The Last Battle

The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia #7) by CS Lewis 

211 pages  

Fiction - Children's Literature 

A fitting last book for the chronicles of Narnia! So much happened in this book, it is hard to summarize or comprehensively review here. CS Lewis takes readers on his most epic journey in this final book.

*** Spoilers Below ***
Published in 1956 - one year after the Narnia prequel (book #1). This book had a very mature tone - for middle school children or older only! It draws on the story lines established in the prequel along with the other Narnia books to circle back to the beginning of Narnia. We see many of the major characters briefly again.

The story opens with a clever/bad Ape named Shift and a dumb/simple Donkey named Puzzle. The ape finds an old lion skin and instructs the donkey to dress up like Aslan, so that people will obey them. The real Aslan has not been seen in over 3 generations in Narnia and the animals do not know the difference, especially from a distance. The ape claims he wants to use Narnian resources and labor to better Narnia, but he really wants power and riches.

The ape begins to exploit the Narnians' belief and trust in Aslan for his own ends. He eventually makes a secret deal with bad men of Calormen to sell them Narnian labor and resources. He also claims the Calormen's evil god Tash is just another name for Aslan. The men and animals in power do not believe in any gods, but make claims about the renamed "Tashlan" to abuse and control the others. The creatures of Narnia struggle with the question of who is the true Aslan/god, or if there is really any god at all.

King Tirian (the last king of Narnia) and his faithful unicorn friend Jewel are aided by Eustace and Jill as they struggle against this. They fight nobly to the end (lots of great quotes about bravely giving your life in battle!) but realize that the Narnian world is ending. A noble death is seen as their final reward. By the end of the book, the major characters are dead and get to be with Aslan in his country (heaven) forever.

Recommended For: Middle school children and older (mature themes include death & heaven). Narnian fans seeking the ultimate adventure.