Book Review: The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

Synopsis:

The conclusion of the saga that began with The Magician's Nephew.

NARNIA...where you must say good-bye...and where the adventure begin again.

The Unicorn says that humans are brought to Narnia when Narnia is stirred and upset. And Narnia is in trouble now: A false Aslan roams the land. Narnia's only hope is that Eustace and Jill, old friends to Narnia, will be able to find the true Aslan and restore peace to the land. Their task is a difficult one because, as the Centaur says, "The stars never lie, but Men and Beasts do." Who is the real Aslan and who is the imposter? (Image and synopsis from goodreads.com)

My Review:

I loved this conclusion to the Chronicles of Narnia!

The theme to this story was definitely the positive aspects of death, i.e.- reaching Heaven and life with God.

The story opens with a talking ape, Shift, and donkey, Puzzle. The ape convinces the donkey to wear a lion skin, which Shift then uses to convince Narnians is actually Aslan returned. Shift pretends to speak for Aslan and makes Narnians work for him.

Tirian, the last King of Narnia, and Jewel, his friend a unicorn, hear of the trouble going on and the appearance of Aslan, so they go forth to learn more. They are both captured by Shift and aren't rescued until Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb show up again from our world to help save Narnia.

The eventually discover that the Aslan figure is an imposter. Adventure and fighting ensues.

Eventually, Eustace, Jill, Tirian, Jewel, Puzzle, and the other believers of Aslan in Narnia cross into the real Narnia since the Narnia they knew was coming to an end. The read Narnia is part of Aslan's world, or Heaven. Jill and Eustace, we are led to believe, also died in their world in a train crash, but everyone is ecstatic to be in Aslan's world with everyone who came before them. Aslan's world is a wonderful place to be.

The Last Battle is definitely a way to teach kids that dying andgoing to Heaven is not scary or terrible. C.S. Lewis, through The Chronicles of Narnia, has created a version of the Christian religion that is easy for kids to understand and love. The adventures of the characters, from both Narnia and our world, are exciting and would keep kid's attentions. I think this conclusion is appropriate and an excellent end of the series.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars