The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
This novel is a fantasy for children written by C.S.Lewis. Published in 1956, it is the final tome of the Chronicles of Narnia. Plunge in!
The Book
The Last Battle is set about entirely in the Narnia environment. The English kids enter only in the middle of the narrative. The novel is placed some 200 Narnian years after The Silver Chair and around 2500 years after the creation of the world narrated in The Magician’s Nephew.
A fake Aslan is set up in the north-western Borderlands. A conflict between genuine and false Narnians emerges as a result of that, between Narnia and Calormen, whose people worship Tash.
This story ends with the termination of the world by Aslan, after a “last battle” that is mostly lost.
The Author
Lewis (read his mini-bio) and The Last Battle obtained the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, acknowledging the year’s best children’s book by a British citizen.
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cultural relevance
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entertainment
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readability
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Our personal rating
The Last Battle
Chronicles of Narnia (Book 7)
Children, Fantasy
HarperCollins
Reprint edition (March 5, 2002); original 1956
hardcover, paperback, kindle, audible
240
Transfer from our old blog, Books and Movies Reviews.
Pauline Baynes (Illustrator)
8 and up
Book Review
Act 1
The story initiates during the rule of King Tirian, last King of Narnia. After an extended period of peace and prosperity, a centaur named Roonwit warns Tirian that strange things are happening to Narnia.
Trigger
An ape named Shift convinced a simple donkey called Puzzle to dress in a lion’s skin and pretend to be Aslan. The Narnians are sure that Aslan returned, and Shift uses Puzzle as his pawn to order the Narnians to serve the Calormenes and cut down Talking Trees for lumber. The money goes into “Aslan’s treasury”, held by Shift. King Tirian and his friend unicorn Jewel realize the lie when they hear Shift telling that Aslan and Tash, Calormene’s god, are one and the same.
Act 2
When Tirian accuses the ape of lying, he is overpowered by the Calormenes, and they bind him to a tree. He calls on Aslan for help and has a vision of Digory Kirke, Polly Plummer, Peter, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole, although he does not know who they are.
On the other side, they also see King Tirian, but they cannot speak to him.
Mid- Point
Moments later, Jill and Eustace enter Narnia.
Act 3
They free the King and rescue Jewel and Puzzle. Some dwarfs are also rescued, but they refuse to help. Only one dwarf, Poggin, remains faithful to Tirian, Aslan, and Narnia. They prepare to fight the Calormenes.
Climax
As the battle progresses, all the animals are killed and Eustace, Jill and Poggin are forced into the stable where the fake Aslan was kept. Tirian, previously, had thrown Shift into the stable and Tash, who was haunting the stable, swallowed the ape whole. Tirian drags Rishda Tarkaan, the leader of the Calormenes, into the stable.
Tash arrives and snatches him up below the armpit.
Peter, Lucy, Eustace, Edmund, Polly, Jill and Digory show up before them. Susan stopped believing in Narnia, so she does not appear in Narnia. Peter orders Tash to leave.
Aslan appears, and they watch at the stable door as all people and animals, including the ones who had earlier died, meet outside the barn and are judged by Aslan. Those who have been loyal to Aslan or the morality upheld by Narnians join Aslan in Aslan’s Country. Those who deserted him become ordinary animals and vanish. As the children watch, all plants are eaten by dragons and giant reptiles.
Father Time summons the stars down from the skies into the sea, which rises to surface Narnia.
Act 4
Aslan guides them to his country, which is exposed to be the “real” Narnia. There they meet the first characters from earlier stories.
The saga ends with the announcement that for them, all was only the beginning of the real story, which continues forever, and in which every chapter is better than the previous one.”
Archetype Distribution
Protagonist = Tirian
Antagonist = Tash
Guardian = Jewel, Eustace, Aslan
co-Antagonist = Shift, Rishda
Sidekick = Puzzle
Skeptic = Jewel
Reason = Eustace, Shift
Emotion = Puzzle, Jill
If you have anything to add to the above book review, please feel free to comment.
We recommend the book for kids, but teenagers, and adults can also enjoy it.