Chronicles of Narnia Books in Order

C. S. Lewis wrote the seven Chronicles of Narnia at a rate of nearly one a year in the 1950s, and produced one of the permanent quarrels of children's literature along with them: the books now carry numbers in story order (The Magician's Nephew first), but everyone who grew up on them read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first, and Lewis himself said it didn't matter. This page gives you both orders and a recommendation. (C. S. Lewis, 1950–1956).

Where to start

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe — the wardrobe has to open. Every pleasure the series offers is fully present in that first book: the rescue, the betrayal, the snow. If it takes, read the rest in publication order (below). First-timers who begin with The Magician's Nephew, the current numbering's book one, meet a slow prequel before they care about the world it explains.

Does the reading order matter?

Publication order: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950), Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, The Last Battle. Chronological (story) order renumbers them: The Magician's Nephew first, then Lion, Horse and His Boy second, then Caspian, Dawn Treader, Silver Chair, Last Battle. Lewis's own verdict, in a 1957 letter to a young reader, was effectively whichever you like — but he gently laid out the story order, which the publishers adopted in 1994. Our advice: publication order for the first read, chronological for the reread.

Which one is the best?

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the beloved one; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the series' secret masterpiece — a pure odyssey with the best ending sentence Lewis ever wrote.

Covered in depth here

An 8-question quiz, reading time, club questions and verified quotes for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Related guides

Readers finishing this shelf usually want the map next door: J.R.R. Tolkien books in order, Anne of Green Gables books in order, Percy Jackson books in order. Every guide follows the same format — the shelf, the entry point, the honest answer about order.

Make it a project

Pick a session size and let the days accumulate — at the pace our reading speed test measures, most shelves above clear in a few weeks of half-hours. Every guide on the books in order shelf follows this same format, and when a book lands, its 8-question quiz is waiting on the original book quiz.