"After Narnia"...?? What, are we through with it already?

[dianeduane]

I see the Young Wizards books turning up on a lot of "If You Like Harry Potter..." lists these days -- hundreds of them, scattered all over the US and Canada (and some elsewhere in the English-speaking world). But this is the first time I've seen one of these:

What's Next After Narnia?

This, I guess, bemuses me even more. Generally speaking -- to my eye, at least -- in a strictly thematic sense, the YW books have even less in common with Narnia than the "Harry Potter" books do. There's not even the common thread of "kids learning wizardry and having adventures": the similarity is more like "kids having magical adventures in another world." And sometimes, even that would be stretching it.

...Yet at the same time, there's no denying that the YW books are somewhat haunted by C. S. Lewis's influence, from Narnia (where I first met him) onwards. It'd be fibbing to claim that Perelandra wasn't on my mind when I was writing High Wizardry, or that Out of the Silent Planet isn't very much on my mind (or at least loitering in the background) while I finish work on A Wizard of Mars. Lewis has been my mentor-at-one-remove for many years...so I don't mind being on this list, really. It's honorable company to be in: extremely good company -- and not just Lewis's, either.

Still...one walks very softly when coming along behind the great Lion. But in a case like this, bringing up the rear isn't such a terrible place to be.

Tags: C.S. Lewis, Narnia, young wizards, Harry Potter, Aslan

Comments

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

Not thematic --- if you like this great fantasy, then you'll like this other great one, too. :-).

[blue_ant]

Out of curiosity, have your books been compared to the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper?

[dduane.livejournal.com]

Not that I've noticed, but I could understand why it might happen.

[bodhibird.livejournal.com]

The unifying principle seems to me to be simply that they are fantasy; if you like the Narnia books, you may like other fantasies, so here are some good ones. What I find interesting is that some of those books are too recent for me to have read as a child, such as the Patricia Wrede. I had Narnia and Prydain and Mary Poppins, didn't like Susan Cooper, and didn't come across the YW books till I was in my late teens, I think.

[penprickle.livejournal.com]

They could have given SYWTBAW a better description, seems to me. It makes the book sound like something intended for much younger children.

I could always sense Mr. Lewis through your books, though, and not just the YW ones. Every so often they give me the same sense of Joy, as he would put it. *grin*

How about any of his other writings?

[carpdeus.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, I loved Narnia and, being a fan of SF I slogged through Perelandra, Out of the Silent Planet and That Hideous Strength when I stumbled across them as a teenager. I found the differences between them both interesting and enlightening. Narnia had a great deal of symbolism wrapped in a delicious fantasy and was geared for kids. The Perelandra series was far more allegory and had a heavy handed treatment as though he were forcing it into the framework of SF.

I'll admit, I haven't read any YW yet (ok, so I just found out about them when I friended you in the last couple of months and they are on my list of books to acquire and read once I'm settled into the new apartment) but, based on your other works I would compare your writing more to Narnia than Perelandra. You do make points but they don't override the story the way that Christianity did in Lewis' attempt at SF.

This is in total contrast to something like The Great Divorce (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060652950/qid=1138986121/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/104-7270854-0747152?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) which was allegory through and through but flowed far more like the rest of his writings.

Of course, this is all my thoughts and the whole varying mileage warnings apply.

-J

[melannen.livejournal.com]

I would say that YW is much closer to Narnia that HP, or, really, nearly any other kids' fantasy I've ever read. For being drenched in Joy, and Hope, and Love, and Faith, and above all Good. Honestly, your books showed me more of my Christian faith than Lewis ever did.

[mneme]

No, definately not. And there are some -big- places where there are similarity -- both YW and Lewis's body of work draw far more heavily on the numinous than most fiction, or even most fantasy. And even more specifically, both draw very heavily on Christian mythology, again in a way that's unusual.

Odd...

[(Anonymous)]

(Not a livejournal subscriber, so I apologize for the anonymous post).

You know (and with the utmost respect for your beliefs) I've never associated YW with a particularly Christian slant. There are so many religions that incorporate the idea of an "anti-life" force in the universe, and a sense that humans are a work-in-progress (I hesitate to say "fallen" here, because I don't think we are), that it's never seemed strictly limited to Christianity to me. Besides, we've met Athena/Prometheus/Thor/Freya in many guises, and though it has just now occured to me that Jesus might fit in with that mold as firebearer and winged defender, I've felt that the YW books are pretty pantheistic, on the whole. They seem more..."universal" than any specific religion.

Re: Odd...

[dduane.livejournal.com]

The word I've heard used to describe the general tone is "syncretic". Which, I suppose, makes me a syncretin. :)

Following the 'Great Lion'

[cjmr.livejournal.com]

Actually, in my mental listing of "order to read Young Adult SF/fantasy books to my children" the order is Edward Eager (Half Magic, Thyme Garden, etc.), then the first three YW books, then Narnia, then HP. So you actually get to precede the Great Lion at our house, at least.