Prince Caspian (1951)

…………………………………………………………………

C. S. Lewis: Prince Caspian Book Review

Prince Caspian is a 1951 fantasy novel by C. S. Lewis which is the second chapter in the Chronicles of Narnia series. It is a very good sequel.

…………………………………………………………………

“Things never happen the same way twice“

…………………………………………………………………

I have to say that I really liked this entry. It isn’t quite as good as ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe‘, but it is almost on par to it in terms of quality. It lacks the thematic richness of its predecessor, but it is even more fascinating and intriguing in its world building and plot this time around.

I really liked the story here. In fact, I found it to be fascinating, especially in its first half as I’ve had a couple of big problems with the second half, but more on that later. I loved the arrival of the children and those first couple of chapters were very intriguing and mysterious as you really do not know what is in store for them and what kind of path the story is going to take. But when we learn about the eponymous prince, it starts to get really interesting.

I absolutely loved the chapters with Caspian and his tutor Doctor Cornelius. The twist that he is actually a dwarf was stupendously well handled and I found the fact that this book is the only one in the series where the animals do not rule Narnia, but humans quite authentic and this separates it from other entries. But I loved the backstory of how this happened in the first place and I really enjoyed how the world building got more ambitious, introducing us to Telmarines and their people this time around.

…………………………………………………………………

But this is the point where it starts to go a bit downhill which is something I expected after witnessing the exact same problem in the previous entry. Once the battle starts, it is all too abrupt and way too disappointing of a climax that I was just let down. I appreciated that there wasn’t much action and that is always a good thing, but that action that was there was abrupt and not appropriately handled. Those chapters were my least favorite in an otherwise stellar book.

But the ending fixed everything as it was just marvelous! Aslan sending Telmarines back to their realm was so memorable, but what is important here is that the children are back in England, but only Lucy and Edmund may go back to Narnia once more. That was a moving conclusion that changed a lot going forward.

…………………………………………………………………

Let’s talk about Prince Caspian’s characters. The four children continue to be underdeveloped, though they are a bit more flawed this time around. I didn’t like that they once again did not believe Lucy’s words and that was frustrating, but their other actions were all satisfying. As for Prince Caspian, he got a good backstory, but in the second half he took a backseat to the other characters and that was problematic given that he is in the title of the book. Miraz is a solid villain, Trumpkin is likable and Doctor Cornelius is one of the most memorable and wonderful characters here. Reepicheep is childish, but endearing and I loved how the mice got the power to speak after they helped Aslan in the previous book. Of the other villains, Nikabrik was particularly effective and I really liked the conversation about the Witch and Aslan in a very intense scene.

All in all, Prince Caspian is a worthy sequel to a great original and another terrific entry in the Chronicles of Narnia series. It is flawed in pacing and especially in action, but what it does right, it does it remarkably well with world building being one of its strongest suits. The characters are also memorable, the story is pretty fascinating and incredibly well crafted, the writing is capable and meticulous in detail and the ending is so heartwarming. It is such a strong second part that didn’t disappoint.