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Re: Chronicles of Narnia

I know the BBC did a version that is supposed to be very good. It's in our church library. I have never seen it, though.

I read the Narnia series when I was a teenager and liked them, but it just goes to show that I'm not a big fantasy reader. There were good but I had no desire to re-read them.

Tolkien is truly a big exception for me. I never get tired of reading The LOTR and can pick up a book and begin reading anywhere in it and enjoy it. No other fantasy story (or any other genre for that matter) appeals to me like LOTR.

I like Watership Down a lot, though.

I've never seen the Narnia films. I read the books several times in Jr Hi and High School, and in fact wrote a big English paper studying the allegorical elements in them (back when you could do such a thing in a public school). These are the only other fantasy books I have ever read, and in fact I have not read them since I got started on Middle-Earth over a decade ago. But I still highly recommend them, and am planning on getting a set for my nephew next Christmas.

2JM; the BBC versions of Narnia were a large disappointment for me. I would not recommend them at all. I love the series; it was one of my first introductions to fantasy. Would you believe that I had never met a faun, a dryad, or a dwarf that wasn't from Disney before Narnia? Even now I enjoy them, though more for the symbolism than the story. I'd say your boys will probably like them a lot. If you do read them, I would recommend reading them in the order that Lewis wrote them, not the "chronological order" that some sets promote. (That is, I recommend starting with Lion, Witch and Wardrobe, not Magician's Nephew. It's a better introduction to the series, IMO, and a more powerful story too.)

Anyway, I recommend Narnia. Aren't your boys really too little for Watership Down? But if you personally like that story, you might like Tailchaser's Song, by Tad Williams. It's like Watership Down, only with cats. Cat fans will also like that story.