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

[Specter]

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

 

[MrBob]

They confirm it in the final book, "The Last Battle".

 

[ShastaoftheNineRealms]

Oh, so if that's the case then there must be something equally special about the painting and the train station!

 

[EveningStar]

Maybe they'd pass through platform 9 3/4 for the Narnia Express...... (Harry Potter fans will get that one).

 

[MrBob]

Nothing was ever confirmed about the painting. As for the train station, it is just where they happened to be when Caspian blows on Susan's Horn, thus summoning the Pevensies to Narnia.

 

[EveningStar]

My house is littered with dozens of unwanted paintings of ships at sea. None of them worked.... I also have a large slightly-used wardrobe I'll give away, with the caveat that it's only good for storing fur coats (included).

 

[ShastaoftheNineRealms]

I too am always checking various puddles just on the off chance..

 

[EveningStar]

So that, like Project Apollo, you can visit other worlds and end with a splashdown? ;-) I once thought it would be interesting to say that every century or so it actually rains in the world between the woods, and if the water gets deep enough some of the ponds temporarily merge.

 

[ShastaoftheNineRealms]

Like an incursion.

 

[EveningStar]

Or, as one episode of Star Trek opined, a safety valve. ;-)

 

[ShastaoftheNineRealms]

I must not have made it to that episode in my list yet.

 

[EveningStar]

The Alternative Factor, TOS season 1 episode 27.

 

[ShastaoftheNineRealms]

Yes, I think I'm only on Episode 4. Those episodes used to be nearly an hour you know.

 

[EveningStar]

I'm old enough to have watched them on analog TV when they first came out. There are advantages to older age...the way my lower back feels is not one of them.