Heads up! This article contains spoilers for the “Chronicles of Narnia” book series.

The “Chronicles of Narnia” series is a beloved collection of fantasy novels that appeals to children, adults, and anyone in search of a delightful escape through literature. This series comprises seven books, quite a few more than the trio Disney adapted into movies roughly two decades ago. Chronologically, the saga kicks off with “The Magician’s Nephew,” a prequel detailing the inception of the realm of Narnia and its magical wardrobe portal, followed by the iconic “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The subsequent five books continue the narrative as follows:

Although each book unfolds in Narnia, C.S. Lewis, the author, has imbued each tale with its own distinct narrative, characters, and intrinsic purpose within the broader “Narnia” universe. Together, they weave a comprehensive story—though not all installments are created equal. Like most series, it features its peaks and valleys. After carefully evaluating the seven books, considering the strength of their narratives, their significance in the greater timeline, and the overall entertainment they provide, we’ve compiled our definitive Looper list of all “Chronicles of Narnia” books, ranked from least to most engaging.

To those questioning why this particular installment ranks last, it’s important to note: “The Horse and His Boy” is genuinely a delightful read. It’s the only “Narnia” tale entirely set within Narnia’s Golden Age, chronicling the adventures of Shasta and his talking horse, Bree. They grow up under subjugation in the land of Calormen to the south and strive to reach Narnia. Eventually, they are joined by Aravis, a noble girl, and her talking horse, Hwin, embarking on various adventures. Aslan, the symbolic lion, and the Pevensie children, who are the reigning monarchs of Narnia at this period, also make appearances. It’s an engaging story that provides a multicultural glimpse into Narnia.

The reason it ranks last? Its narrative diverges significantly from the main storyline. Occurring within the tale of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” it adds to Narnian lore but bears minimal relevance to the overall arc. “The Horse and His Boy” stands apart as a separate narrative in a distant setting, making it challenging to integrate with the broader series context. Additionally, it introduces cultural and thematic elements like slavery and arranged marriage, understandable given its era of writing, yet potentially disconcerting. While it’s an enjoyable story, it doesn’t measure up to the others in context, hence its position.

“Prince Caspian” follows as the second book in the Narnia chronicles. It’s notable for bringing together all four Pevensie siblings once more, aside from “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.” Invoked by Aslan, they return to Narnia 1,300 years post-their Golden Age, discovering a realm where talking beasts are subjugated by invading Telmarine humans. They ally with Prince Caspian X, the rightful heir to the throne, aiding him against his usurping uncle, Miraz, and facilitating his ascendancy as Narnia’s new king.

As with “The Horse and His Boy,” it is an entertaining read, with many highlights, illustrating Caspian’s daring escape and acceptance by hidden magical beings. The Pevensie siblings’ arrival invigorates the dispirited resistance, leading to a climactic duel between Peter and Miraz, culminating in a battle that decides Narnia’s future.

These are all exciting plot points, but in between them are some of the slowest points in the Narnia saga. The arrival of the Pevensies to the fantastical world and their trip to join Caspian drags on interminably, and the story doesn’t accomplish much outside of the “Caspian becomes king” storyline. While this one’s important to the larger narrative, its slow pace drags it down in the rankings. Heck, even the movie didn’t turn many heads when it initially came out.

Unlike “Prince Caspian,” “The Last Battle” doesn’t drag. It races. The book is chock-full of action-packed storytelling as the final chapter in C.S. Lewis’ Narnia saga brings the history of Narnia to a close (quite literally). The story, which has heavy overtones of the Bible’s apocalyptic Book of Revelation, follows lead characters Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole as they go back to Narnia to help the Narnian king, Tirian. The brave but outnumbered royal is trying to stop a rogue ape named Shift, who has created a cult around a pretend Aslan (who is just a donkey in a lion’s skin). Shift has also joined forces with the neighboring nation of Calormen to invade and enslave Narnia.

The book is full of doomsday moments, demonic manifestations, and the literal end of Narnia as a place of existence. It also has strong storyline elements about heaven and eternity. All around, it’s a heck of a read — but it ends up with a middling place on our list for one main reason: it’s too complicated.

“Narnia” is a family-friendly series, and while there’s nothing overtly inappropriate or wrong about “The Last Battle” compared to the other books, it handles some very heavy subjects, and the narrative can get lost in the weeds at points. This is fun for the adults in the room, but it can overwhelm or scare the kiddos, so it comes in fifth out of the seven.

“The Magician’s Nephew” comes in dead center on the list — fourth out of seven — and is the only book that could be considered a proper prequel. Written after “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” it goes way back to the childhood of Professor Digory Kirke, the man who owns the wardrobe and is played by Jim Broadbent in the classic Disney adaptation.

In the book, Digory and his friend and neighbor, Polly Plummer, accidentally end up in a “Wood Between the Worlds”, where they can use water-based portals to explore different worlds. They enter a dying world called Charn, where they discover Jadis (aka the White Witch) and accidentally drag her into another world. This ends up being an empty place — a world that Aslan creates from scratch before their very eyes. Yes, it’s Narnia.

The book explores how Jadis becomes the White Witch, explains how Digory gets the magical wood to build the wardrobe, and generally sets the stage for the Pevensie siblings’ adventures to come. It channels the Book of Genesis from the Bible and is a fantastical bookend to the Revelation-esque “The Last Battle” that wraps the series. Looper went on record years ago saying that this prequel point is also the best spot for Greta Gerwig to reboot the upcoming Narnia Netflix adaptation. Really, the only reason it falls to the middle of the list is because it’s a little too disconnected from the current of the larger story (as most prequels are).

“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is the third book in the chronological story, following “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and “Prince Caspian.” It takes place three short Narnian years and one Earth year after the events of “Prince Caspian” and traces an epic voyage by the now-King Caspian X across the Narnian oceans to the end of the world.

This is the first time the Pevensie crew is split up. Peter and Susan are left behind, while Aslan pulls Edmond, Lucy, and their insufferable cousin, Eustace Scrubb, into Narnia to join the voyage of exploration. The book is set up as a series of shorter adventures that span the gamut. There are dragons and magical treasure hordes. Water that turns everything it touches to gold. Ornery one-legged monopods. Moody mermaids. Star princes. Sleeping spells. And, of course, sea serpents. Eventually, Caspian and company reach the farthest reaches of the world and, beyond it, Aslan’s own country. It’s pretty sweet (and the water at the end of the world is literally so).

Basically, this book is a romp through every fantastical thing you could think of, which is what puts it in the top half of the list. However, it doesn’t snatch a top spot because it’s just a bit too scattered. The story meanders (as an exploration-driven story should) and lacks the compelling three-act story arc that makes other Narnia novels hit home so well.

“The Silver Chair” is the fourth book in the chronological story. It follows after the adventures of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and is the first one to have no Pevensies in sight. Instead, Cousin Eustace revisits Narnia accompanied by his schoolmate, Jill Pole. Aslan is there again, but this time he’s less hands-on. He gives them important tasks to remember and then sends them on their way.

Where? Right to the heart of Narnia, where they realize it’s been 50 years since Eustace accompanied King Caspian X on his epic voyage. The king is now old and dying, and his son, Prince Rilian, has been missing for a decade. The two kiddos join forces with a guide named Puddleglum, a lanky Marsh-wiggle with a cup-half-empty view on life. The definition of a wet blanket, Puddleglum is distrustful of strangers, always expects the worst, and has a heart of gold. He’s one of C.S. Lewis’ best characters.

The book follows the trio north of Narnia into giant country and then down into the ground, where they visit Underland, a depressed subterranean region populated by gnomes and overseen by a vividly green-clad queen. They proceed to discover Rilian and then free him and the entire gnomish population of Underland from the Queen’s hypnotic spell.

This one is a genuinely cool story, one that features some spectacular world-building. The giant country has a frosty, ruinous sense of awe-inspiring terror, and Underworld? It’s Lewis at his best. The way the story feeds into the larger Narnia narrative is also very present and important. Add it up, and this one gets a high score, although it doesn’t quite get the top spot. That’s reserved for a classic.

Yes, friends. We’ve come to the top, and what other book could be here besides the one that started it all? “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is the most iconic and complete Narnia novel of the bunch. We won’t belabor things with a recap of the story (it’s the most well-known of them all), but suffice it to say that this one checks all the boxes.

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is full of whimsy and fun that’s suitable for children and adults alike. It has lighthearted moments, inspiring scenes, thrilling stakes, and deep beats. It introduces the world of Narnia through the iconic lamp post scene, and Mr. Tumnus is the perfect otherworldly character to kick things off. From there, the stakes only increase as the four Pevensie children discover their prophetic purpose and work with Aslan to free Narnia from a century of winter (with no Christmas, to boot).

The book has every kind of mythical character you could imagine. It sucks readers in and sweeps them along to its pinnacle moment: the sacrifice of Aslan to save Edmund. The Christ-like parallels are obvious, giving the book an added dimension of gravitas and meaning. (Greta Gerwig appears to be wisely steering into this “rooted in faith” concept in her adaptation.) From an introduction to Narnian lore to the deeper messages of faith, redemption, and deliverance, this is a book that delivers for audiences of all ages. It’s the iconic Narnian experience, and the novel is the best one of the entire series.