Reviews with content warning for Animal death - The Last Battle

Here we are. The closing chapter. The final story. The Last Battle.

In slightly less poetic words, no matter which reading order you use, this is the 7th and concluding installment of The Chronicles of Narnia.

It's been hundreds of years since Eustace and Jill freed Prince Rillian from the Emerald Witch and now, in the far western lands of Narnia, rumors are spreading that the lion has returned. But this version of Aslan is very different from the one in the old stories, and when King Tirian tries to put things right, he finds himself in the midst of a battle for the minds and souls of Narnia - one that might be a lost cause.

This story was my favorite of the series as a child, and reading it again, it's easy to see why. It's the darkest of the Chronicles with character deaths and destruction of familiar sites from other books abounding. I also loved the mythological, epic tone of the last few chapters. To say too much would spoil the story, but suffice to say that the series ends with a bang that is likely to stick with readers, especially young ones. Some of the metaphors became more obvious as an adult, which, again, without spoilers, involve false prophets and cult leaders, the importance of not blindly following mortal religious leaders, and the variety of human reactions to fear and uncertainty.

The book isn't perfect, though. First, like several of the books in this series, it takes a while to really get going and even when it does, the pacing is a bit uneven. Second, while I didn't find the depictions of the Calormines to be that bad overall in The Horse and His Boy, there's definitely some uncomfortable racial overtones in a few scenes (the brownface-as-disguise scene and the dialogue surrounding it in particular), even if Lewis pulls of a bit of a saving throw later on with a Calormine character who puts in a brief but meaningful appearance to improve matters. It doesn't dominate the book, but it definitely merits a heads up.

I feel like I would be remiss to conclude this review without mentioning the Susan Problem that so many other reviews here and elsewhere have covered. I don't think this is the place for getting into it, but my take is that the most common complaints require a bad-faith interpretation of the text and that in context, it is fairly clear that Susan's problem is not "femininity" but "holding fleeting social popularity as the ultimate goal in life".

Overall, while not as technically brilliant and perhaps no longer my favorite, The Last Battle is a book that managed to get me to tear up reading it even now and provides a satisfying conclusion for the series, and really, that's all I could ask for.

Content Warnings

esme_may's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

This book was so unbelievably racist. It deals with the Calormenes very badly and constantly presents Asian as the ‘right’ god to believe in. It only manages to be better than The Horse and His Boy by not being painfully boring

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sarah_speaks's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Content Warnings

solouncapitulomas's review against another edition

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fast-paced

0.5

as I previously said I had a feeling that after the third book it was about to go downhill and it definitely did, what the actual fuck? the amount of things that are wrong with this book make me want to barf and I am sorry I ever considered bunny the worst book of the year for this one has earned the throne (I will now proceed to read some nice Christmas smut by Tessa Bailey so I can cleanse the palate, okay?) my childhood is ruined if you really want to "enjoy Narnia" just go and watch the movies with the hot ben barnes and do not waste your time reading this bullshit I do not have the mental stability to sit here and write all that is wrong with this book so I will leave you a review I think summed it up pretty well:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/136675627?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1

Content Warnings