Prince Caspian

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After The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe this was the next book to be adapted and thrown into Disney’s Chronicles of Narnia trilogy. It occurred to me –reading this book- that this must have been something of a feat for the writers because Prince Caspian has to be the most simple –of the ones I’ve read- books of the series.

The fourth book in the series Prince Caspian chronicles the story of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy’s sudden return to Narnia after centuries to come to the aid of young Prince Caspian. Narnia is a war-torn land ruled by a treacherous usurper who would kill his own nephew than see him claim his right to the throne. Hunted, Prince Caspian has joined the ranks of Old Narnians –magical beings forced into hiding by Men- and plans to take back the throne and restore Narnia to its peaceful and magical glory days.

Despite beginning with the four child stars of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe mysteriously turning up in Narnia again, providing a two chapter back story to who Caspian is and how Narnia became the way it is now, and then turning into one giant battle –in which the drama is less dramatic given that you know no one good can die- Prince Caspian is the weakest of the Narnia books that I’ve come across. Coming from The Horse and His Boy, which had a surprising amount of depth and complexity in it, this book is a sharp return to the shallow, family-friendly fantasy tone of the first two books –despite harbouring more violence and gore.

Being a slim book like its predecessors, Prince Caspian suffers from having a titular character, but not having enough space to devote to him and his background and make him as deep and well-rounded a character as one would like. As the children of the previous book have grown older –and Caspian is meant to be about Peter’s age- the theme of children and innocent heroes has become a little unstable and it felt that Caspian –being more of a grown up character written in to this fantasy world that only young children can truly appreciate- didn’t have any depth or dimension to his character at all.

Image credit: Patheos

In something of a reflection to this the more adult scenes of the book – the battles and combat challenges- did not have the same excitement and vim as those in the second book and I think that comes from them being a little more adult and not translating as well in the simple, family-friendly way that Lewis writes. Harry Potter grew with its initial readership and the books became longer, darker, and more challenging as its readers grew older, whereas The Chronicles of Narnia –despite following characters that are growing up- concretely stays in its family-adventure story for children aesthetic: like Peter Pan.

Regardless, Prince Caspian is still an entertaining read and beautifully descriptive fantasy story filled with rich imagery and adventure. It's definitely a good bedtime story for the kids. 

Prince Caspian is the fourth book in C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia and was first published in Great Britain in 1951 by Geoffrey Bles.