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Overview: The Chronicles of Narnia
In 1949, C.S. Lewis wrote a note his young niece a novel. In doing so, he opened up a world not only to his sister's daughter, but to readers both young and old.
I have to confess, Narnia holds a very dear place in my own heart. The series was one my mother read aloud to me when I was a child, and I have read it every single year since I was capable of holding a book on my own. It is with this in mind that I will try to tackle one of the difficult issues with fanfiction about Narnia--making something associated and steeped in childhood into something far more adult.
But first, an introduction.
History
Narnia begins with Aslan, the creator-god of the book series who, in The Magician's Nephew, creates the world and all that is in it. He populated Narnia (and the surrounding countries and lands) with humans (making Frank the cab driver and his wife, Helen, whom Aslan magically transported to Narnia, King and Queen of Narnia to govern over everything else), magical creatures, talking animals, and other characters like fauns, centaurs, dryads and naiads. The world flourishes under this newly-created age, but moves into decline when Jadis, an evil witch-queen from another realm, begins to battle for Narnia, eventually winning and sending the whole country into a spelled winter. It is there, after an unspecified length of time, that the Pevensie children enter the story. The youngest sibling, Lucy, enters through a magical wardrobe into the land of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), eventually bringing through her siblings where they battle and win against the queen with the help of Aslan, fulfilling the prophecy of a Golden Age of Narnia and becoming the four Kings and Queens of Narnia. They live and mature there for many years, before stumbling back through the wardrobe and reverting to their childhood selves and lives in war-torn England.
Narnia does not lie dormant during this time, and during the year between the Pevensie's first entrance into Narnia and their second, the repopulated human civilization following the conquering of Narnia by the rogue Telemarines grows in power and capability until the magical creatures that were original to Narnia and the rest of the world have all but disappeared. When the Pevensies re-enter Narnia (again as children) during Prince Caspian they barely recognize the world they left, it being many centuries in the future from when they left. They themselves are the stuff of legend, as much as the magical creatures the fugitive Caspian encounters in his adventures. When Caspian and the Pevensies meet, they combine together to battle Caspian's power-hungry uncle, whom they defeat to set Caspian on his rightful throne. When the Pevensies depart Narnia again, Aslan informs them that Susan and Peter, the elder two siblings, have aged past the point of entry into Narnia; but Edmund and Lucy might return again.
This they do in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, only a few years after their previous adventure with Caspian in Narnia. On this occasion, the Pevensie's unpleasant cousin Eustace follows them through a portrait of a Narnian ship on to the Dawn Treader, which is being directed by Caspian as a young king. He is on a quest to find the seven lost lords of Narnia, to fulfull a promise made to Aslan to recover the lost Narnians of a previous, long-ago voyage. At the end of this, Caspian encounters his future wife, and Lucy and Edmund learn that they too have reached their maturity and will no longer be able to return to Narnia.
In The Silver Chair, Eustace and his friend Jill both enter Narnia many years in Narnia's future. Caspian is dying and his young son, Rilian, has been lost. Eustace and Jill, with the help of the Marshwiggle Puddleglum, trek across Narnia on a quest to find him. After he is recovered from the underground land of Bism, they return to Narnia and Caspian sees his son recovered shortly before dying and passing the rule of Narnia to him.
The final chapter of Narnia is dealt with in The Last Battle. Time is moved forward to the rule of King Tirian, the great-grandson of Rilian, and peace and prosperity has kept the country of Narnia in good spirits for the many centuries that pass until the English children return. However, strange things are beginning to happen in Narnia, and King Rilian is advised to seek help. Help comes in the form of Eustace and Jill, who return to Narnia and help unconver a Calormene plot (Calormene is a country to the south of Narnia that has long-standing animosities with Narnia) to discredit Aslan.
Following this, Aslan chooses to "reset" Narnia, bringing forth all the characters both alive and dead (with the exception of Susan) and herding them through a doorway which becomes a reincarnation of the beloved land, while the Narnia-that-was is destroyed and vanishes into shadows. The characters now exist in Aslan's country, and Peter shuts the door on Narnia-that-was. Aslan's country is something of an afterlife, the "true" Narnia. It is probable that everyone lived happily ever after.
Characters
There is a very large cast of characters in these books, but the primary ones tend to be human characters.
English Characters
Peter Pevensie, eldest sibling, who becomes the High King of Narnia.
Susan Pevensie, second-eldest, Queen of Narnia. She eventually becomes someone who is "not a friend of Narnia" and does not return at the end of the books.
Edmund Pevensie, second-youngest, King of Narnia who, before his kingship, betrays his siblings and Aslan to the White Queen Jadis and is nearly killed for it. In Dawn Treader is a steadfast and wise character, having learned from his mistakes.
Lucy Pevensie, youngest sibling, Queen of Narnia. It is she who first discovered the land of Narnia through the wardrobe, and she retains arguably the greatest love for the country. She also has a great affection with Aslan.
Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, the two who travel from their world into others and first encounter Jadis, accidentally bringing her into the world of Narnia. They are there when Narnia is created, and Digory is also the young Pevensies' eccentric uncle.
Uncle Andrew, crazy magician and uncle to Digory who puts together the device that allows Digory and Polly to travel to Narnia. He's a jerk.
Eustace Scrubb, the Pevensies' cousin who is involved in three of the adventures of the series. At first he's a rather large prat but eventually becomes a valuable part of Narnia.
Jill Pole, friend of Eustace, also undergoes a transformative experience due to her adventures in Narnia.
Narnian Characters
Aslan, creator-god who appears in each series for deus ex machina and both a tangible and intangible presence in Narnia.
Caspian, King Caspian X of Narnia, good friend of the Pevensies.
Rilian, Caspian's son.
Mr Tumnus, Lucy Pevensie's good friend and adviser to the four Kings and Queens during the Golden Age.
The Beavers, husband and wife beavers who assist the Pevensies in making contact with the resistance movement in Narnia against the White Queen Jadis.
The White Queen Jadis, evil queen who overtakes Narnia following the decline of the first human -ruled civilization. Fond of statuary, young boys, and snow.
Shasta and Aravis, an Archenlander and Calormenian respectively who are the main human characters in A Horse and His Boy, which takes place during the reign of the four Kings and Queens of Narnia.
Bree and Hwin, the Narnian talking horses who befriend Shasta and Aravis and travel with them into Archenland.
These are by no means all the characters you will encounter in the series, but they are the most likely to be in the fanfiction.
All the creatures of Narnia and all of the characters.
Timeline
Adapted from Wikipedia's very helpful history.
First millennium
1. Narnia is created. The ability to speak is bestowed upon Beasts. Digory plants the Tree of Protection. The White Witch Jadis enters Narnia but flees to the far North. Frank I, formerly a London cabbie, is crowned as the first King of Narnia, and his wife Helen, formerly named Nellie, becomes Narnia's first Queen.
898. The White Witch Jadis returns to Narnia from the Far North.
900. The Hundred-Year Winter begins.
Second millennium
1000. The Pevensies arrive in Narnia. Edmund betrays the other Pevensies. Aslan is sacrificed by the White Witch. The White Witch is defeated in the First Battle of Beruna and the Long Winter ends. Peter becomes High King of Narnia, and his siblings become King and Queens of Narnia.
1014. King Peter carries out a successful raid on the Northern Giants. Queens Susan and Lucy, and King Edmund, visit the neighboring country of Calormen, where the Prince Rabadash courts her. She turns him down, prompting the Prince to wage a war upon Narnia and its ally Archenland. King Lune of Archenland discovers his long-lost son Prince Cor after the Battle of Anward.
1014. The Pevensies hunt the White Stag and vanish out of Narnia and back into England.
1998. The Telmarines invade and conquer Narnia.
Third millennium
290. Prince Caspian, son of Caspian IX, is born. Caspian IX is murdered by his brother Miraz, who usurps the throne.
2303. Prince Caspian, fearing his life, flees after Uncle Miraz's wife bears a male heir. Civil war begins in Narnia; the battle is named the Second Battle of Beruna. With the aid of Aslan and of the Pevensies, whom Caspian summons with Queen Susan's magic horn, Miraz is defeated and killed. Caspian becomes Caspian X of Narnia.
2310. Caspian X marries Ramandu's daughter.
2325. Prince Rilian is born.
2356. Eustace and Jill Pole appear in Narnia and rescue Prince Rilian. Caspian X dies.
2555. Rebellion of Shift the Ape occurs. King Tirian rescued by Eustace and Jill. Narnia is conquered by the Calormenes. The Last Battle takes place. Narnia and the World are destroyed.
Timeline in England
1900. Jadis causes a commotion in London. She, Digory, Polly, Uncle Andrew, the cabbie, his wife, and Strawberry, his horse enter Narnia. (This corresponds with Narnian year 0 and the events in The Magician's Nephew.)
1940. The Pevensies stay with Professor Kirke during the air raids. They enter Narnia for the first time. (This corresponds with Narnian years 1000-14 and the events in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Horse and His Boy.) Almost immediately in Earth time, they return from Narnia. (This corresponds with Narnian year 1014.)
1941. The Pevensies, while waiting to board the train to their school, are called to Narnia. (This corresponds with Narnian year 2303 and the events in Prince Caspian.)
Summer 1942. Edmund, Lucy and Eustace enter Narnia through a picture in Eustace's house. (This corresponds with Narnian years 2306-7 and the events in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.)
Autumn 1942. Eustace and Jill enter Narnia behind the gym at their school, Experiment House. (This corresponds with Narnian year 2356 and the events in The Silver Chair.)
1949. Digory, Polly, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace and Jill, while riding a British Rail train that derails, die, as they are called to Narnia by Aslan. Mr. and Mrs. Pevensie also die in this train accident, and are later transported to Aslan's Country. (This corresponds with Narnian year 2555 and the events in The Last Battle.)
Books
There are two ways to read the books: the publication order and the chronological order. It is common practice to offer the books in the order of the chronological events within the story; however, it can help with an understanding of the characterization and historical events of the books to read/understand them in publication order as well.
Publication Order:
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian (1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)
Chronological Order:
1. The Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle
Maps
With Narnia, there is relatively minimal space and geography. You can generally figure that this in no way correspondes with the actual strictures of space and time.
The map of Narnia from the 2005 film:
Map of the Dawn Treader's route:
Map from The Silver Chair:
A Childhood World and Adult Fantasy
How do you negotiate a childhood love and adult desire? This is one of the core questions for any fanfticion writer or reader tackling fic for The Chronicles of Narnia. (Though of course it comes up in any number of other children's series, from The Dark is Rising to The Babysitter's Club and anything in between.) There are a number of elements in the books that offer a lot for writers: the Pevensies growing up in Narnia during their reign and becoming adults, only to revert to children once again; Lucy's relationship with Mr Tumnus; the allegory of "growing up" and Narnian adventures that coincides with expulsion from Narnia; the religiosity of the novels and their parallels with western Christianity; the funny relationship of real-time with Narnian-time; and so on. While I can't speak for anyone else, having read these books for the last twenty years of my life, I have thought about all these questions and more. I suppose that's what happens when you take a very powerful and engaging children's book that still engages you as an adult. (See also, Harry Potter. Though this preceeded that, even if the fandom didn't.)
With the more widely spread nature of fandom currently, as well as the growth of archives/challenges like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
yuletide, fanfiction about any number of small and rare fandoms is thriving more. It's becoming more acceptable to write about childhood books, when fandoms like Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events have shown that book-fandoms can be just as big and productive as other media fandoms. (I am going to amend this slightly by noting that I mean, generally, quality fanfiction, and not what you are likely to find on fanfiction.net.) So, six years ago, when I first engaged in online fandom, you were not likely to see (quality) fanfiction about Narnia; but today, there are 26 stories in the Yuletide archive alone, which is pretty remarkable for a rare fandom like Narnia.
When you read fanfiction about Narnia, I feel you have to approach it with the understanding that the books are written about children; but the fanfiction is written by adults (generally) for adults, and thus tends to take a darker, more sophisticated, and often more sexualised tone. Common pairings are Lucy/Caspian and Edmund/Caspian, despite the difference in ages; and weight is placed on the Pevensies' acquired adult knowledge from their time as adults in Narnia even while they are in young children's bodies. It doesn't work for everyone. But it does work for me, and for other writers in the fandom.
Fanfiction Resources
There are a couple of places to find fic on the web: Turkish Delights is a general archive for Narnia fanfiction, and there is of course a Fanfiction.net category. Yuletide has a nice subcategory for Narnia fiction as well.
On Livejournal, there isnarnia_fiction, pevensie_love, narnia_slash, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
narnia_noncest, bbc_narnia, narnia_movies, dawn_treader, narnia_fans, into_narnia, narnians, tumnus_love, narniadrabble, narniaficathon, narnian_herald, eustace_jill, dark_narnia, and vanished_tales. Understandably, most of these have become more quiescent since the film, but it's likely they will pick up steam when the new film is released.
Additional Information
There are two live action films/series of The Chronicles. The first was done by the BBC in the mid-eighties, with a minimal budget, crap production values, and awesome 1980's graphics. It is, of course, the production I grew up on and therefore love irrationally. [link] The BBC produced all of the books except for A Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle, presumably for continuity. They are currently available on DVD.
The second was released in 2005 for the big screen, and is much prettier to look at, but is also changed slightly for wider audiences. [link] Production on Prince Caspian is currently underway, with an expected release date of 2008; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will in theory come out in 2009, and there is currently no word on whether the series will continue or end as a trilogy.
Numerous other productions have been done of The Chronicles, including radio plays, children's theatre, and animated films. There is also considerable academic interest in the books, as well as C.S. Lewis's relationship to the books; not to mention a particular focus on what is called "The Susan Question," which deals with Lewis's apparent mysonginy in not allowing Susan to return with her siblings to Aslan's country upon their deaths because she was "not a friend of Narnia." Phillip Pullman, author of "The Golden Compass," in particular, has been vocal about his disapproval of this ending to the novels. Useful websites include Narniaweb.com, Into the Wardrobe, Narnia Fans, and The Lion's Call.
Conclusion
I've tried here to give an overview into Narnia, the characters, the history, and what stimulates the fanfiction and fandom. However, if you feel I have left something out or would like more information about something, please let me know in the comments and I will amend this as necessary. Narnia has been a long-time love of mine, and I am excited to share the fanfiction with you guys! I hope you enjoy the recs I'm putting together.
I have to confess, Narnia holds a very dear place in my own heart. The series was one my mother read aloud to me when I was a child, and I have read it every single year since I was capable of holding a book on my own. It is with this in mind that I will try to tackle one of the difficult issues with fanfiction about Narnia--making something associated and steeped in childhood into something far more adult.
But first, an introduction.
History
Narnia begins with Aslan, the creator-god of the book series who, in The Magician's Nephew, creates the world and all that is in it. He populated Narnia (and the surrounding countries and lands) with humans (making Frank the cab driver and his wife, Helen, whom Aslan magically transported to Narnia, King and Queen of Narnia to govern over everything else), magical creatures, talking animals, and other characters like fauns, centaurs, dryads and naiads. The world flourishes under this newly-created age, but moves into decline when Jadis, an evil witch-queen from another realm, begins to battle for Narnia, eventually winning and sending the whole country into a spelled winter. It is there, after an unspecified length of time, that the Pevensie children enter the story. The youngest sibling, Lucy, enters through a magical wardrobe into the land of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe), eventually bringing through her siblings where they battle and win against the queen with the help of Aslan, fulfilling the prophecy of a Golden Age of Narnia and becoming the four Kings and Queens of Narnia. They live and mature there for many years, before stumbling back through the wardrobe and reverting to their childhood selves and lives in war-torn England.
Narnia does not lie dormant during this time, and during the year between the Pevensie's first entrance into Narnia and their second, the repopulated human civilization following the conquering of Narnia by the rogue Telemarines grows in power and capability until the magical creatures that were original to Narnia and the rest of the world have all but disappeared. When the Pevensies re-enter Narnia (again as children) during Prince Caspian they barely recognize the world they left, it being many centuries in the future from when they left. They themselves are the stuff of legend, as much as the magical creatures the fugitive Caspian encounters in his adventures. When Caspian and the Pevensies meet, they combine together to battle Caspian's power-hungry uncle, whom they defeat to set Caspian on his rightful throne. When the Pevensies depart Narnia again, Aslan informs them that Susan and Peter, the elder two siblings, have aged past the point of entry into Narnia; but Edmund and Lucy might return again.
This they do in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, only a few years after their previous adventure with Caspian in Narnia. On this occasion, the Pevensie's unpleasant cousin Eustace follows them through a portrait of a Narnian ship on to the Dawn Treader, which is being directed by Caspian as a young king. He is on a quest to find the seven lost lords of Narnia, to fulfull a promise made to Aslan to recover the lost Narnians of a previous, long-ago voyage. At the end of this, Caspian encounters his future wife, and Lucy and Edmund learn that they too have reached their maturity and will no longer be able to return to Narnia.
In The Silver Chair, Eustace and his friend Jill both enter Narnia many years in Narnia's future. Caspian is dying and his young son, Rilian, has been lost. Eustace and Jill, with the help of the Marshwiggle Puddleglum, trek across Narnia on a quest to find him. After he is recovered from the underground land of Bism, they return to Narnia and Caspian sees his son recovered shortly before dying and passing the rule of Narnia to him.
The final chapter of Narnia is dealt with in The Last Battle. Time is moved forward to the rule of King Tirian, the great-grandson of Rilian, and peace and prosperity has kept the country of Narnia in good spirits for the many centuries that pass until the English children return. However, strange things are beginning to happen in Narnia, and King Rilian is advised to seek help. Help comes in the form of Eustace and Jill, who return to Narnia and help unconver a Calormene plot (Calormene is a country to the south of Narnia that has long-standing animosities with Narnia) to discredit Aslan.
Following this, Aslan chooses to "reset" Narnia, bringing forth all the characters both alive and dead (with the exception of Susan) and herding them through a doorway which becomes a reincarnation of the beloved land, while the Narnia-that-was is destroyed and vanishes into shadows. The characters now exist in Aslan's country, and Peter shuts the door on Narnia-that-was. Aslan's country is something of an afterlife, the "true" Narnia. It is probable that everyone lived happily ever after.
Characters
There is a very large cast of characters in these books, but the primary ones tend to be human characters.
English Characters
Peter Pevensie, eldest sibling, who becomes the High King of Narnia.
Susan Pevensie, second-eldest, Queen of Narnia. She eventually becomes someone who is "not a friend of Narnia" and does not return at the end of the books.
Edmund Pevensie, second-youngest, King of Narnia who, before his kingship, betrays his siblings and Aslan to the White Queen Jadis and is nearly killed for it. In Dawn Treader is a steadfast and wise character, having learned from his mistakes.
Lucy Pevensie, youngest sibling, Queen of Narnia. It is she who first discovered the land of Narnia through the wardrobe, and she retains arguably the greatest love for the country. She also has a great affection with Aslan.
Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, the two who travel from their world into others and first encounter Jadis, accidentally bringing her into the world of Narnia. They are there when Narnia is created, and Digory is also the young Pevensies' eccentric uncle.
Uncle Andrew, crazy magician and uncle to Digory who puts together the device that allows Digory and Polly to travel to Narnia. He's a jerk.
Eustace Scrubb, the Pevensies' cousin who is involved in three of the adventures of the series. At first he's a rather large prat but eventually becomes a valuable part of Narnia.
Jill Pole, friend of Eustace, also undergoes a transformative experience due to her adventures in Narnia.
Narnian Characters
Aslan, creator-god who appears in each series for deus ex machina and both a tangible and intangible presence in Narnia.
Caspian, King Caspian X of Narnia, good friend of the Pevensies.
Rilian, Caspian's son.
Mr Tumnus, Lucy Pevensie's good friend and adviser to the four Kings and Queens during the Golden Age.
The Beavers, husband and wife beavers who assist the Pevensies in making contact with the resistance movement in Narnia against the White Queen Jadis.
The White Queen Jadis, evil queen who overtakes Narnia following the decline of the first human -ruled civilization. Fond of statuary, young boys, and snow.
Shasta and Aravis, an Archenlander and Calormenian respectively who are the main human characters in A Horse and His Boy, which takes place during the reign of the four Kings and Queens of Narnia.
Bree and Hwin, the Narnian talking horses who befriend Shasta and Aravis and travel with them into Archenland.
These are by no means all the characters you will encounter in the series, but they are the most likely to be in the fanfiction.
All the creatures of Narnia and all of the characters.
Timeline
Adapted from Wikipedia's very helpful history.
First millennium
1. Narnia is created. The ability to speak is bestowed upon Beasts. Digory plants the Tree of Protection. The White Witch Jadis enters Narnia but flees to the far North. Frank I, formerly a London cabbie, is crowned as the first King of Narnia, and his wife Helen, formerly named Nellie, becomes Narnia's first Queen.
898. The White Witch Jadis returns to Narnia from the Far North.
900. The Hundred-Year Winter begins.
Second millennium
1000. The Pevensies arrive in Narnia. Edmund betrays the other Pevensies. Aslan is sacrificed by the White Witch. The White Witch is defeated in the First Battle of Beruna and the Long Winter ends. Peter becomes High King of Narnia, and his siblings become King and Queens of Narnia.
1014. King Peter carries out a successful raid on the Northern Giants. Queens Susan and Lucy, and King Edmund, visit the neighboring country of Calormen, where the Prince Rabadash courts her. She turns him down, prompting the Prince to wage a war upon Narnia and its ally Archenland. King Lune of Archenland discovers his long-lost son Prince Cor after the Battle of Anward.
1014. The Pevensies hunt the White Stag and vanish out of Narnia and back into England.
1998. The Telmarines invade and conquer Narnia.
Third millennium
290. Prince Caspian, son of Caspian IX, is born. Caspian IX is murdered by his brother Miraz, who usurps the throne.
2303. Prince Caspian, fearing his life, flees after Uncle Miraz's wife bears a male heir. Civil war begins in Narnia; the battle is named the Second Battle of Beruna. With the aid of Aslan and of the Pevensies, whom Caspian summons with Queen Susan's magic horn, Miraz is defeated and killed. Caspian becomes Caspian X of Narnia.
2310. Caspian X marries Ramandu's daughter.
2325. Prince Rilian is born.
2356. Eustace and Jill Pole appear in Narnia and rescue Prince Rilian. Caspian X dies.
2555. Rebellion of Shift the Ape occurs. King Tirian rescued by Eustace and Jill. Narnia is conquered by the Calormenes. The Last Battle takes place. Narnia and the World are destroyed.
Timeline in England
1900. Jadis causes a commotion in London. She, Digory, Polly, Uncle Andrew, the cabbie, his wife, and Strawberry, his horse enter Narnia. (This corresponds with Narnian year 0 and the events in The Magician's Nephew.)
1940. The Pevensies stay with Professor Kirke during the air raids. They enter Narnia for the first time. (This corresponds with Narnian years 1000-14 and the events in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Horse and His Boy.) Almost immediately in Earth time, they return from Narnia. (This corresponds with Narnian year 1014.)
1941. The Pevensies, while waiting to board the train to their school, are called to Narnia. (This corresponds with Narnian year 2303 and the events in Prince Caspian.)
Summer 1942. Edmund, Lucy and Eustace enter Narnia through a picture in Eustace's house. (This corresponds with Narnian years 2306-7 and the events in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.)
Autumn 1942. Eustace and Jill enter Narnia behind the gym at their school, Experiment House. (This corresponds with Narnian year 2356 and the events in The Silver Chair.)
1949. Digory, Polly, Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Eustace and Jill, while riding a British Rail train that derails, die, as they are called to Narnia by Aslan. Mr. and Mrs. Pevensie also die in this train accident, and are later transported to Aslan's Country. (This corresponds with Narnian year 2555 and the events in The Last Battle.)
Books
There are two ways to read the books: the publication order and the chronological order. It is common practice to offer the books in the order of the chronological events within the story; however, it can help with an understanding of the characterization and historical events of the books to read/understand them in publication order as well.
Publication Order:
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian (1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)
Chronological Order:
1. The Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle
Maps
With Narnia, there is relatively minimal space and geography. You can generally figure that this in no way correspondes with the actual strictures of space and time.
The map of Narnia from the 2005 film:
Map of the Dawn Treader's route:
Map from The Silver Chair:
A Childhood World and Adult Fantasy
How do you negotiate a childhood love and adult desire? This is one of the core questions for any fanfticion writer or reader tackling fic for The Chronicles of Narnia. (Though of course it comes up in any number of other children's series, from The Dark is Rising to The Babysitter's Club and anything in between.) There are a number of elements in the books that offer a lot for writers: the Pevensies growing up in Narnia during their reign and becoming adults, only to revert to children once again; Lucy's relationship with Mr Tumnus; the allegory of "growing up" and Narnian adventures that coincides with expulsion from Narnia; the religiosity of the novels and their parallels with western Christianity; the funny relationship of real-time with Narnian-time; and so on. While I can't speak for anyone else, having read these books for the last twenty years of my life, I have thought about all these questions and more. I suppose that's what happens when you take a very powerful and engaging children's book that still engages you as an adult. (See also, Harry Potter. Though this preceeded that, even if the fandom didn't.)
With the more widely spread nature of fandom currently, as well as the growth of archives/challenges like
yuletide, fanfiction about any number of small and rare fandoms is thriving more. It's becoming more acceptable to write about childhood books, when fandoms like Harry Potter and A Series of Unfortunate Events have shown that book-fandoms can be just as big and productive as other media fandoms. (I am going to amend this slightly by noting that I mean, generally, quality fanfiction, and not what you are likely to find on fanfiction.net.) So, six years ago, when I first engaged in online fandom, you were not likely to see (quality) fanfiction about Narnia; but today, there are 26 stories in the Yuletide archive alone, which is pretty remarkable for a rare fandom like Narnia. When you read fanfiction about Narnia, I feel you have to approach it with the understanding that the books are written about children; but the fanfiction is written by adults (generally) for adults, and thus tends to take a darker, more sophisticated, and often more sexualised tone. Common pairings are Lucy/Caspian and Edmund/Caspian, despite the difference in ages; and weight is placed on the Pevensies' acquired adult knowledge from their time as adults in Narnia even while they are in young children's bodies. It doesn't work for everyone. But it does work for me, and for other writers in the fandom.
Fanfiction Resources
There are a couple of places to find fic on the web: Turkish Delights is a general archive for Narnia fanfiction, and there is of course a Fanfiction.net category. Yuletide has a nice subcategory for Narnia fiction as well.
On Livejournal, there is
narnia_fiction, pevensie_love, narnia_slash, narnia_noncest, bbc_narnia, narnia_movies, dawn_treader, narnia_fans, into_narnia, narnians, tumnus_love, narniadrabble, narniaficathon, narnian_herald, eustace_jill, dark_narnia, and vanished_tales. Understandably, most of these have become more quiescent since the film, but it's likely they will pick up steam when the new film is released. Additional Information
There are two live action films/series of The Chronicles. The first was done by the BBC in the mid-eighties, with a minimal budget, crap production values, and awesome 1980's graphics. It is, of course, the production I grew up on and therefore love irrationally. [link] The BBC produced all of the books except for A Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle, presumably for continuity. They are currently available on DVD.
The second was released in 2005 for the big screen, and is much prettier to look at, but is also changed slightly for wider audiences. [link] Production on Prince Caspian is currently underway, with an expected release date of 2008; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will in theory come out in 2009, and there is currently no word on whether the series will continue or end as a trilogy.
Numerous other productions have been done of The Chronicles, including radio plays, children's theatre, and animated films. There is also considerable academic interest in the books, as well as C.S. Lewis's relationship to the books; not to mention a particular focus on what is called "The Susan Question," which deals with Lewis's apparent mysonginy in not allowing Susan to return with her siblings to Aslan's country upon their deaths because she was "not a friend of Narnia." Phillip Pullman, author of "The Golden Compass," in particular, has been vocal about his disapproval of this ending to the novels. Useful websites include Narniaweb.com, Into the Wardrobe, Narnia Fans, and The Lion's Call.
Conclusion
I've tried here to give an overview into Narnia, the characters, the history, and what stimulates the fanfiction and fandom. However, if you feel I have left something out or would like more information about something, please let me know in the comments and I will amend this as necessary. Narnia has been a long-time love of mine, and I am excited to share the fanfiction with you guys! I hope you enjoy the recs I'm putting together.
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Or, if you like those old-fangled hardcopy books, you can pick up a copy of Gaiman’s Fragile Things (http://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Things-Short-Fictions-Wonders/dp/0060515228/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-1704881-9970449?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174005358&sr=1-1).
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Also, if there's anything I've missed from the fic you've found, please let me know and I'll get it up here too. Better for the fandom, dontcha know.
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I want to give you a link to my narnia tag at del.icio.us here (http://del.icio.us/banthacakes/narnia), and I'm updating it right now. The most recently tagged things are all older fic, because I want lots of people to read great Narnia fic!
If you check back after the weekend, I will try to update it with all the rest of the stuff I keep meaning to put into del.icio.us. :o)
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Thank you for the recs; I didn't know there was such good Narnia fic out there.
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