Clive Staples...Champion

C.S.Lewis (Clive Staples, if you were wondering) is a hero to a lot of people, his Chronicles of Narnia stories are priceless building blocks in a childhood appreciation of literature. Many people, perhaps, do not read further past this, as the fact that he is a lay theologian and Christian apologist is far from subtle and not everybodies cup of tea.

Lewis was born on 29 November 1898 in Ireland. As well as novels he was an acedemic, medievalist,essayist and literary critic. Along with Narnia he is also known for his fictions, The Screwtape Letters and The Space Trilogy.

Lewis was a close friend of J. R. R. Tolkien, and both authors were leading figures in the English faculty at Oxford University and in the informal Oxford literary group known as the "Inklings". According to his Memoir, 'Suprised by Joy', Tolkein was also a contributing fact (as well as other friends at Oxford) from him slipping out of religion until he reestablished his faith at the age of 32.

Lewis was the chief member of the Inklings, an informal literary discussion group in Oxford which at various times included the writers J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Lewis's brother W. H. Lewis, and Roger Lancelyn Green. Readings and discussions of the members' unfinished works were one of the main activities of the group when they met, usually on Thursday evenings, in C. S. Lewis's college rooms at Magdalen College. Some of the Narnia stories are thought to have been read to the Inklings for their appreciation and comment.

In 1956 he married U.S. writer Joy Gresham who died four years later of cancer. Lewis died three years after his wife, as the result of renal failure.

It is interesting to note that Lewis' death, along with Aldous Huxley (Brave New World) both on 22 November 1963 were of minimal consequence in the press and sadly went by without to much attention as on that same day in the U.S. President Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald.

The Chronicles of Narnia present the adventures of children who play central roles in the unfolding history of the fictional realm of Narnia, a place where animals talk, magic is common, and good battles evil. Each of the books (with the exception of The Horse and His Boy) features as its protagonists children from our world who are magically transported to Narnia, where they are called upon to help the Lion Aslan save Narnia.

Publication order:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle

Chronological order:

The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

Written order:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Horse and His Boy
The Silver Chair
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle

Final Completion order:

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Horse and His Boy
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
The Magician's Nephew