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Although raised as a Christian, I've long been an atheist and perhaps that's partly why I'm uncomfortable with this retelling of the life of Jesus as Aslan the lion. I have no objection to Bible stories as part of our culture and heritage, but this is more underhand.

As a child, I loved this series, even when I learned the metaphor. That was probably partly a reflection of my mother's enthusiasm, and it insulated me from the guilt and horror that some of the commenters below felt about Aslan's sacrifice.

Then I read it to my own child. I was increasingly uncomfortable, and fortunately, kiddo wasn't interested in my reading the rest of the series to them. It is too preachy, and the way Mr Tumnus lures Lucy to his lair doesn't feel right, despite his upstanding character. Nevertheless, we did see the 2005 film. Mr Tumnus was SO human - and naked (except for a little scarf) - from the waist up, that his taking Lucy home seemed even worse than on the page. Way worse.


Image: James McAvoy as Mr Tumnus and Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie ()

There are plenty of better written and more engaging stories in this genre, most of them without Lewis' agenda. As Michael cites below:
�Any amount of theology can now be smuggled into people's minds under the cover of fiction without their knowing it.� � C.S. Lewis

Lewis also wrote:
�No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty � except, of course, books of information. The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all.� � CS Lewis, Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories
I agree - but only because, for me, it would have been better not to have read this at all.


EDITED eleven and thirteen years after original brief review to take account of comments.