Narnia In what order should the Chronicles of Narnia be read?

The Chronicles of Narnia
Specter

Specter

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Is it best to read them in Publication Order or Chronological Order?

Publication Order
  1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  2. Prince Caspian
  3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  4. The Silver Chair
  5. The Horse and His Boy
  6. The Magician's Nephew
  7. The Last Battle
Chronological Order
  1. The Magician's Nephew
  2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
  3. The Horse and His Boy
  4. Prince Caspian
  5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  6. The Silver Chair
  7. The Last Battle
 
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Specter said:
I've never taken the time to read them in Chronological order. Only ever read in publication order. Any reasons why it is the best, to you?
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The most obvious reason is that you read The Magician’s Nephew first which features Digory Kirk, who is the grown up Professor in TLWW. You learn how the Wardrobe became magical, why Jadis is in Narnia and not Charn.

Reading The Horse and His Boy after TLWW makes sense because it takes place between the last two chapters of TLWW. Then you you stay with Caspian for two books, Prince Caspian, and Voyage of Dawn Treader, transition with Eustace into the final stretch, Dawn Treader to The Last Battle.

Its key to stick with certain characters over the course of books to retain emotional investment. This I believe is best achieved chronologically.
 
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Malacandra said:
This old chestnut? chuckles

Publication order. Trace the development of the world as it unfolded in the mind of the author. Enjoy wondering who or what "Aslan" might be as you work your way through The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I've read 'em both ways round and wot whereof I speak :)
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I tend to agree with this.
Honza said:
Another noticeable thing about the H&HB reference in TSC is that CS Lewis says he does not have the time to tell us the story right now - inferring that it has not already been told. Hence he anticipated that it would be published AFTER the Silver Chair.
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I like that, it helps place HHB in the publication order, which I like.

I suppose we are all partial to the order in which we originally read them and always think of them in that order. Now here's a heck of a note. After the pandemic lockdowns and troubles began, I started having a very hard time sleeping, like many adults, I understand. I found that listening to audiobooks of books I know very well and like a lot would put me to sleep pretty quickly. For instance ... I might be listening to the Audible Pride & Prejudice every night at bedtime for 6 weeks because I progress through it only very slowly. As I keep falling asleep! There are several books I know well enough to be able to fall asleep listening to them, and of course all the CON are part of that number. So I purchased a 7-in-1 audiobook with different (and mostly wonderful!) narrators, and the audiobook is in chronological order. So I might fall asleep listening to "What Happened with the Statues" chapter in LWW and wake up halfway through HHB ... and think I must have been asleep for AGES to get all the way through PC, VDT, TMN and on to HHB... and then realize it was only a few chapters back to LWW ... if you see what I mean?
 
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Publication order definitely. The books progress from simple to more complex in publication order. And LWW sets the tone and understanding for the rest. It’s okay to have flashbacks. In fact it’s sometimes better to hold story for a flashback. It gives the reader a moment of “oh! That’s what it was!”
 
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This is not a knives-drawn issue; different readers can benefit by different orders of reading. Still, it bears remembering that Mister Lewis himself stated that he thought it best for us to start with "Magician's Nephew."
 
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Narnia fans are usually dead-set on publication order. Then of course, right now, in the book stores, the set will be in Chronological order. I don't know if they still sell publication order.

Perhaps you could put a sticker number over the spine. For instance, even though LWW has a number 2 on the spine, you could stick a number 1 over it.
 
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I prefer publication order. It is how I first read it. I still prefer publication and here's why:

In LWW, we are introduced to the Old Professor and the Wardrobe. There is passing references to them in PC and VDT. While reading SC and HHB, I, and I suspect others, have completely forgotten about the Professor and the Wardrobe. Still forgotten at the start of MN. Then, in the final chapter, I was absolutely surprised and delighted when the pieces fall into place. All the wonderful memories of LWW come flooding back. An absolute pleasure for me, ever after several readings.
 
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When I was younger I read in chronological order, since that is how they are numbered in the box-set 1-7. But these days I prefer publication order. I am current reading through them to my girlfriend, who has never read them, and we are going through them in publication order. One thing I do feel is that there are plot holes between TMN and LWW. If you read them one after the other, it seems as though they ought to fit neatly together, and when they don't I find this annoying, but if I read TMN later then I feel less bothered about those issues for some reason - maybe the passage of time between reading them, or maybe because I can feel the books more as they are, a series of stories flowing from the mind of a person who was not always completely consistent, rather than trying to read them as historical accounts of an actual land that need to be completely accurate.

Peeps
 
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I would be curious to read what questions people had if they read Magician's Nephew followed by Lion, Witch, and The Wardrobe. As I said, the only question I had was whether or not it was Diggory in LWW (and I still haven't read to the point where that is answered).
 
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