It was a year before the Pevensies returned to Narnia. I don’t think that we should wait that long for our next visit. Do you? :-)
The Pevensies were getting ready to return to school when they were drawn back into Narnia by some mysterious force. But everything was so different. Was it really Narnia? An overgrown forest. A giant apple orchard. A crumbling castle. If this was Narnia and their castle, Cair Paravel, what had happened since they left their kingdom? They soon discover the answer when they meet a red dwarf by the name of Trumpkin. Hundreds of years have passed since they disappeared. Telemarines had invaded, and now there are Old Narnians who are gathering to fight back. But they have an unexpected leader: an exiled Telemarine prince. Prince Caspian X, the son of Caspian IX, was formerly under the guardianship of his uncle, King Miraz. But when Miraz had his own son, he sought to kill Caspian. With the help of his teacher, Caspian escaped and found refuge with the Old Narnians, dwarfs, talking animals, and others who had been banished by the Telmarines. Together they have formed an army to overthrow Miraz, and they used Queen Susan’s horn to summon the help of Aslan and the Ancient Kings and Queens of the Golden Age. The Kings and Queens have come, but has Aslan? What of the sleeping Trees? Can they be reawakened? Will they be able to overthrow Miraz? Or will Narnia forever be under the possession of the Telmarines?
Another of the Narnia tales that I grew up with in book and film. When the new version came out, my family and I were a bit more excited about it. Then we were disappointed in a battle that seemed to come from nowhere and a supposed romance that couldn’t be found anywhere in the book. There was one little addition that I liked, but I’ll share that later. This is the fourth book in the series although it was the second to be written. The little-known subtitle is The Return to Narnia. Originally, the title had been Drawn into Narnia. The author wanted to capture the idea and sensation of being drawn from one world and into another. Many stories told of a character summoning someone, but very rarely did they go to the person being summoned to show what happened. C. S. Lewis did his best to show the reader what it might be like. Prince Caspian is one of the Narnia stories that, to me at least, clearly shows parallels to a Bible story. Here it is the tale of King Saul and David. For those unfamiliar with the account, David was chosen by God to be the next king of Israel. King Saul didn’t like that and thus hated David to the point of hunting him down to kill him. Despite the cruelty and hardships he suffered, whenever David was given an opportunity to kill Saul, he would spare the man since God had chosen Saul before him. Now a bit of spoiler for Disney’s version. (Do not read this if you don’t want spoiled.) *There are two times when Caspian has an opportunity to kill Miraz: first, in a fit of anger and second, as an execution at the end of a duel that Miraz lost. In the first instance, Caspian didn’t get proper opportunity to complete the deed because of circumstances. In the second instance, there was no one stopping him, yet he decided to spare his uncle’s life. I’m seeing David and Saul echoes here. :-)* (Ok, no more spoilers.) As mentioned earlier, this story was written by C. S. Lewis. The story is roughly 100 pages long with fifteen chapters. Sadly, based again on a version that has cut out much of Pauline Baynes’s artwork. I would rate this story’s ending with a five dragons out of five.
I highly recommend both the book and Focus on the Family’s Radio Theater’s dramatization. Focus on the Family has the most faithful adaption that I know of and is a delight to listen to. The book is perfect for any Narnia, classic, C. S. Lewis, and/or fantasy fan. I really encourage you to check it out.
Until next time. Bye.
Other Narnia Stories:
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