The Silver Chair

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Summary: Azlan sends two children off to rescue Prince Rilian
Review: "The Silver Chair" is the four and final adaptation of one of The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, although I am surprised that this series was not able to complete the entire set of novels In this story Eustace Scrubb (David Thwaites) is being tormented at school and while looking for a place to hide from the bullies ends up entering the magical world of Narnia from a garden shed, along with another persecuted classmate, Jill Pole (Camilla Power). There Aslan gives them the task of rescuing Prince Rilian, the stolen son of King Caspian. This requires them to travel, along with Puddleglum the Marshwiggle (Tom Baker), north to the Deep Lands of the underworld belonging to the Green Lady (Barbara Kellerman). There they meet the Black Knight, who is under the enchantment of the evil Green Lady, who tortures him in a Silver Chair that sends him into a terrifying rage.

By the time you get to "The Silver Chair" you have either accepted the limited special effects of this production or not. Yes, the animatronics of Aslan are almost unbelievably simplistic, but the kids always talk to him like he was a real lion and ruler of Narnia and that is all that really matters in the end. The costumes and sets are pretty good and above all the story is faithful to the Lewis narrative. One of the things I enjoyed most about the "The Silver Chair" is the way that Lewis elegantly works in Christian elements into the story. Azlan works hard to have Jill learn a series of signs, by which she and Eustace will be able to achieve their goal. However, Jill has problems remembering the signs and Eustace does not really seem up to the challenge. Then again, most great children's literature works on two levels, although clearly "The Silver Chair" and the other chronicles will appeal more to the kids, which is fine, because that is really who they were intended for even though they are arguably too good for the little ones.

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Summary: More of the same from Narnia - which is not a bad thing
Review: Another installment in the classic children's series The Narnia Chronicles, "The Silver Chair" continues the pattern of presenting stand-alone stories that work within a grander story arc. Also like previous installments, "The Silver Chair" brings back familiar characters while also introducing new cast members, lending the story an air of familiarity while still remaining fresh.

In this installment Eustace, the ill-mannered lad who learned the error of his ways in "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," along with his schoolmate, Jill, pair up for adventure. While fleeing bullies at their school - a progressive and modern (for its time) institution that Lewis openly and repeatedly scorns - Eustace and Jill find themselves thrown into the world of Narnia. Once there, Aslan gives Jill a series of vague instructions to follow during their adventure.

Eustace and Jill find themselves on a quest to find the lost Prince Rillian, the son of King Caspian (who in this tale makes two brief cameos as an old man). They team up with Puddleglum, a gloomy a creature called a Marsh-Wiggle who always sees the down side of things. Together, the three go in search of the Prince.

The setup tells the reader right off what sort of story it will be: a traveling adventure in which the group works through a series of dangerous situations and visits new and strange lands. The story takes a few chapters to get moving properly, shortening the main quest; there are only three or so key locations. Still, those locations are a mix of classic genre archetypes and fantastic settings. For an important segment of the story - a castle of giants - genre archetypes rule the day.

"Silver Chair," though it visits places in Narnia not previously seen, feels less epic than previous installments. However, a glimpse of a greater and more wondrous world near the end helps alleviate that failing.

The character of Jill undergoes almost the same transformation that Eustace did in "Voyage," while Eustace himself plays the role that Edmund, Peter and the gang did in earlier books. That's not altogether bad, but it's not altogether good, either, especially if you are reading the whole series straight through. because Jill's transformation immediately follows Eustace's.

All in all, "The Silver Chair" is not as engaging as others in the series, with a loose plot tied together largely by a "you must trust Aslan" theme, but does not fall nearly as flat as "Caspian." For a good stretch the story moves along at a brisk pace and offers a playful series of adventures, delivering just the sort of engaging story that makes the Narnia Chronicles such a beloved series. Sure it suffers from too slow a start and too slow a finish, both which drag the story down, but at its core it's more of the same from Narnia. And that's not a bad thing at all.

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Summary: A great movie
Review: Back at school, Eustace finds that he no longer fits in with the people he once considered friends. When he helps Jill Pole escape from the bullies, they find a doorway that takes them to Aslan. Aslan has a special job for Jill, she must rescue Prince Rilian, the long-lost son of the venerable King Caspian. With the help of Puddleglum (played by Tom Baker, the 4th Doctor Who!), the two children set off on an adventure. [Color, originally aired in 1990, with a running time of 2 hours.]

This movie (actually two television episodes) is based on the fourth book of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, and (unfortunately) is the last in the series made by the B.B.C. The production is excellent, with the special effects being even better than those of the earlier shows. The story is grittier, reflecting a darker, harsher story than the previous ones. As such, my children did not quite like it as much as those earlier ones.

However, it still was a great movie, and I enjoyed sharing the Christian symbolism that I saw throughout the movie. We all really liked this movie, and highly recommend it.

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Summary: This is BOOK FOUR, not BOOK FIVE: DON'T BE DECEIVED
Review: Beware! The evil, foul-minded people who are publishing these works (The Chronicles of Narnia) have profaned the fantastic writing of C.S. Lewis by rearranging the order of the seven books so as to confuse the reader and steal away some of the magic and wonder by imposing it in a chronological order rather than the artistic one in which it was rendered. Is the horrible time witch at play again or it could be that rascal Screwtape at work? I shake my head sadly at the poor folk who will read these books in the wrong order, actually thinking that perhaps the author meant for them to read Volume Six first. Yes, of course these books come highly recommended but I think it is most important to stress that they should be read in the proper order, which is as follows: 1. The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe 2. Prince Caspian 3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 4. The Silver Chair 5. The Horse and His Boy 6. The Magician's Nephew 7. The Last Battle Please, do yourself a favor, if you are reading these books for the first time, read them in the right order.

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Summary: A classic story and a spiritual allegory
Review: If you have not read any of CS Lewis classic book series about Narnia, please do so. The stories are wonderfully written and will engage you like few other works. Part spiritual allegory and part fantasy and adventure, these stories are timeless.

My personal favorite of the 7 stories is this one: The Silver Chair. Starting with the unexpected trip into Narnia, the story involves the search for a missing prince and a dangerous and exciting journey to find him. While the plot is quickly engaging and always enjoyable, even after dozens of readings, in this story Lewis uses some of the most powerful of Christian allegories to depict faith, deception, and courage. Choices made along the way are often disastrous and are the result of convenience and comfort over faith. Truly a sound statement into our own journeys, and a spiritual struggle depicted accurately.

I will not spoil the plot, but if you have not enjoyed this series, pick up any of the seven books, or better yet get them all at once. The story starts either with "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" which was the first published, or "The Magician's Nephew" which is chronologically the first. Either way, you won't be disappointed. Next to "The Silver Chair", I also found "The Horse and His Boy" and "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" to be absolute classics.

Buy this series, and enjoy one of the true treasures in literature from a fabulous writer, the world renowned CS Lewis.

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Summary: Prince Rilian, Lost Forever or Found
Review: The book The Silver Chair, by C. S. Luis is a great adventure story that is part of a seven-book series. The story has two main characters; Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole. Eustace Scrubb is a schoolboy who goes to school at the Experiment House with Jill. He has actually been in Narnia before with his cousins; Lucy and Edmund. Jill Pole gets bullied around a lot at school, and didn't believe Eustace at first when he was trying to tell her about Narnia.
The book starts off at the Experiment House with Jill hiding behind a curtain crying because the bullies won't leave her alone. Eustace finds her and tells her about Narnia and how they might be able to get back there. At first Jill didn't believe him. Then bullies came in the room looking for her, so the made a dash for a door that isn't usually open but they tried it anyway because it was their only way of escape. To their surprise, the door was open, but not leading outside the school, but instead to Narnia.
Before I start telling you about Narnia and what happened there; I must give you some background information. The was a queen of Narnia (she was married to King Caspian the 10th) and she had a son named Prince Rilian. One day the queen and prince were out on a walk with some others. The queen was tired and decided to go asleep on the grass. The prince, not wanting to wake her, went off just a little way (so he could still see her) to play. After a little while they saw a green worm crawl out from the wood and bite her. The prince ran after the worm, but it got away. After a few minutes the queen was dead. After that the prince devoted his life to finding the worm and avenging it. After months of looking one of a lord suggested he stop looking for the worm. Prince Rilian told him for the past couple of weeks he no longer searched for the worm, but visited a lady in secret. The lord came with him one day and to his surprise, the lady was in the same spot where his mom died. She was a beautiful woman dressed all in green. The lord decided not to tell anyone because he thought there was no harm in it. The next day, the prince never returned from his journey.
They stepped into Narnia and found they were on the edge of a cliff. Eustace was afraid of heights and just stood there in shock. When he got away from the edge, Jill walked up even closer to the edge, trying to show off, and found she couldn't move and almost fell of the edge but Eustace saved her, and while doing so fell off the edge himself! The next thing Jill knew she was lying down in the same spot with a huge lion (Aslan, the 'Jesus' of Narnia) next to her blowing at something. Then she was Eustace floating, getting higher and farther away from her. She was terrified and very thirsty. Aslan soon left and she found her strength again to lift her-self up to go find some water. She finally found a stream, but Aslan was lying next to it. He said to her, "If you are thirsty, come and drink." She was to petrified to move, but eventually found her courage to go get a drink. He told her he needed her help. She was to, along with Eustace, find the lost Prince Rilian. He gave her signs and directions to recognize the prince; "First; as soon as the Boy Eustace sets foot in Narnia, he will meet an old and dear friend. He must greet that friend at once; if he does, you will both have good help. Second; You must journey out of Narnia to the north till you come to a ruined city of ancient giants. Third; you will find writing on a stone in that ruined city, and you must do what the writing tells you. Fourth; You will know the lost prince (if you find him) by this, that he will be the first person you have met in your travels who will ask you to do something in my name, in the name of Aslan."
Aslan soon blew her to where Eustace landed, and shortly afterwards, and owl came to them and told Trumpkin, the dwarf in charge, that they were there. He gave them good beds, food, ands baths. Jill was just about to go to bed when the same owl (Glimfeather) came tapping on her window and told her he would help them as much as the owls could, then went to tell Eustace the same. Glimfeather flew them both to the owls' meeting spot and got help from another owl to fly them to a Puddleglum's house.
Puddleglum is a marsh-wiggle, which is kind of like a very gloomy person, who always looks at the downside of things. He travels with them their whole journey. They started their journey north the next day. After a couple days of walking they came across what at first looked like boulders, then Jill noticed how they might look kind of like giants at night, then one moved. After a while they came to a bridge and decided to cross it. While they were crossing it they met a beautiful woman dressed in green riding along with a knight. She recommended the gentle giants' city near by to lodge in. After some arguing, they decided to take her advice.
When they arrived they were welcomed and treated nicely. Puddlegum tried to stay on the look out, but he got a little drunk and barely even knew who he was. It turned out the giants actually wanted to eat them, and kept them there for the Autumn Feast coming up. Will they ever escape? If they do, will they find Prince Rilian? To find out read the book The Silver Chair.