The Narnia books • Non-Gaming • Books • Eurogamer.net

ElectricDemon 27 Nov 2005 18:25:55 2,415 posts
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I'm currently in the middle of re-reading The Lord Of The Rings, and it's really got me in the mood for some more fantasy. I'm 15, and I've never read the Narnia books before, am I too old for them?

Edit: Crap, just noticed I forgot to change the category

Edited by ElectricDemon at 18:28:32 27-11-2005

Edited by ElectricDemon at 18:28:51 27-11-2005

sam_spade 27 Nov 2005 18:28:16 15,745 posts
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No.

ElectricDemon 27 Nov 2005 18:29:36 2,415 posts
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Ok, thanks

sam_spade 27 Nov 2005 18:30:50 15,745 posts
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My pleasure.

lagairt 27 Nov 2005 18:38:57 452 posts
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The naria books are IMO certainly aimed more specifically at children than LOTR. Thats not to say that you wont enjoy them, but they do lack a certain complexity and depth in comparison to LOTR.

ElectricDemon 27 Nov 2005 18:44:37 2,415 posts
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lagairt wrote:
The naria books are IMO certainly aimed more specifically at children than LOTR. Thats not to say that you wont enjoy them, but they do lack a certain complexity and depth in comparison to LOTR.

Yeah, I'm not expecting it to be much like LOTR in that respect, I mean, not every author is gonna want to create whole histories and languages for their books.

Angel_Treats 27 Nov 2005 18:53:15 11,070 posts
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I think you'd enjoy them. They're aimed at kids, yeah, but without being patronising in the way some kids' books can be. I particularly like The Magician's Nephew and The Horse and His Boy.

ElectricDemon 27 Nov 2005 19:00:17 2,415 posts
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Sounds promising. You can get them all in the one volume for something like Ł10 on Amazon, so I think I'll go for it, although probably not until after Xmas, due to having to buy Christmas presents. I'd also quite like to read The Silmarillion first. In fact, I'm getting the remaining 4 volumes of The Dark Tower for Xmas too, so I'll be hard pushed finding a time to read it. I'll probably read it before the rest of the DT, as I'd imagine it won't take me very long.

pjmaybe 27 Nov 2005 19:26:31 70,666 posts
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The Narnia books are good but they've aged quite badly in comparison to the LOTR books.

Very much of the age.

They still manage to knock that twat Pullman on his arse, and let's not even talk about where Rowling nicked half of her stuff from.

Best "children's" authors working today - John Gordon and Mark Haddon.

Peej

Deleted user 27 November 2005 19:27:15

They're good.

bainbrge 27 Nov 2005 19:39:09 1,687 posts
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if you read them as the christian allegory they really are, they look pretty crap.

If you read them as a 9 year old, they look pretty good.

terminalterror 27 Nov 2005 19:43:06 18,932 posts
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pjmaybe wrote:
They still manage to knock that twat Pullman on his arse

o_O

Deleted user 27 November 2005 19:46:32

MGSfan wrote:
Sorry TT, but I'll have to agree with that. Of all the fantasy books I've read (not many, as I don't really enjoy them), the His Dark Materials trilogy has been the worst.

You are an idiot.

terminalterror 27 Nov 2005 19:50:13 18,932 posts
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MGSfan wrote:
Sorry TT, but I'll have to agree with that. Of all the fantasy books I've read (not many, as I don't really enjoy them), the His Dark Materials trilogy has been the worst.

Right, thats peej and MGSfan added to TT's list of doom. Anybody else?

sam_spade 28 Nov 2005 01:27:05 15,745 posts
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Is it just the Dark Materials books that are scorned or is all his work of equal worth?

Angel_Treats 28 Nov 2005 07:32:36 11,070 posts
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I never even finished reading the third HDM book, it was that bad.

MetalDog 28 Nov 2005 07:37:36 24,076 posts
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I would imagine, regarding Pullman, it would depend how much his other work is tainted by his own personal baggage.

Pike 28 Nov 2005 07:42:26 13,459 posts
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IMO Pratchett's childrens books are vastly superior to both Narnia and HDM.

MetalDog 28 Nov 2005 07:46:50 24,076 posts
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Pike wrote:
IMO Pratchett's childrens books are vastly superior to both Narnia and HDM.

It's not really a good comparison, though, is it? Two are written straight and for children and one is written comedy for adults =) I prefer Pratchett myself, but I wouldn't have held him up against those two.

*Perhaps Diggers?

Edited by MetalDog at 07:47:29 28-11-2005

Pike 28 Nov 2005 07:52:40 13,459 posts
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MetalDog wrote:

Pike wrote:
IMO Pratchett's childrens books are vastly superior to both Narnia and HDM.

It's not really a good comparison, though, is it? Two are written straight and for children and one is written comedy for adults =) I prefer Pratchett myself, but I wouldn't have held him up against those two.

*Perhaps Diggers?

Edited by MetalDog at 07:47:29 28-11-2005

Actually I was referring to The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and The Wee Free Men, that are specifically targeted at children. Both wich, while comic, are just as serious as Narnia and in many ways way darker.

I actually think they are Pratchetts best books, especially The Amazing Maurice.

MetalDog 28 Nov 2005 07:54:52 24,076 posts
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Pike wrote:
Actually I was referring to The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents and The Wee Free Men...

Ah, my bad. Haven't read those =) Been a while since I went on a book buying spree, I'm not short of ones I haven't read yet. I'll check them out sometime.

pjmaybe 28 Nov 2005 08:54:08 70,666 posts
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terminalterror wrote:

pjmaybe wrote:
They still manage to knock that twat Pullman on his arse

o_O

Pullman started off with a BLINDER of a first novel. The setting was utterly fantastic, as were the characters.

Thereon it just descended into a mish mash of horribly well worn cliches. In fact "The Amber Spyglass" rates only second to "The Da Vinci Code" as "most disappointing book I've ever read"

It's a matter of personal preference. I think the problem nowadays is that kids have had their expectations of what's good and what's bad lowered beyond belief by the Harry Potter books, which are atrociously written yet sell millions simply because it's got under people's skin the way a really shite soap opera does.

Peej

Pike 28 Nov 2005 08:59:51 13,459 posts
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I really don't understand why people older than twelve like Harry Potter. It's just Enid Blyton with wizards. Horribly cliche ridden pap.

Hunam85 28 Nov 2005 09:02:28 4,114 posts
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Im sorry, but your 15, have discovered gaming yet still read a fair amount!? what in god name is wrong with you!

Pike 28 Nov 2005 09:46:12 13,459 posts
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otto wrote:
Hunam I guess we can see by your orthographic skills that you avoided that particular trap. o_O

O_o was my initial raction as well, but then I came to the conclusion that it HAS to be a joke, despite the lack of smilies.

Oh, and Rowling smells.

Edited by Pike at 09:46:40 28-11-2005

pjmaybe 28 Nov 2005 09:49:17 70,666 posts
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Pike wrote:
I really don't understand why people older than twelve like Harry Potter. It's just Enid Blyton with wizards. Horribly cliche ridden pap.

For the reasons I state above I reckon. It's got so they have to read the next book in the series, it's like a soap opera...

They are cliche-raddled though.

Peej

Hunam85 28 Nov 2005 10:17:17 4,114 posts
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o_O need similies for a joke? i just prefer hot zero-relative clause action...

and i did stop reading books, since i was about 13 (im 20 now) i have read, id wager, about 4 books maybe? i cant recall, but im reading again now, discworld mostly tho.

and i would type properly here, but its not a formal situation so i just drop my prestiege levels to suit comfortable communication over finesse and style

but while im here, guess ill ask for some good books, horror books mainly, around 200 pages?

Pike 28 Nov 2005 10:21:51 13,459 posts
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Hunam85 wrote:
o_O need similies for a joke? i just prefer hot zero-relative clause action...

Of course you don't need smilies. Sometimes the nature of the internet makes it har to tell if a forum post is a joke or not, unless there is an emoticon attatched.

but while im here, guess ill ask for some good books, horror books mainly, around 200 pages?

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson is brilliant.

Deleted user 22 May 2007 14:49:57

Post deleted

otto Moderator 28 May 2007 11:16:19 49,322 posts
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Hunam I guess we can see by your orthographic skills that you avoided that particular trap. o_O

Rowling haters begone, I think she's an excellent writer and I'd like to see them do better. ;p