuz the Narnia I know and love was just a shadow or something) forever, and that's kind of cool, but WHAT THE...??!!?" That's how I felt when I read it as a teenager. Now that I'm older, there's a lot I love about this book, even the crazy twist ending; I'm not hating on it here, but it took me a long time to gain an appreciation for it. That book messed me up. It's awesome but it's still far from a favorite. Apologies to LB fans.
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Justin of Archenland » Apr 11, 2020 12:29 am

Definitely an uneasy answer to give here. That makes me love the question even more. Congratulations to all that have been able to answer it before :)

My list would probably look like this:

1. VDT
2. HHB

3. LWW
4. MN
5. PC
6. LB

7. SC


I've split them up to show my decisiveness in all of the cases.

1-2 are the strong leaders for me. I love VDT because of the well-carried-out multiple storylines within the story. I love the challenges they have to overcome, but most of all, I love Reepicheep in VDT. He has always been my favourite, but in this story I love him more deeply with every inch they get closer to the end of the World. It's his longing for discovering the afterlife that is close to my heart. Together with his bravery and gracefulness, he makes a convincing role model.

HHB is my number two because of my interest in Archenland (obviously). I would have loved for more 'screen time' for this ally of Narnia. Also I am a great fan of Shasta and Aravis' relationship and the role Aslan plays in this book. Bree and Hwin seal the deal for me, though. Bree is my second-favourite character. He's trying to be such a good and valiant creature and in his innocent moments he actually is exactly that.

3-5 can switch with a simple read. Whatever state I'm in, whatever beautiful part hits me the most will be able to bring one higher into the list. They're all great stories with amazing sections.

7 Is a bit of a downer for me. Hard to say it, because I still absolutely adore the book, but compared to the others it's not up there for me.

Main reason: I really dislike Eustace Scrubb (not much of a problem with him in VDT, though) and I think the Lady of the Green Kirtle and Rilian could have been much stronger presences in the story. Rilian is fine, but the witch's presentation is just a tad too weak in my opinion.
Great parts are definitely Puddleglum and Jill. Specifically Puddleglum's wise moments, his sacrifice and Jill's encounter with Aslan really stayed with me.
“Child," said the Voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Carley » May 09, 2020 6:41 am

Oh boy, this will be hard. Here it goes...

1. HHB
2. VDT
3. LB
4. LWW
5. MN
6. PC
7. SC

Yay! I did it! :) That was hard.

When I first started reading HHB, I was a little confused and, actually, a little tiny bit bored. :-o I'm ashamed to admit it. I never dreamed then that it would end up at the top of my list. Now it's one of my favorites, for many reasons.

I feel really guilty putting SC in last. I really like SC. It's not that I don't like it. I just like it a little less than the other six.
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Re: Favorite Book (and book rankings)

Postby Col Klink » May 09, 2020 8:09 am

When I first started reading HHB, I was a little confused and, actually, a little tiny bit bored. I'm ashamed to admit it. I never dreamed then that it would end up at the top of my list. Now it's one of my favorites, for many reasons.


That's actually pretty close to my experience of reading The Horse and his Boy. I'm not ashamed to admit it though. I think it makes for a good story and nicely parallels the inaccurate first impressions Shasta and Aravis have of each other.

I feel really guilty putting SC in last. I really like SC. It's not that I don't like it. I just like it a little less than the other six.


I kind of feel the same way about my least favorites. They're great when I'm reading them. It's just that when I'm reading the others I find them a tad greater.
For better or worse-for who knows what may unfold from a chrysalis?-hope was left behind.
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