Rating: 
Summary: A Great Book!!
Review: This book is a true adventure for any child, even a child at heart.
I was sorry to read that the author died when I was 2,
but now that I know about these books the author will live on
forever for me.
The Magician's Nephew includes magic, mystery, adventure, and everything else that could keep a child glued to
the pages of a book.
I give this book 5 stars and recommend it to all
kids, young and old:)
Rating: 
Summary: We now return to the beginning. Even earlier, actually.
Review: In this prequel to the Chronicles of Narnia, we get to see everything from the origin of the lamp-post that Lucy encounters upon first enterting Narnia to the first appearance of Aslan, as he grants the animals of Narnia the gift of speech.
I strongly recommend that you not read this book until you have finished the first five volumes in the series. It is good as a stand-alone story, but the real magic is discovering the answers to questions that may have occured to you while reading the other books.
Digory and Polly find themselves in a nexus between worlds, and travel from our world to Narnia and back again. They also venture into other magical worlds, and inadvertently bring trouble home with them in the form of an angry goddess.
Digory is trying to help his sick mother, but also finds other demands being placed on him. As in all of the Narnia stories, great burdens are borne by young children, and only those who are up to the task at hand can find happiness.
This book is every bit as magical as the others, and also brings back a note of familiarity for those who became distressed when the original foursome became less prominnently featured. By returning to its roots, Lewis is able to both play on feelings of nostalgia, and to amaze us with the presentation of a creation myth as it happens.
Any fan of the series will remember this volume fondly, and will likely use this book as a springboard to begin rereading the earlier books. I can't recommend this book, or this series, more highly. It has earned and will continue to earn a palce in the hearts of children, and I can only hope that the upcoming big-budget movie will rejuvenate the series' popularity in the same way that the Lord of the Rings movies generated an interest in that series.
Rating:
Summary: What a great treat for children AND adults!
Review: A powerful story that will stregthen your love for God while you have fun reading about Polly and Digory's adventures. I read this for the first time as an adult and I highly recommend it to anyone who is entertained by fantasies and fairy tales. I liked it so much that I actually bought the whole set.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best book of the CON
Review: I finished this book some time ago. And at first I didn't like it, but this was just becuse of the wich going back and forth between the worlds. But once the children wen't into Narnia it relly got good!!! C.S.Lewis writes this book butifuly. The resond I knoked off a star is becuse of as i said before, them contenuing to go between the worlds.
Rating:
Summary: The magical story of the Magician's Nephew!
Review: I had never heard about `The Chronicles of Narnia' till some days ago. As I was browsing through Amazon.com Books section, I noticed this wonderful series, and after reading a brief review, immediately purchased the whole set.
"The Magician's Nephew" is the first book in the book, and a wonderful start to the series. The story starts off with Digory and Polly, two children who decide to peek into an abandoned house next to Digory's house. When they accidentally stumble into someone else's room, their adventure into another world begins.
The story of `The Magician's Nephew' is filled with magic and excitement that will make a person of any age interested in it right from the start. C. S. Lewis uses simple words that makes reading the story simple and keeps the reader engrossed in it. The story is fast-paced without a dull moment, and indirectly delivers a profound message in the end that is very thought-provoking.
I am off to read the next book of the series, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" where I can enter a world where horses can fly, where animals can talk, where life is born and where the excitement never ends. Read this book today and enter the world of Narnia, where you will soon forget about all your worries.
Rating:
Summary: The beginning of the Chronicles...and Narnia
Review: I have to admit that this is my first time reading the Chronicles of Narnia, so I'm starting with the renumbered series."The Magician's Nephew" is the story of Digory and Polly, a boy and girl thrust from their London neighborhood into the Wood Between the Worlds by way of magic rings developed by Digory's Uncle Andrew. Digory accidentally wakes the evil Queen Jadis and the children bring her back to London, where she begins to wreak havoc before they can get her back into the Wood. They also bring Uncle Andrew, a cabby and a horse named Strawberry. They go to another world and witness a type of genesis, as a new world is born, called Narnia, with the lion Aslan as its king. Digory must go on a quest for a silver apple and return with it to Narnia. I won't spoil the rest. The story begins as a fantastical fairy tale, and even though it's a children's book, there is a lot of depth for grown up children. As the land of Narnia unfolds, there are a lot of biblical currents, such as Aslan the creator, Jadis the temptress and the silver apples as the focal point of healing and knowledge. It's a fun story, rich in dialogue and description, but well-paced and orchestrated and worth repeated reading.
Rating:
Summary: The Narnian Genesis
Review: It's about the turn of the twentieth century, and Digory Kirke is not having much of a time. He's had to move away from the country into the drab, grey cobbled world of London. His father is away, his mother is on her deathbed with illness and his creepy Uncle Andrew lives up in his wardrobe, mysteriously busy. He finds a friend in Polly, his girl next door, and she shows him to her attic, where a door leads to the rooves of all the houses on their terrace. They go along it, hoping to investigate an empty house down the road, but instead find themselves in Uncle Andrew's laboratory. He locks them in and forces them to partake in his experiments. By Atlantean magic, Uncle Andrew has made rings that can transport a person into other worlds. Digory and Polly are whisked away, which sets off an exciting chain of events and adventures.
"The Magician's Nephew" is a tale revealing how Narnia came to be, one of the most loved by fans. We learn of the origins of the Witch, and of the Wardrobe. The Lion, however, is kept just as majestic and mysterious as ever, which is just as well really. One thing I would have liked to have known more about Aslan is his father, the mysterious "Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea". He is mentioned once or twice in the other books (by the beavers in Chapter 8 of "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe", for instance). Nothing much comes of him, and sometimes I wonder whether C.S. Lewis forgot he'd mentioned him.
With so many explanations and imaginative extensions of logic (the rings, the wood between the worlds, etc), some of the writing here verges on science fantasy, which is something of a change of pace from the other books.
The characterizations are pretty good, some of the best in the series, I thought. I love the dialogue between Digory and Polly, that love-hate kind of relationship that kids sometimes have with each other. Uncle Andrew, the mad scientist "magician" of sorts, is delightfully melodramatic too, as is Jadis, the White Witch. She's pretty sinister in parts too.
C.S. Lewis was a committed Christian, and his beliefs shine through in all his work. There's a lot of Christian allegory in the Chronicles of Narnia, for instance. In "The Magician's Nephew", I think it's more of an eloborated parallel (to the Biblical Genesis), rather than a specific allegory. The descriptions of the creation of Narnia are vivid and resonant, catching the imagination as only C.S. Lewis can. Another Christian element Lewis does explore is the nature of temptation - how a person falls for it, how strong it can get, and how a person can resist it. He does this quite well, using words in such a way you can feel the struggles of the person tempted. He explores similar themes in "The Silver Chair".
Pauline Baynes provides illustrations for this book, as she does througout all the series. I'm particularly fond of her pictures in "The Magician's Nephew". She captures the feel of both turn of the century London and of a newly born world very well.
Though "The Magician's Nephew" is the first chronologically, it was actually one of the last written, the sixth. It's definitely a book that can stand on its own, however, and be read first in the series. I think, though, that you get a lot more from it if you've read the ones that were written before it. It gives a lot of things away and it takes a lot of the surprise and the wonder out as you read on (especially from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"). I like to think of it more as a belated prequel rather than an official beginning. I've been reading the books in the order they were written, and it's quite interesting that way. You can see how Narnia develops. Like, I've noticed that from "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" onwards, Lewis is expanding his world. In "Voyage" (1952), he explores the east, in "The Silver Chair" (1953) he explores the north (and the underground), in "The Horse and His Boy" (1954) he explores the south and here in "The Magician's Nephew" (1955) the west of Narnia is used. Whichever way you read the series, it is bound to be enjoyable.
Highly recommended for fantasy lovers.
Rating:
Summary: Very nearly the best of the series
Review: Reading The Magician's Nephew to my five year old son, we encountered the same kind of wonder that we enjoyed with the first in the Narnia series, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The strength of this book is the portrayal, even more developed than in the previous Narnia works, of Aslan the Great Lion as the ultimate good, the Creator, the Song Made Flesh, the God who became a Beast for our sakes...you get the idea. Lewis seems to have tapped into something true and beautiful, especially in the narrative of how Aslan brought Narnia into being, and also how He deals with human sin and tragedy. Spellbinding for the 46 year old, moving and beneficial for the five year old. Highly, highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: best in the series
Review: The Lion the witch and the wardrobe was one of those books that I loved at the beginning, but got bogged down as it progressed, leaving me with a unsatisfactory end. The magician's nephew does not suffer from this problem at all. At a young age I was spellbound by this story, written both simply and beautifuly. I never tire of this book, and I have read it, without exaggerating, at least 20 times. The story is captivating, and there is a sense of interconnectedness and backstory that makes for a rich world presented in the book. If you read one book from the narnia series, read this one, you won't reget it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Magician's Nephew
Review: The Magician's Nephew is a great start for Chronicles of Narnia. Two children, Digory and Polly, get rings from Digory's uncle. He gives them rings which give them the power to travel to different worlds and travel home again. They travel to lots of different worlds and have many different adventures. In one of the worlds they find an evil queen called Jadis who follows them back home. Polly and Digory take the queen to a different world where they meet a lion called Aslan and many different talking animals. Digory and Polly then have to go and get an apple to protect Narnia from the queen. Digory takes one apple back home to his dying mother. When Digory gives the apple to his mother she is cured. Digory buried the apple core and magic rings in his backyard. You will have to read the book to find out what happens. This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It makes you feel like you are in the adventures with the characters. I would recommend this book to anybody that can read. This adventure-fantasy is for people of all ages. I like the way it leads into the next book.
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