Rating: Summary: Slightly below par ending, for an Excellent series of books Review: "The Last Battle", the final book in the Narnia series is a conclusive ending to a marvelous set of adventures. In the time of greatest need and facing an encroaching fear in Narnia that Aslan has turned cruel and unloving, Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole arrive to rescue the Narnia King Tirian from his captors. Together they attempt to unmask the fraudulent Aslan, restore peace in the land, and rid it of invading Calormenes. In their efforts, they discover the disillusionment of certain Narnians, especially the Dwarfs, over the existence of a real Aslan. Then, after giving a last-stand fight, they find themselves having passed from death into eternal life in Aslan's country. There they sadly observe the ending of the world of Narnia, but find great joy in their far superior eternal home with Aslan and all his faithful followers. Here it is necessary to point out a startling departure from Lewis' Christian imagery throughout the series. While the allegories to Christianity abound in the Last Battle, Lewis strikes a decidedly unorthodox note, when a worshipper and follower of the evil, and false god Tash is granted entrance into Aslan's country (Lewis' analogy for heaven) because of his sincere and dedicated service to Tash. This is clearly not reflective of Christianity, as Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation (Acts 4:12). Further, salvation does not rest on our good intentions or sincerity, misguided or not(Eph 2:8-9), but rather on Christ's death and resurrection (purely grace) for us. While it may be tempting to buy into a more universally inclusive plan of salvation such as described here by Lewis, the Bible offers no such promise. Instead there is a sure promise of forgiveness and salvation for all who believe in Jesus Christ. Aside from this, the characters of "The Last Battle" are less charming or memorable than those of his other books, and the storyline is thinner. While I would definitely recommend reading this book as the conclusion of the series, I would advise the readers to be aware of the above-stated problems. My personal favorite of the series is the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Rating: Summary: 'The Last Battle'--Brilliant or Confusing? Review: I have read all the other Narnia books over and over again, and loved them each time. But I only just now finished reading 'The Last Battle' though my dad tried to read it to me once when I was younger. As a seven-year-old I hated it--now I can appreciate it more. 'The Last Battle' is about how the wonderful world of Narnia finally comes to an end, but Aslan, the golden lion who created Narnia long ago, leads his people to an even better place. This truly is a great book, but it can be pretty confusing for yound readers! For anyone who has read 'The Magician's Nephew' 'The Horse and His Boy' 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' 'Prince Caspian' 'The Dawntreader' and 'The Silver Chair' this is a must-read, because the Chronicles of Narnia isn't complete without it. I still wouldn't incluse it on my list of favorite books, though.
Rating: Summary: The Beginning of the End Review: ... A monkey named Shift has an evil plot to trick everyone into thinking the donkey, Puzzle, is the lion Aslan by making Puzzle wear a lion's skin. Shift fooled them and everyone started doing what Shift said because he said Aslan told him to order it to be done. Shift did horrible things and a lot of the animals were forced to do things they didn't want to do. King Tirian and the children Jill and Scrubb, who were from England, figured out the donkey was pretending to be Aslan, and forgave him because he didn't know what he was doing was wrong. The children helped the king in planning how to inform the other people and animals that Sift was a fake. They go through all sorts of obstacles and in the end... well, you have to read the book to find out the ending. This book was wonderful and made me sad that it was the last book in the series, but the way it ended was satisfying. The story progressed fairly rapidly toward the climax, but I sometimes wished the author would give more details in some scenes, but it was still delightful to read anyway. The sequence and flow of this book was also fairly good. The subject of this series of stories has always appealed to me. This story had a range of many feelings. Sometimes it was sad, exciting and sometimes it was happy. It was sad when the animals were being forced to work long hours like slaves and when some creatures died. On the other hand it was comforting when Jill and Scrubb came to help the king battle the evil in Narnia. Through the whole book I couldn't ever be sure what the ending would be so that was exciting too. I would strongly recommend this book to children or anyone who loves fantasies. It's easy to read, but to enjoy this book fully you have to read all the books in the series because this is the last book and you won't fully understand all the good parts.
Rating: Summary: When is a children's book not a children's book? Review: People frequently make the mistake of considering any book that is about children, is written in a style that is accessible to children, or told in a narrative voice that is speaking as to children to be a "children's book" and dismissing it as irrelevant to adults. When they do so, they miss out on some of the most enjoyable reading experiences available. This book falls into that category, as do the rest of the books in the Narnia series, "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkein, and "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll, among many others. Furthermore, not only is this book one of the most enjoyable reading experiences available, it is also one of the most thought-provoking. All of the Narnia books are thinly-veiled allegories for Christian philosophy; the lessons that this book has to teach -- that not every action that is done in the name of God is done by his will, that it is the responsibility of every thinking adult to judge for themselves whether the person invoking the name of God is doing God's will, and that it is critical not to accept the judgement of others if what is being demanded in the name of God seems to be evil -- are lessons that everyone, young and old, needs to be reminded of on a regular basis.
Rating: Summary: The Last Battle Review: The last and perhaps the most mysterious of The Chronicles tells how a simple-minded donkey called Puzzle and a scheming ape named Shift set in motion the final days of Narnia. The many good and brave Narnians fight fiercely under their leader, King Tirian, but in spite of their courage and determination, the end of Narnia is very close. It is then that the real Aslan summons Eustace and Jill, the children from our world, to defend Narnia at the last and most desperate battle.
Rating: Summary: The Last Battle,the greatest book ever Review: What makes a good book?A good book certainly must encapture it's reader.Interesting plot and writer's wisdom are also a must for a good book.I am sure that many books now meet that criteria but what makes The Last Battle exeptional along with other narnian books is the feeling of seeing a movie-when you read you don't see words or pictures you just see the images in your head. But every book is special even among the similar ones with it's own piquancy. The Last Battle is unique not only because it is the final book of the series and is considered as a must for narnian readers but because C.S.Lewis came up here with his own vision of Heaven and Hell.The Last Battle also unlike other narnian books is strongly connected with them-it makes the book even more interesting to read. Returning to the question of reading order-before reding this book I suggest to read again,if you follow editor's reading order,The Magician's Nephew-it won't spoil your reading,but will make it the other way round-richer and more deeper.Why? Well,you see,it's because Lewis written The Magician's Nephew just before The Last Battle and he had,I think, his own reason for that-to emphasize on his opinion on christianity-to compare the Birth of the World and The Apocalypse. And now for the drawback of this wonderful book-it's rather not a drawback but all the same not a plus either-to understand to the full meaning of The Last Battle you have to read it a few times along with other books. So you see this book is with double sense-it provides long hours of pure entertainment for kids and more deeper reading for adults. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Rating: Summary: wondrous magic Review: I laughed, I cried; don't wait. Read this book. It is one of the most striking books for both children and adults wanting to taste the innocence of their youth. Adventure, courage, sadness and breathtaking writing fills the book. The scenes of courage in the battle scene are some of the most touching I have ever read. ...
Rating: Summary: The Bloodiest Battle Review: I recomand this book or people who like blood and people who like animals. This book shows team work though peoople and animals. It also is a party for all the animals.It really follows all of the books and it makes a good ending for the sereos.
Rating: Summary: The Last Battle,besst book ever written Review: THE LAST BATTLE is undoubtedly the best book ever written in Narnia series,for not only it won The Carnegie Medal for 1956 but is a wonderful ending to the series.This book is striking, dramatic and very touching.I recommend reading the book for it shows how a mere disbelief could lead to death and on the other hand strong service to God you belief and always have can lead to immortality and life in Heaven.It also shows that even a person of an absolutely different life can be brought together with the Narnians and Aslan because of his deep belief in Tash. In the book you can see eternity of every honest soul which finishes Lewis' conseptm of Christianity. The Last Battle echoes with the other books and that makes the book even more enjoyable to read.And here you can see how Susan's disbelief in Aslan in Prince Caspian turned into "Susan is no longer a friend of Narnia".Though with all wonders of The Last Battle the book can bring a terrible shock to someone who especially liked the children because they are all killed in a railway crash.I know because the same thing happend to me when I came to the last lines of the book.All the same anyone who liked the series must read this book for no having read The Last Battle means having wasted your time.
Rating: Summary: SERIOUSLY FLAWED Review: THE LAST BATTLE is the most heavy-handed of Lewis's wonderful Narnia books. Here his Christian agenda gets in the way of his story. The book is overly violent...racist (all that talk about "white Narnians" and those "evil" dark-skinned Colormenes)...and the greatest crime of all? Leaving poor Susan behind while the rest of her family skips off into Eternal Bliss in Narnia! And what was her terrible crime? Apparently, being a teenager and forgetting her adventures. Excuse me, but what happened to "Once a friend of Narnia, always a friend of Narnia..."? And yes, it's nice to know we'll all be happy in Heaven one day, but KILLING OFF all those children? A bit extreme...and my poor daughter still hasn't gotten over it. All that said, the book is as well-written as the rest...the writing at the end is especially beautiful...but it certainly lacks the charm of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE and THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW (to name two). Well worth reading, certainly, but seriously flawed.
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