With great sadness, I read the last book of the Chronicles of Narnia. I've enjoyed the series enormously. The Last Battle which is the final book in the series was another outstanding book. It tells of the last King of Narnia Tirian and how he and Narnia are betrayed by an evil scheming talking ape called Shift. Shift gets a donkey friend of his called Puzzle to don a lion skin and impersonate Aslan, the great lion. Shift uses the Puzzle as the fake Aslan to gain the support of numerous talking beasts. He also uses the fake Aslan to gain power in Narnia which he subsequently betrays to the Calormen, a Persian like empire that borders Archenland and Narnia. Tirian discovers Shifts treachery but is unable to save Narnia. He and a few supporters fight the Calormen and animals supporting Shift in one last battle. At the same time, Shift and the Calormen called upon Tash and to their surprise Tash answers! Tash is the God the Calormen worship and is in fact a demon with the head of bird, four arms ending in claws, and a very deadly presence. If that isn't enough, Aslan also appears and saves Tirian as well as Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole who are sent to Tirian's aid. Ultimately, Tirian loses the last battle but, Aslan causes the world of Narnia to be destroyed. In an allegory to Christian doctrine, every animal and being has to go before Aslan. If the animal or being loved Aslan, he or she goes to the "real" Narnia (the one all the kids have adventures in is a shadow of the "real" Narnia). If they don't love Aslan, they are sent to the land of Tash the Demon where they undoubtedly suffer terribly. Christian doctrine says that at the last judgement, every person, both believer and unbeliever will come before Jesus Christ and be judged. If they accepted Jesus Christ as their saviour, they will join Jesus Christ in heaven forever. If they rejected him, they are cast into the lake of fire with the evil one and his fallen angels. You can see the similarity. Like those who go to heaven, all those who go to Aslan's land know perfect contentment and can never sin again. In the "real" Narnia, life will be many times better than it ever was in the "shadow" Narnia. This is like how it supposedly will be in heaven.
In a touching ending, all the kids who played such key parts in Narnia come back except for Susan Pevensie who it seems can't be bothered with childish Narnia. She has more important things like lipstick, pantyhose, and staying forever 25. The other kids know what is important and do what they can for Narnia. Because of this, they get to return to the "real" Narnia forever where they will be with their Narnian friends. It's a beautiful ending to a wonderful series.
Overall, the book is excellent as is the whole Narnia series. My only complaint is I wish C. S. Lewis had written more of them. I've truly enjoyed the books. I would heartily recommend them to anyone. I would give one bit of advice. I would recommend you buy the books in a set as you could save some serious money. I bought the entire series at Sam's Club for $28. Separately, the books would've cost $7 each or $49 total not including tax. My set came with a box too which makes it easier to keep them all together. While the books are meant for kids, I think adults can enjoy them too. They are wonderful fantasy with great messages about faith, courage, love, redemption, and friendship. I can't wait for Disney to do the movies based on the books. As long as Disney stays true to the books, the movies should be a great success. Just a reminder, it will be in April that the first Narnia movie will be released on DVD. Please check my earlier blog on this for the exact date. Cheers!
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