(Note: This book is an immediate sequel to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and while it can stand on its own as a complete story, it will be enjoyed more richly if the reader is familiar with characters from the previous three books in the series.)

In The Silver Chair, C. S. Lewis transports readers once again into the magical world of Narnia. In this story, the protagonists must undertake a daring rescue mission. The author uses the fantastical nature of the world to draw readers in, and the young age of the major heroes of the story make it especially appealing to the children who are its target audience. The world is so vividly and consistently imagined that the sense of immersion leaves readers feeling like they are exploring along with the young adventurers. As with all of Lewis’s works, this book is not only fun but contains lessons about friendship, goodness, heroism, and hope, but the moral lessons of the book are overshadowed by the believable and lovable characters and by the fast pace of the narrative. It is an entertaining book for children and for adults who enjoy a bit of heroism and gallantry in their fiction.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 2 religious exclamations; 1 mild obscenity.

Note: The word “ass” is used to refer to a foolish person, and this is not counted in the tally.

Violence/Gore: Report of a fight; characters threaten each other with a weapon a few times; a few verbal threats; animals and people hunt animals for food a few times; characters clean an animal (no details given); a comedic fight between allies; report of a talking animal begging for its life; a group of characters eat people (this is reported, not detailed); characters are chased by enemies; character suggests that killing himself would be noble  due to wrong actions he has taken; a fight in which characters are injured or killed with minimal description of blood; major property damage as part of a natural disaster; a character burns himself intentionally while helping others; a character dies of natural causes; children fight with other children in a non-bloody way in order to redress a wrong.

Sex/Nudity: None

Mature Subject Matter:

Children bully others at school (no details of how); murder (reported); facism (mentioned); death (parent, friend); suicide (mentioned, but in a culturally honorable context not as despair or a way “out”).

Alcohol/Drug Use:

Characters, including minors, drink wine and it is obvious that this is socially acceptable in the setting; an adult becomes drunk on liquor; an adult smokes tobacco; report of adults drinking beer.