>>(As Stephen points out, in the "old" or, more
>>properly, "correct" ordering system, these three
>>books came 5th, 6th, and 7th in the series. In
>>the "new", or "stupid" ordering system, they are
>>1st, 3rd, and 7th, respectively. I'm reading
>>them the "stupid" way this time around, so I've
>>already hit the other two, and TLB is the only
>>book left in the series I haven't read.
>>Strangely enough, it seems to me that it was
>>Lewis himself who was the greatest proponent of
>>the "stupid" ordering system, which is why they
>>are arranged thusly today.)
>
> He was? Man, the whole non-linearity of the
>second-to-last two was always really cool to me.
>I'd hate to read them starting with The
>Magician's Nephew. It was really neat to
>suddenly learn more about the
>mentioned-but-unexplored period in Narnia that
>"Horse" covered, and then the creation of Narnia
>in "Nephew" was neat.

Yeah, the reason they are published the way they are today is because Lewis wanted it that way. The original order was the order they were written/published in, but Lewis felt that the books were best experienced in terms of internal cronology, which is why they put "Nephew" first and "Horse" third. However, if they'd *really* wanted to go for internal chronology, "Nephew" would be first, the "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" would be second, and "Horse" would actually be somewhere *inside* LWW, as that's when it really takes place.

To be truthful, I have to admit that the biggest reason I *stopped* reading the series the first time around was because of the non-linearity of the switch from "Chair" to "Horse". I was most interested in the children, and when they basically didn't appear in "Horse", I lost interest. And I have to say that if I'd read "Nephew" as the first book in the series, I probably wouldn't have continued with the rest of the books. When I read it this time around, it took me forever to finish because I found it dreadfully uninteresting. It really *is* better to have read the other books first, because then you at least have some idea of the significance of what you are reading. You know who the Witch is before she ever gets to Narnia, you know the significance of the lamp post, and you've already become familiar with Aslan. Whenever I recommend the series to younger readers, I always take great pains to point out the "correct" ordering of the books, and tell them to ignore whatever numbers are on the spine.

As a public service announcement, I feel I should point out here the two ordering systems. First, the "old", or "correct" ordering system:

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 Magicians Nephew
7. The Last Battle

And now, the "new", or "stupid" order:

1. The Magicians Nephew
2. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle

I seem to also recall yet *another* ordering system, this one even more screwy than the "stupid" ordering system. I remember it being refered to as the British order, but thankfully do not recall how they put them. I only have a dim recollection of something very stupid, like putting Prince Caspian sixth.