The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis is one of the most recent books that I read and I loved it. It is a part of the Chronicles of Narnia anthology and was the 6th book to be published. Though it was the 6th book to be published, it is one of the most important and interesting books in the entire series as it talks about the creation of Narnia and provides the backlog of the entire story of the series and therefore it is to be read before any other book. Reading this book not only gives the setting of the plot but also gives an idea about the setting of the plot.
The story starts with Diggory and his friend Polly playing and investigating together. Diggory’s mother is ill and he is staying with his aunt and uncle. The family is kind of weird and Diggory does not like to live there. The only good thing that happened to him was meeting Polly, who was his partner in crime. While investigating together, they mistakenly enter his uncle’s study who offers them an entry ticket to a different world. Both Polly and Diggory were sent unwillingly to a different world but starts exploring.
They find a world that was ruled by an evil queen named Jadis, who had destroyed her entire world. She was tall and beautiful and attractive but wicked and evil. She decides to accompany them to their world and they appear back in the uncle’s study. She laughs seeing the weak magician, whom she makes her slave and goes out to capture the entire world. Jadis creates a big ruckus and Diggory finally takes her back to the woods between the world along with Polly, Uncle, cabby and his horse. They enter into an unknown dark place and hears a beautiful song. They are surprised to see that the singer of the song is no one but a lion who they realise later is no one but Aslan, who with his magical voice is creating a new world.
Jadis runs away and Aslan tells everyone that evil has entered their world and gives Digory a task to find an apple from the middle of the forest in a distant hill. Diggory along with Polly goes for the adventure but is sad to see that the witch has already eaten an apple. The witch tells him to eat the apple or take it back for his mother because the apple has the elixir of life. Diggory fighting his dilemma goes back to Aslan who makes him plant the tree and gives him an apple for his mother.
He is sent back to their own world along with Uncle and Polly and gives the apple to his mother who is cured of her disease. The book ends with a happy note, the apple seeds are planted and it grows immediately into a tree, which is later cut and is used to create some materials and which led to the start of future adventures.
The Magician’s nephew is one of the most amazing books that I recently read. It is full of creativity, magic and adventure and is a must-read for everyone. In my opinion, this book is perfect for children and adults alike and for everyone else who wants to escape from the reality for a while. I will rate this book a 7 out of 10.