The Short Version
There are seven Narnia books, all by C. S. Lewis, published from 1950 to 1956. In publication order they run The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew and The Last Battle. In chronological (story) order, The Magician’s Nephew comes first and The Horse and His Boy moves up to third. HarperCollins editions since the 1990s number them chronologically.
My opinion is further down, clearly marked. Below you will find a table of all seven, both orders, the case for each, and what The Magician’s Nephew sets up for the wardrobe book, with only light spoilers.
Jump to: All seven books · Publication order · Chronological order · Where to start · What The Magician’s Nephew sets up · Films and series
How Many Narnia Books Are There?
Seven. The Chronicles of Narnia is a complete series of seven children’s novels, and there are no new books coming: Lewis died in 1963, and the seven he published between 1950 and 1956 are the whole set.
The Chronicles of Narnia Books in Order
Here are all seven, numbered by first publication, with each book’s place in Narnia’s own timeline. The premises are spoiler-free.
| Pub. # | Title | Published | Story # | Premise (no spoilers) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | 1950 | 2 | Four siblings sent away from wartime London step through a wardrobe into a land trapped in endless winter. |
| 2 | Prince Caspian | 1951 | 4 | The same four children are called back to Narnia to help a young prince whose uncle has seized his throne. |
| 3 | The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | 1952 | 5 | The two younger siblings and their cousin Eustace join a royal ship sailing east toward the edge of the world. |
| 4 | The Silver Chair | 1953 | 6 | Eustace and his schoolmate Jill Pole are sent on a quest to find a missing prince. |
| 5 | The Horse and His Boy | 1954 | 3 | A boy and a talking horse run away from a southern empire and race north toward Narnia. |
| 6 | The Magician’s Nephew | 1955 | 1 | Two London children touch a magician’s rings, wake a terrible queen and see a new world begin. |
| 7 | The Last Battle | 1956 | 7 | In Narnia’s final days, a scheming ape stirs up trouble by claiming to speak for Aslan. |
I have read The Magician’s Nephew in full for this site, and my Magician’s Nephew primer covers it chapter by chapter. For the other six I give only titles, years and the widely known setup of each, not plot claims.
Narnia Books in Publication Order
This is the order the first readers met the books, one a year from 1950 to 1956.
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
- Prince Caspian (1951)
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
- The Silver Chair (1953)
- The Horse and His Boy (1954)
- The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
- The Last Battle (1956)
The point to notice is that the origin story came sixth. Readers in 1950 met the lamp-post, the wardrobe and the old Professor with no explanation. Five years later, The Magician’s Nephew went back and explained where all three came from. If you read in this order, those explanations arrive as reveals.
Narnia Books in Chronological Order
This is the order the events happen in Narnia’s history, and it is how most editions have been numbered since HarperCollins renumbered the series in the 1990s.
- The Magician’s Nephew
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- The Horse and His Boy
- Prince Caspian
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- The Silver Chair
- The Last Battle
Only two books move. The Magician’s Nephew jumps from sixth to first, and The Horse and His Boy moves from fifth to third. The Horse and His Boy is set in Narnia’s history not long after the events of the wardrobe book, which is why it slots in right after it. The other five books keep their places relative to one another.
What Did C. S. Lewis Say About the Reading Order?
Lewis never published a ruling, but a letter he reportedly wrote in 1957 to a young American reader is the most quoted piece of evidence in the debate. The boy had reportedly argued with his mother about the right order. In the letter, as it is usually reported, Lewis said he thought he agreed with the boy’s chronological order, and added that it perhaps did not matter very much what order anyone read them in.
Fans who prefer publication order point out that the remark was casual and that Lewis himself hedged. Fans who prefer chronological order point out that it is the only time he is reported to have given an opinion at all. Both readings are fair.
Where Should You Start?
Either order works, and the books stand on their own well enough that nobody gets lost. Here is how I would choose.
Start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe if you are new to Narnia and want the classic first experience. It is the book that introduced Narnia, and The Magician’s Nephew was written to be read by people who already know it. Several of its best moments are callbacks.
Start with The Magician’s Nephew if you want the story in strict time order, or you plan to watch Greta Gerwig’s film first. As of October 2026, that film is reported for February 12, 2027 in theaters and IMAX, then April 2, 2027 on Netflix, and it is reported to adapt The Magician’s Nephew.
Hailey’s opinion (a draft, so weigh it): I would start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and read The Magician’s Nephew second. Having read The Magician’s Nephew closely, I think its last chapter works best as a series of small reveals, and those only land if you already know the lamp-post and the wardrobe. That is a reading preference, not a rule. The Magician’s Nephew is short, and it stands on its own if you start there.
One more opinion: whichever book you open first, I would read The Horse and His Boy after the wardrobe book, since both orders place it later and its story follows on from that book’s era.
What The Magician’s Nephew Sets Up
This is the part that makes the order debate matter. Here is what The Magician’s Nephew plants for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, all taken from the text of The Magician’s Nephew, with chapter references. Spoilers are light: I leave out how Digory’s own story ends.
| Thread | What The Magician’s Nephew says | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| The Professor | Digory Kirke grows up to be “the famous Professor Kirke who comes into other books” | 3 |
| The lamp-post | Jadis tears an iron bar off a London lamp-post, and in the new world it grows into a lit lamp-post | 8, 9 |
| Lantern Waste | The lamp-post keeps shining, and the place becomes known as Lantern Waste | 15 |
| The snowy night | Many years later, a child from our world finds that light still burning “on a snowy night” | 15 |
| The wardrobe | A tree from Digory’s garden blows down, and part of the timber is made into a wardrobe | 15 |
| The Witch | Jadis flees “into the North of the world,” where she will keep “growing stronger in dark Magic” | 14 |
| Archenland | The second son of Narnia’s first king and queen becomes King of Archenland | 15 |
The wardrobe line is the big one. The last chapter says Digory, by then a Professor, had the wood made into a wardrobe for his big house in the country, and that someone else discovered its magic. The book calls that the beginning of the comings and goings between Narnia and our world (chapter 15).
The book never calls Jadis the White Witch, and it does not say what she does next. It only places her in the North, growing in power, and kept away from Narnia while the tree Digory planted keeps flourishing (chapter 14). If you read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe next, you will see where that thread goes.
Is The Magician’s Nephew a Good First Book?
It can be. It is the shortest route into the world: fifteen chapters and about 42,000 words by my count, and it explains itself. It also has a villain who stays with you, and a temptation scene that works at any age.
What you give up is surprise. Read first, The Magician’s Nephew tells you in advance where the lamp-post and the wardrobe come from, so those discoveries in the wardrobe book become recognition instead of mystery. Whether that is a loss is the whole argument.
Narnia Movies and Series by Book
Only four of the seven books have been or are being made into feature films. Here they are by book.
| Book | Film or series | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Walden Media) | 2005 |
| Prince Caspian | The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Walden Media) | 2008 |
| The Voyage of the Dawn Treader | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Walden Media) | 2010 |
| The Magician’s Nephew | Greta Gerwig’s Narnia film for Netflix | Reported: theaters and IMAX February 12, 2027; Netflix April 2, 2027 (as of October 2026) |
| The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Last Battle | No feature film released | As of November 2026 |
The three Walden Media films adapted the first three books in publication order. Gerwig’s film breaks that pattern by going back to the origin story. Before the films, the BBC adapted The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair as television serials from 1988 to 1990. Dates for the new film can change, so check the official release before you plan around it.
The Short Answer, Again
Seven books. Publication order starts with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) and ends with The Last Battle (1956). Chronological order starts with The Magician’s Nephew. Lewis reportedly leaned toward chronological order but said it did not matter much.
If you are starting with the origin story, my Magician’s Nephew primer walks through the rings, Charn, the founding of Narnia and the garden, so you know the setup before the film.
