Hey, everybody, welcome back to Tumnus’ Bookshelf where we review any and all books by, about and inspired by CS Lewis and the land of Narnia. For today’s review we will be looking at The CS Lewis Encyclopedia by Colin Duriez.
Title: The CS Lewis Encyclopedia 
Author: Colin Duriez
Publisher: Crossway Books (February 2000)
ISBN-10: 1581341369
ISBN-13: 978-1581341362
Summary:
In this concise and comprehensive book, author Colin Duriez supplies readers with an A-to Z look at CS Lewis, his life and his writings.
Review:
It may seem strange to see an Encyclopedia dedicated just to CS Lewis, but seeing how many handbooks and indexes exist on Twilight saga, then perhaps it is fitting that writers like CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien have a place in that special niche market. Colin Duriez- author of The Inklings Handbook and The JRR Tolkien Handbook- now comes forth to present a concise look at CS Lewis.
The book covers every aspect of CS Lewis from family to his works both well known and not so familiar. It looks at various events and important people in Lewis’ life like; JRR Tolkien, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, Warnie Lewis, and Joy Davidman. Even minor things like the names of all seven lords in Voyage of the Dawn Treader are in this encyclopedia (can any fan name them all right off the top of their head with out looking at the book or Google searching them?) Some entries are short, others, like ones on “joy” or “faith” are much longer.
Despite being an encyclopedia, this is not at all a dry read. It is full of plenty of good biographical and bibliographical information, especially for those wondering what else CS Lewis wrote. Mr. Duriez does occasionally editorialize in a few articles, for example he does weigh in his opinions on CS Lewis’ The Dark Tower. While many fans may disagree with him, his opinions are not too intrusive to the book as a whole.
There are a few errors in the book, such as the article on Jill Pole that she came with Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace to Narnia in Voyage of the Dawn Treader. However, such a thing is to be expected when one person is trying to supply an exhaustive and concise resource on CS Lewis, his life and his writings, as opposed to a large group. Any such errors Duriez apologizes for right away in the preface.
In all, The CS Lewis Encyclopedia is a very good, but not perfect resource. Much of it could come in handy for research papers or articles. Fans are sure to find it enlightening and may even find out something new about CS Lewis that they never knew before.
4 out of 5 Shields
Order the book from Amazon.com