The Last Battle

Well, we finally come to it. The Chronicles of Narnia culminates in one last tale, one last chance to meet new characters and expand our understanding of the scope of Narnia. We meet new villains, such as Shift and Ginger—even Tash himself. And we meet some new heroes, too: King Tirian and his friends Jewel, Roonwit, Farsight the eagle. Even Puzzle himself, in his own, well, puzzling way. And true to form, Lewis brings past heroes into the tale: Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole (even some others, too, before the tale is done).

But Lewis doesn't merely have the narrative on his mind here. He's also got some pretty significant cosmological issues to deal with from past stories. How exactly does the religion of the Calormenes jive with Aslan and the Emperor Across the Sea? What is the fate of those who worship Tash? For that matter, what is the fate of those reject Aslan? Are the two questions the same? Is it heresy to suggest that both Tash and Aslan can be found in the stable? Do we all ultimately find whoever it is that we truly seek? And if Lewis was brave enough in The Magician's Nephew to show us how Narnia began, does he have the guts here to also show us how it ends?

The options for discussion of this book are boundless—and we simply can't tackle them all. So this month, Jenn Wright synopsizes the Top Stories of all the news that's fit to print. Then George Rosok looks at the literary layers that Lewis uses to tear into (and build up) Narnia, and Kathy Bledsoe concludes our coverage of the Chronicles with a hard look at the stable itself.

But don't worry. The books may have ended, but the movie is coming...