The Magician’s Nephew is book 6 in the Chronicles of Narnia in order of publication. However, it’s the first book when placed in chronological order. If you purchased your edition of the Chronicles of Narnia more recently than the mid-90s, your set is probably organized with The Magician’s Nephew as book 1.
Where The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe places you in an already established Narnia, The Magician’s Nephew focuses on Narnia’s initial creation.
I enjoyed this book more than the previous three, and I found it clever how Lewis ties it into The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
As the reader, you’ll learn about the history of the wardrobe, why there’s a random lamp-post in Narnia, where the White Witch came from, and more fun connections with other books in the series.
Adding my opinion to the debate on whether the Chronicles of Narnia should be read in chronological or publication order, I feel there are moments in The Magician’s Nephew that would have fallen flat if we didn’t have prior experience in Narnia.
It’s my opinion that The Magician’s Nephew serves as a good history of Narnia, but it’s not that great of an introduction to Narnia.
Denver Nay Blogs 