Planet Narnia - a review

Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis by Michael Ward
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve been immersed in Narnia for the past few months.

Finally got around to Michael Ward’s “Planet Narnia” which is a richly rewarding read. Halfway through the first chapter, I decided to reread each book he covered, chapter by chapter, and that turned out to be a GREAT idea.

Ward’s thesis is that each of the 7 Narnia books is under one of the 7 medieval planets, taking up all the mythology with it. Since Lewis was such a Medieval scholar, and reading Ward and Narnia again, I’m convinced he is right.

For instance, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is under Jupiter, the god Jove. Peter, the eldest, says “By Jove” a lot. Jupiter is the god of turning winter to spring, sorrow to joy, death to life. Aslan does this throughout the story in multiple ways.

Prince Caspian is under Mars, the god of war. There is lots of martial imagery. Mars is god of the trees, and weapons and both play a significant role in the book.

Ward’s book is less accessible to the normal reader at points, but it’s still worth it. He brings in Lewis’ other writings – the Space Trilogy, Miracles, etc. – to reinforce his points, but there’s a lot of Latin and French I didn’t understand. His argument is quite sound, though.

What I found most fascinating is that each of the books displays a different perspective of Aslan as the Lord Jesus Christ. He brings joy (LWW), He is a military victor (Prince Caspian), He is the creator (Magician’s Nephew), etc. Reading Narnia and Ward together gave me a richer picture of Jesus Himself and it’s glorious.

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