There are quite a few popular fantasy and science fiction series out there in which the books are not published in chronological order of events. One of the more famous of these, and the one with which I had my first experience, are the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.

I have this nice boxed set of paperbacks that I have had since the very early 80’s that are numbered as follows:

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe;

2. Prince Caspian;

3. The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader”;

4. The Silver Chair;

5. The Horse and His Boy;

6. The Magician’s Nephew; and

7. The Last Battle.

This is the order they were published and using my set as a guide, the way I many others read them. This is also the order in which it appears the movies are being released.

Many fans recomend reading them instead in order of the events portrayed in the books themselves. This order has been used by later publishers, which would means reading in this order, using the numbers above; 6, 1, 5, 2, 3, 4, and 7. C.S. Lewis, in a letter to a young fan, also seems to have supported reading the books in this order.

The proper order for reading the Narnia novels is much debated by fans with valid arguments to be made on both sides. Since I was exposed at a young age to the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first, I have a bias that way.

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