Almost forgot that there’s spoilers below — so read the dayum book!
At this point, the Narnia saga takes a turn to a more serious tone. There are real deaths and real vitriol here that the latter books, while still read as fantasy adventures, become more grim. There is real threat to the characters and at the same time, Narnia isn’t as happy a place depicted in all its previous books. There is all the good stuff here: kidnapping, murder and revenge. Parents forewarned.
The Narnia of The Silver Chair is a Narnia ruled by a king robbed of his family — his queen killed by a serpent, his son missing for ten years and presumed dead. This is the Caspian we know who traveled to the end of the world but now sickened by grief and at the edge of his death without a heir. The characters who were in the Voyage have a high position in the kingdom, but they are no longer in their youths.
It is Eustace, the Pevensies’ annoying cousin from the previous book that tread the path of adventure this time taking Jill, a colleague with him to Narnia. Consistent to the trope of an annoying child turned saviour, Jill plays the trope in this book. We are also joined by another creature, Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle, This time around we explore the lands North of Narnia, famous for its disreputable giants and just horrid climate.
Compared to the other Narnia books, there is real grime in this book more than the others. The characters are tested and made to suffer much more under gruelling conditions — wind, rain, darkness, flooding and just a general feeling of claustrophobia. The threats are more menacing — gentle giants who plan to cook the children, melancholic cavemen and a serpent queen. There is real violence in this book, and I do think the book is richer for it.
Underneath the surface, there is a religious message here, but I won’t go into that. Lewis is a controversial writer at times for various reasons, one of being his stance on religion. Lewis claimed that Narnia is not allegorical, but as many books written for younger audiences, there is moral intent in the writing and morals are subjective to time and place. I’ll have to write about this in my summary to Narnia.
Yet, there is a lot of charm in The Silver Chair because of its drab. The happy ending isn’t all that happy, and we agonise a little that Eustace was not able to greet Caspian before his death (even though they spent some time together before). Puddleglum as a character is an instance classic because of how pessimistic he is, though he is loyal to the mission and was the guy who just gets things done. There is humour in the book thanks to him. As a fantasy adventure it is a solid read but I can’t helping comparing it to The Voyage which seemed to me a superior book.
