What is the name of C.S. Lewis’s 1950 fantasy novel that begins the Narnia series in publication order?
Answer
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the first published Narnia novel by C.S. Lewis.
The book was published in 1950 and introduces the world of Narnia through four English children: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie. Lucy discovers Narnia by entering a wardrobe, and the children become involved in a struggle against the White Witch.
The novel’s central figures include Aslan, the great lion, and the White Witch, who has held Narnia in an endless winter. Lewis combines fairy-tale motifs, classical mythology, and Christian symbolism in a story designed to work as an imaginative adventure.
The Magician’s Nephew is earlier in Narnian chronology, which is why some editions place it first. However, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe remains the first book published and the usual starting point for publication-order reading.