Friday, June 17, 2011

The Narnia Covers, book 6: The Magician's Nephew

Cover #6 The Magician's Nephew


This cover was the weirdest of all of them. I liked it a lot.

What I remember from the story:

This one I remember well--maybe more than any of the others. It was high on my list of favorites. This book is an odd one. C.S. Lewis takes a break from fantasy and goes straight-up sci-fi.

Two kids, a boy and a girl (can't remember their names, or if they appear in other books) live with a weird professor. They find a secret kitchen with candy rings (candy rings?) that take you to a place called "The Wood Between the Worlds," if you wear them (or eat them?)

The wood has pools that all lead to different worlds. They mark the one that leads home (with something?) and then try out some pools. They see a dying world where the sun is going supernova, and there is a world with slowed-down time (might be the same world.) Then they visit the creation of Narnia and there is a long sequence where a bird makes the first joke in Narnia (or something.)

At some point, in one of the worlds, they release a giant killer queen lady. She chases them into England where she causes some kind of traffic accident. The uncle (who I assume is the titular Magician) thinks the alien queen is "A Damn Fine Woman." And he says that a lot.

Not sure how it ends, or how they get the killer queen lady back to her world.

How's that for remembering the story?

10 comments:

Katya said...

"Two kids, a boy and a girl (can't remember their names, or if they appear in other books)"

The boy in TMN grows up and becomes the professor who owns the house in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Meredith said...

I haven't read this book in probably 10 years, so I don't remember it much except that I thought it was really weird. It sounds cooler from your description that I remember. I may have to read it again.

Q said...

I loved the idea of the wood full of pools when I was young.

Jennifer said...

"Killer Queen Lady" = White witch in "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe."

Jennifer said...

"Killer Queen Lady" = White witch in "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe."

Unknown said...

Nice job! You nailed this one- and you did not flop it this time either! You'll have a riot when you finally compare your memory to the real covers.

Myrna Foster said...

Your cover for this one is pretty awesome.

Helene said...

The only part of this book that I read was the bit about the bird making the first joke. There was also a talking horse, I think. I guess I should read the series in its entirety...

Clint C. said...

This is by far your best recollection! The cover is right on and so is the story. I always remembered how the boy and the girl crawled in the attic space to get into different houses in the row.

Ron McCutchan said...

And the boy brings back a seed or twig from Narnia, plants it in the backyard, and it eventually grows into the tree from which the wood for the wardobe is taken. Lev Grossman riffed on the transporting pools in his novel THE MAGICIANS (his were pools in a gridded cityscape instead of a forest).