Lunar Rainbows Reviews

I really don't know where to begin right now...I'm struggling to make sense of what I've just finished reading. I had gone into the Chronicles of Narnia well prepared for the allegory and the dated social statements...I had even known from the beginning that 'The Last Battle' was widely regarded as the worst out of the whole Chronicles series. I had mentioned in my review of 'The Silver Chair' (predecessor to The Last Battle) that the tone was almost sad, something quite different in it's tone from all the Narnian stories that came before it. Sadly, TLB follows in this trend, and surpasses it by leaps and bounds. It's quite depressing, dark and so unlike the other Narnian stories that I'm sure I will never re-read it again. Though I don't regret reading it, because I had to see how Lewis ended his tale, it does cast a shadow over his entire work to end it the way he did.

The Last Battle is set a bit over a year after the events of The Silver Chair (in our world's time of course, in Narnian times a few hundred years have passed). This is a darker by far Narnia that we have ever encountered, though it's never really clear why these darker times have fallen upon Narnia. I found Lewis to be especially preachy and allegorical. It has been said that his christian allegory is more prominent in both The Lion, The Witch & The Wardobe and The Last Battle and this is true. The thing is that TLTW&TW is also an enchanting tale. The Last Battle is not. It borders on offensive by some bits (The Caloremene anyone?) and all that was good and magical has now become corrupt and tainted.

There were a few aspects that I did enjoy When we find out that everyone who had ever been to Narnia reunited for supper in our world...only to receive a sign that Narnia needed aid. And seeing old familiar faces from stories past...if only they were all not reunited in DEATH. Oh and I also really like the last king of Narnia Tirian and his *gasp* UNICORN! but they were few and far between and could not make up for the lack of a proper story. It really makes me sad that such a world was imagined and it had to end this way. I'm glad I was prepared for it though, at least I was able to remove myself from it a bit and try and enjoy bits of it.