The Last Battle - C.S. Lewis

[goodreads]

Title: The Last Battle
Author: C.S. Lewis
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
# pages: Audiobook (Patrick Stewart), 188 pages
Date read: April 2009, December 2018

The last battle is the greatest battle of all. Narnia... where lies breed fear... where loyalty is tested... where all hope seems lost. During the last days of Narnia, the land faces its fiercest challenge - not an invader from without but an enemy from within. Lies and treachery have taken root, and only the king and a small band of loyal followers can prevent the destruction of all they hold dear in this, the magnificent ending to the Chronicles of Narnia.


I love this book for the fact that it makes me feel so homesick for Heaven. The last two chapters moves me every time I read them - especially Aslan's final words to Lucy: "The term is over, the holidays have begun. The dream is ended. This is the morning." It gives me chills just to write them.

The plot is nothing special - probably the weakest of the 7 actually - and it always takes me awhile to get into it, as I don't consider the story as having "started properly" until the kids arrive in Narnia. I'm glad this book shows the return of the Pevensies (Lucy has always been my favourite character), but am always deeply troubled by "The Problem of Susan" - it is beyond me how she who was THERE at the stone table, could deny Narnia like that. It is a comfort to know that it was only Narnia that ended - not our world, and that she may still have another chance.

(If you want to read an excellent fanfic on that topic, I highly recommend The Queen's Return by honorh.)

Patrick Stewart was mostly a good narrator, but unfortunately he sometimes went overboard in doing voices which could make some of the characters a tad difficult to understand.