Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Read!!
Review: The first book in the series of The Chronicles of Narnia, The Magician's Nephew is an excellent fantasy that pulls the reader in from the first word! Lewis weaves a fantastic tale that weaves fantasy and reality splendidly. The reader is drawn into Lewis' world of fiction with an amazing ease. Part of the seven book series, The Magician's Nephew is an excellent beginning to what will certainly become a fascinating, enthralling series. Digory is a young boy who is upset because his mother is dying. When he meets Polly (his next door neighbor), he tells her about his mother and that he is staying next door with his spinster aunt and his bachelor Uncle Andrew so that they can take care of his mother. Polly and Digory soon become good friends and they discover a secret passageway that connects all of the attics in the houses on their row (in London). They stumble into the attic of Digory's Uncle Andrew and he tricks Polly into becoming part of an experiment for him. She puts on a yellow ring and travels to another world. Digory has no choice but to follow her when his Uncle Andrew tells him the secret of how to come back. Digory and Polly end up in the "Wood Between the Worlds," a type of portal to other places and times. Although Polly immediately wants to turn back, Digory convinces her to visit one of the other places first. They choose a pool of water that takes them to the deserted city of Charn, where they awaken Queen Jadis, an evil queen that is bent on leaving her own dead kingdom and conquering London. She attaches herself to Digory while they are trying to escape and they accidentally bring her back to London. Once there, she wreaks havoc on everyone and everything even though her magic powers are not as strong in this new world. Polly and Digory decide that they must return her to her world, so they travel back to the "Woods between the Worlds." Thinking that they have chosen the pool that leads to the city of Charn, they jump in only to find that they are in a new land and they experience the birth of the Land of Narnia. They experience everything to the birth of the sun and stars to the blessing of the first king and queen of Narnia. Digory is sent on a mission to retrieve the fruit of a special tree so that it may be planted in the center of Narnia to protect it from the Witch of Charn, who has hidden herself in the recesses of this new land. After being tempted to eat or [take] the fruit for himself, Digory brings the fruit to Aslan, the creator of Narnia, and he casts out the fruit so that it can grow into a tree. Aslan thanks Digory and tells him to take an apple from the tree and give it to his sick mother so that she might be saved. Polly and Andrew leave Narnia and Digory gives the fruit to his mother, who is healed. ...
Rating:
Summary: How it all began
Review: Though the Chronicles of Narnia are now being reissued in chronological order, rather than the order in which they were written and published. Whatever order you read them in, this book allows readers to see the origins of the magical land of Narnia, written in Lewis's increasingly subtle prose. Digory has been sent to live with his uncle in London, because his father is in India and his mother is terminally ill. There he encounters a girl called Polly, and the two begin exploring the attics of their houses... until they bump into Digory's Uncle Andrew, a rather minor magician. Polly unwittingly puts on one of the magical rings that Uncle Andrew has created, and is whisked into the strange Wood Between the Worlds. Digory follows to help her. But the children soon bump into a dying world called Charn, a ruined place. Only one person is left, a strange, frightening woman named Jadis, who follows the kids as they head back to Earth. Once there, she begins wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting London -- until they are whisked into an empty world that is slowly coming to life -- Narnia. One of the noticeable things, if you read the Narnia Chronicles in the order they were writtewn, is that Lewis gradually gets more subtle about his Christian allegory. Here he mixes equal parts of the ordinary and the extraordinary, the budding Narnia and decaying Charn with the ordinary turn-of-the-century London. The Christian influence is retained with Aslan singing Narnia into existance, and the peculiar apple scene. (When I first read that, I didn't make the connection) And Lewis does a good job of filling in the blanks, such as the question of where the lamppost came from, or where the humans in Narnia came from. Digory and Polly are the classic plucky British kids, with a bit of extra pathos in Digory's love for his mother. Uncle Andrew is evident of Lewis's thoughts on dabblers in the supernatural, a rather pitiful and cowardly guy with a big ego. The scene where the various Narnian animals try to figure out what to do with him is absolutely priceless. And Jadis's identity will become quite evident quickly. Whatever order you read the books in, "Magician's Nephew" is an enjoyable fantasy romp, cute and charming, sad and sweet. Fantasy fans: Go ahead and read!
Rating:
Summary: The Genesis of Narnia
Review: There has been much debate among Lewis aficiandos about the proper order of books in the Chronicles of Narnia. Should this be the first book, or should one start with "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"? Basically, it boils down to this: when you read the Bible for the first time, should you start in Genesis, or in the New Testament? If you would start in Genesis, start here in the Chronicles. Because here you read about the glorious creation of the land of Narnia. Other reviewers have outlined the plot of "The Magician's Nephew". Needless to say, this is a wonderful story for children and adults alike. Theologically-aware adults will have a field day here, as Aslan the Lion, the Christ figure of the series, here acts as creator. The passages concerning the creation of Narnia are breathtakingly wonderful. The talking animals are portayed in a lighthearted way as they adapt to a new world. The mundane and ordinary are given a vibrancy in this virgin land. Lewis' writing style is thoroughly delightful, and will be a joy for anyone who picks up this book. Others may disagree, but I say start with this book, where Narnia begins, in "The Magician's Nephew".
Rating:
Summary: Powerful Beginning to a Classic Series
Review: I am currently taking a class on C.S. Lewis in college, and what a wonderful experience it was to get to read this for the class. The Magician's Nephew works on multiple levels to entertain and enlighten the reader. The Magician's Nephew is about the birth of Narnia. In the story, Polly and Digory get sent into parallel worlds by their evil Uncle. This begins their adventures in which they meet and evil enchantress, view the creation of a new world, and witness the glory of Aslan. This novel is the beginning tale of the Narnia series telling of its founding by Aslan. The story is a quick-moving adventure with a lot of excitement and humor that anyone can enjoy. Also underneath the story there is so much Christian insight as here, Lewis retells the fall of man. The Magician's Nephew is a rollicking beginning to the series and even manages to be intellectually pleasing.
Rating:
Summary: The Keepers of the Rings
Review: The Chronicles of Narnia highlights the adventures of two kids, Digory and Polly as they use magical rings to discover new worlds. After using the rings for the first time, the children accidentally awaken the evil sorceress Jadis from a long slumber. She tries to conquer earth, but is stopped by Digory and Polly; as they take her away with the rings. Next, they all go to a very new world; in fact they see the birthing of it. This world is created by Aslan, a magical lion, and he starts organizing how the world should be run. He gives Digory a task to fetch a golden apple, and uses it to defend Narnia from Jadis. As the story closes, to Digory's delight, Aslan also gives him an apple to save his sick mother from death. I would recommend this book to children, and to some adults. The writing is most definitely geared towards children, but this series is another wonderful set of fiction that is told and represented as an epic. The story is imaginative, creative, and easily puts pictures in your mind. I thought that it was great.
Rating:
Summary: The outside world
Review: The Magician's Nephew is an excellent way of starting the wonderful series of The Chronicles of Narnia. This wonderful book is about two curios children named Digory and Polly. One day, they both crept curiosly through a tunnel where they ended up at a door which was a door that lead to Digorys' Uncle's Study room. When they were inside the room, they saw green rings and yellow rings. Suddenly Digory's uncle appeared. Both Polly and Digory wanted to leave because they suddenly felt a feeling that made them think magic was dealing with a project that uncle Andrew was trying to suceed.He found Polly looking at the rings so he gave one yellow one to her and gave one to Digory. Together they found a world(After going to a few other worlds) that was being born and Digory had happilly found a cure for his dieing mother. This book of adventure-fantasy is for all ages.
Rating:
Summary: Digory's Tale
Review: The novel The Magician's Nephew by C.S Lewis tells the journey of two young children that have magical rings to transport them to unknown and mysterious worlds. Digory and Polly are neighbors and best friends. One day they accidentally entered Digory's uncle's private room. Uncle Andrew showed the children his magical rings that can transport people to other worlds. The children try it out. They soon found themselves in a forest with pools that are entrances to different worlds. They find an evil witch that wants to go to earth and take over. After an awful seen back on earth they travel to another world. This is a newly developing world. Everying was growing out of the ground very rapidly. The children soon discover a lion that was the creator of this world. The lion then gave Digory a apple to cure his dieing mother. In this novel, C.S. Lewis includes numerous allusions of Christianity, which makes it a great book for anyone to learn about the creation of earth. I would definitely recommend this book to any age group. If you ever wonder about life outside of earth, this is a great book to explore your curiosity. If you are skeptical about science fiction books, I believe this novel will broaden your interest.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting book for all ages!
Review: The Magician's Nephew takes place in London, a very long ago. During that time lives a girl named Polly Plumber. She lives in row housing, and one day when she is in the garden, a grubby faced boy peers over the fence next door. Polly could tell that the boy had been crying which explains his dirty face. The boy tells her his name is Digory Kirke, and Polly laughed and made a few jokes, and he tells her that he is from a high-class area and he is required to come to this rotten place. He told Polly that his dad is in India, his mother is sick, and his uncle is mad. Digory explains that his Uncle Andrew is very odd, talks of strange things, and hears strange noises coming from his secret room at night. Very soon they begin to build a friendship. From then on, they went on several adventures because his crazy Uncle Andrew and his powerful rings, one including to Narnia. They meet several characters in each place they visit. In Narnia they they meet the Lion, and from him they learn many lessons about life, and they build a very strong relationship with eachother. I would recommend this book for anyone, any age, who likes adventure and fantasy. This book is very detailed, and creative. The characters are very real, especally Polly. Polly is very adventurous, like me. She never backs down on anything. Polly seems like a great person, and like any other child in that time period this book took place. If you like this book, than I deffinitly recommend reading the next book #2 in The Chronicels of Narnia, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. You'll love both!!
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL
Review: This book the magicians nephew is one of the best books I have read!! It is about two kids a girl and a boy who are creeping through the crawl space at the girls house when they find the magician! The magician is very nice at first but then he makes the children goto narnia! To find out what awsem adventures the children take part in buy this book! I recommend this book to most everyone who likes good books!
Rating: 
Summary: intro to narnia
Review: This book was originally written as a prequel, and is usually listed as the first book nowadays. It is a great introduction to the Narnia series. Digory's uncle, a magician, gives him and Polly rings which allow them to traverse between worlds, Narnia and Earth. In Narnia, they meet an evil queen, Jadis (if you've read "The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe", you might know her as the White Witch). Jadis follows them back into Earth, where she causes havoc. Digory and Polly then go on a quest to stop Jadis, revive Narnia, and make their world whole.
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