The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 7)
by C. S. Lewis
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Book Summary Information
Author: C. S. LewisIllustrator: Pauline Baynes
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-08-22
ISBN: 0064409414
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Reviews of The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 7)
Book Review: Beautiful and dark final volume--wish there were more
Summary: 5 Stars
The very last of Narnia's chronicles is not a story for the fainthearted. If the previous book, The Silver Chair, was dark, this one is pitch black. Set in pre-apocalyptic Narnia, the first line of the story is, "In the last days of Narnia..." which clues the reader in to the idea that nothing terribly comforting lies ahead. In the opening chapter, we learn that Shift the Ape, a talking animal of Narnia, has found a lion skin he wants to tie to his friend Puzzle the Donkey. This doesn't seem significant until a few chapters later when it's revealed that Shift has been passing off his donkey friend as Aslan, and has a host of talking animals obeying his orders, since he's the supposed mouthpiece of Aslan. Next thing you know, Shift has conspired with Calormen, a country that has traditionally been Narnia's enemy, and is enslaving the animals and other creatures and forwarding a hybrid religion worshiping "Tashlan," saying that Tash, the bird-headed god of Calormen who demands human sacrifices, is the same as Aslan, the lion who once gave his life for a traitor.
Tirian, the current king of Narnia, tries to speak out against this heresy, but the lies have already taken root in the Narnians' minds, and the Calormene soldiers have too strong a presence to be overcome. Tirian is a likable, respectable, and fleshed-out character, a warrior-king in his early twenties who prefers to live in the woods away from court. In a novel involving less desperation, he'd be a fun character to watch, partly because of his deep-seated notions of martial honor and partly because he's always accompanied by his best friend Jewel, a deadly unicorn. When he knows his situation is hopeless, he prays that Aslan will send helpers to save Narnia, and adds that he doesn't care if he dies, so long as his country and its innocent population are preserved. Eustace and Jill, the British protagonists of the previous book, show up and aid him, but they don't save Narnia like the visitors from our world always have, because this time Narnia isn't meant to be saved; it's meant to be destroyed so something new can take its place.
As a child, this was my least favorite of all the Chronicles, because the first two-thirds of the story are filled with extremely depressing scenes of violence and cruelty. There are mentions of death by goring and beheading, it's implied that a man is eaten alive, and a Dryad dies screaming because the tree that houses her spirit has been cut down. Not really standard fare for Children's Lit, but the worst part of all is the state of the poor enslaved talking animals, who are hurt and confused by the idea that their God, Aslan, wants them to be harmed and humiliated. He doesn't, of course, but it's scary how quickly the Narnians will believe that Aslan wants them to suffer some very unholy things.
The final third of the book gets better because Tirian and all the old friends of Narnia (Peter, Edmund, Lucy, Jill, Eustace, Polly, Digory, everyone but Susan) find themselves in Aslan's country, a.k.a. Heaven. One of the most interesting things about Aslan's country is who is admitted and who is left out. Emeth, a soldier and noble of Calormen, makes it to Aslan's country, and he's perplexed by this because he has spent his whole life worshiping Tash. But Aslan explains to him that since his heart was pure and his intentions and actions were virtuous, everything he did in the name of Tash is attributed to Aslan, because nothing good comes from or is inspired by Tash, just as nothing vile or evil can come from Aslan. I definitely connect this idea to real life--the people who say they follow Jesus but are willing to do violence in his name? They don't know him and have nothing to do with him. Emeth's fate is the opposite of Susan Pevensie's, a girl who came from the right family, had the right history, and saw Aslan's magic with her own eyes, but fell away after a few years. Susan's non-ending always saddened me, and I held out hope that she might still change after the events of The Last Battle were past, since it's only Narnia that has ended, not England.
The whole "friends of Narnia" group quickly finds that Aslan's country isn't some sort of white puffy cloud-lined place, but rather a larger, better, more complete version of Narnia. Aslan's country also contains perfect, purified versions of England and every other place in existence--Digory correlates it to Plato's theory that every object in the physical world has a related ideal object in the metaphysical realm. This is part of why I love Lewis' writing--he's so intelligent and can blend scripture, fantasy fiction, and Plato's philosophy together in a unified whole. But sadly, all good things must come to an end. I wish these stories would never stop, but that's what the best series' do--they leave you wanting more.
"And for all of us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before" (pg 210-211).
Summary of The Last Battle (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 7)
The last battle is the greatest of all battles
Narnia ... where lies breed fear ... where loyalty is tested ... where all hope seems lost.
During the last days of Narnia, the land faces its fiercest challenge -- not an invader from without but an enemy from within. Lies and treachery have taken root, and only the king and a small band of loyal followers can prevent the destruction of all they hold dear in this, the magnificent ending to The Chronicles of Narnia.
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