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A review by dullshimmer
The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
3.0
As I've been going through the Narnia series and reviewing their books, I have said that they have never been my favorite series. There are some high points (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Silver Chair) but the series overall is good enough, but just not one I would could a favorite. The Last Battle gets the title of least favorite Narnia book.
The tone is just off for the whole book with maybe the exception of the last chapter (which still has some issues). Most of the book is either very gloomy and dark with little hope or read more like a treatise on the afterlife rather than a children's story. Lewis has some interesting ideas in both the story and the more informational parts, but they just didn't much feel like a Narnia story overall.
I know a lot of people talk about Lewis' treatment of Susan, but honestly he's been a bit anti-Susan for awhile. She was a bit boy crazy in A Horse and His Boy which is what led to a good deal of trouble, not very nice in Prince Caspian and then the final comments on her here. Now I'm not sure that he did a good turn to Susan, but I don't think this statement comes out of nowhere either. The fact that nobody is too worked up over it is a bit more of an issue in my mind.
There were things I did like about the book though. I quite liked Tirian and Jewel and thought they were good characters in a rather gloomy story. I also thought that Shift was a rather interesting villain at first, but then kind of dropped off into buffoonery. The Calormenes weren't a bad backup, but we kind of see Lewis using some descriptions that haven't aged well to put it mildly.
The last chapter was probably my favorite in the book. Having everyone reunite with characters from previous books was an enjoyable thing to read through. Unfortunately the chapter didn't quite stick the landing.
Overall, I just felt this lacked the tone of the previous Narnia books, and not in a good way. There were also a number of chapters where it felt like Lewis was simply trying to teach about his ideas on the afterlife. These things are interesting but feel very out of place and doesn't really make for good storytelling. It winds up making it a very so-so kind of book and last place in terms of the Narnia books in my opinion.
The tone is just off for the whole book with maybe the exception of the last chapter (which still has some issues). Most of the book is either very gloomy and dark with little hope or read more like a treatise on the afterlife rather than a children's story. Lewis has some interesting ideas in both the story and the more informational parts, but they just didn't much feel like a Narnia story overall.
I know a lot of people talk about Lewis' treatment of Susan, but honestly he's been a bit anti-Susan for awhile. She was a bit boy crazy in A Horse and His Boy which is what led to a good deal of trouble, not very nice in Prince Caspian and then the final comments on her here. Now I'm not sure that he did a good turn to Susan, but I don't think this statement comes out of nowhere either. The fact that nobody is too worked up over it is a bit more of an issue in my mind.
There were things I did like about the book though. I quite liked Tirian and Jewel and thought they were good characters in a rather gloomy story. I also thought that Shift was a rather interesting villain at first, but then kind of dropped off into buffoonery. The Calormenes weren't a bad backup, but we kind of see Lewis using some descriptions that haven't aged well to put it mildly.
The last chapter was probably my favorite in the book. Having everyone reunite with characters from previous books was an enjoyable thing to read through. Unfortunately the chapter didn't quite stick the landing
Spoiler
since Aslan shows up and simply tells the children they're really dead. The EndOverall, I just felt this lacked the tone of the previous Narnia books, and not in a good way. There were also a number of chapters where it felt like Lewis was simply trying to teach about his ideas on the afterlife. These things are interesting but feel very out of place and doesn't really make for good storytelling. It winds up making it a very so-so kind of book and last place in terms of the Narnia books in my opinion.