The Chronicles of Narnia books, ranked worst to best

5. The Magician’s Nephew

Ah, The Magician’s Nephew, the second-to-last book written but the first book chronologically in the story.

Published in 1955, The Magician’s Nephew is a prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, showing us the origin of both the famous Narnia lamppost and Jadis the White Witch.

As always, the book contains Christian themes. They’re not as blatantly obvious as they are in The Last Battle, but during a read-through you’ll notice plentiful references to stuff like temptation and original sin.

The Magician’s Nephew follows two best friends from London, Digory and Polly, who wander into Digory’s uncle’s study while playing and find two magic rings. These rings capable of transporting the children between worlds, and their adventure begins.

But the magic rings don’t simply take them to Narnia; they first arrive at The Wood between the Worlds, a forest filled with ponds that serve as portals to other universes. Deciding to jump into another world rather than go back home, they arrive at Charn, an old, dark, and ruined kingdom. This is where we meet Jadis, who later becomes the White Witch, the main antagonist in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Things escalate when Jadis travels with the kids back to England, where she attacks the police with a lamp. The lamp is the same one Lucy encounters when she first enters Narnia through the wardrobe.

In an attempt to save the town from Jadis, Polly and Digory use their rings to transport her back to The Wood between the Worlds, where they jump into another pond and find themselves in the new, untouched world of Narnia, which Aslan the lion is in the process of creating. But it is disturbed when Jadis attacks him with the lamp, hence why it’s still there in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Sadly, I always felt like The Magicians Nephew didn’t have enough of a story of its own. It seems to mostly exist to set up the books to come, which is does very well.