The Last Battle (by CS Lewis)

'The Last Battle' is the final volume in CS Lewis's well-known 'Narnia' series for children. It opens by introducing a disagreeable and manipulative ape called Shift, and a rather timid, self-deprecating donkey called Puzzle. Poor Puzzle is treated as Shift's servant, and spends time fetching and carrying for him. On the day when the story starts, Shift has seen something moving in a deep and rather chilly pool, and tells Puzzle to go and get it.

The item turns out to be a lion-skin, and Shift has the sneaky idea of dressing Puzzle up in this skin, then telling everyone that Aslan has returned. Aslan the Lion is the absolute King - the God figure - of all Narnia, although it's been a long time since he's appeared to anyone. Puzzle is sure it would not be right to pretend to be Aslan, but is over-ruled by the quick-thinking Shift.

The scene changes to King Tirian, who we are told is the last king of Narnia. He's peacefully chatting with his closest friend, the unicorn Jewel, a few weeks after the events of the first chapter, when bad news arrives: the talking trees are being cut down, animals are being enslaved, disaster has come to Narnia.

Worse still, this is not due to an invasion from enemies, but is apparently happening because Aslan has commanded it. Tirian and Jewel hurry away to find out what's going on, and find themselves caught in the middle of lies, treachery, and deceit. Each person involved has to decide who or what he (or she) stands for as lines are drawn between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

Narnia is another world, a mixture of realism and fantasy, which is visited by children from our world when it's in desperate need. In Narnia there are dwarfs, centaurs, and many other mythical creatures as well as humans. More significantly, there are races of intelligent talking beasts (such as Shift and Puzzle) as well as wilder 'dumb' animals. In the earlier Narnia books, the talking beasts were mostly those who knew and loved Aslan, but in this book many of them have become corrupt, and care nothing for the traditions and beliefs of loyal Narnians.

Like all the Narnia series, there is clear Christian symbolism underlying this book. CS Lewis claimed once that 'a children's story is the best art form for something you have to say.' And so he puts across his beliefs in a low-key way, creating an exciting book that can be enjoyed at many levels. Puzzle the donkey dressing up in a lion skin can symbolise the false messiahs who - according to the Bible - will come into the world in the last days. But someone who knows nothing about this can see Puzzle simply as a rather pathetic figure, wanting to do what he believes to be right, yet convinced that his clever friend the ape knows best.

I first read the Narnia books when I was about nine or ten, and at the time I wasn't very keen on 'The Last Battle', although I liked the way that it brought closure to the series. Perhaps I was put off by my general dislike of fighting; as the title suggests, there are some serious battles in this book, although none of them go on for too long. However when I re-read the book in my teens, I found I enjoyed it more. The ending made sense to me, and I could see some of the Christian analogies clearly.

This isn't a long novel - it's intended for children, after all, and the paperback edition runs to only 164 pages. I've read it several times over the years, and recently re-read it in a couple of hours. It would be ideal for a child of about eight or older to read alone, or for a parent to read aloud; it's equally suitable for teenagers and adults. I wouldn't really recommend it for a child younger than about eight since the subject matter is fairly complex; a small child might get confused by the deceit and treachery, and also might find the exciting climax a bit disturbing.

As an adult, I find this book surprisingly moving; I empathise with the unfortunate Puzzle, and root for King Tirian as he worries about - and fights for - his country. The characters are not described in much detail, but they're well-rounded and believable in the context; even the talking animals manage to retain traits of their species as well as having the intelligence and speech of humans.

Although 'The Last Battle' could be read as a stand-alone book, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has not read any of the other Narnia books. I think it would be confusing to anyone who had not read at least 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' and 'The Magician's Nephew'. Ideally it should be read as the last in the series, since it ties together some of the events in other books, re-introduces much-loved characters from those books, and brings Narnia as it was to a thrilling end.

Highly recommended to anyone who has read others in the series.