Book Reading Order?

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Carthage

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Sep 11, 2004
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Okay, so I'm wanting to read two different series. I'd like to read Tom Clancy's books as well as Lewis' Narnia series.

I am now aware that both were published out of chronological order.
Should I read them in the order they were published or read them along their timeline?

I found a link to the different orders of Clancy's books. It's here.
 
I haven't read all of Tom Clancy's books, but I'm pretty sure that C.S. Lewis' Narnia books were published in order. I have a boxed set, and it looks like he published one a year between 1950 and 1956. The order is:

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 Magicians Nephew; 1955

The Last Battle; 1956
 
I was under the impression that The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was actually the second book according to the story chronology.
 
This page has some pretty good information concerning chronology of "The Chronicles of Narnia". One way is chronological for the events within the books, the other is based upon publication dates.

I grew up reading them according to Nixelplix's (which is according to publication date), and had no problems. For children, "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" probably is the easiest place to start.
 
Ok, so I guess I have read all of Tom Clancys books, at least the Jack Ryan ones. I read them in more or less the published order.
Without remorse is a good one, and it doesnt matter when you read it, as it just provides the background story of John Clark, the CIA operative. It actually made reading it better already knowing about the character from "later" books. It takes place during the Vietnam war.
The First TC book I read was "Red Storm Rising", which isnt included in the list you posted, but was his second novel.
I would say if I could do it all over, it would be nice to read them in storyline order.
 
Deadhead Archer said:
This page has some pretty good information concerning chronology of "The Chronicles of Narnia". One way is chronological for the events within the books, the other is based upon publication dates.

I grew up reading them according to Nixelplix's (which is according to publication date), and had no problems. For children, "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" probably is the easiest place to start.
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That page does have some very interesting information. I was completely unaware of the stories' chronology. Its been about 20 years since I read the set, and seeing how there is a new Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe movie comming out (I wonder if they will do the whole series?) this seems like a good time to read it again. Now to figure out which order I want to read it in....
 
I don't know about those books, but if I was going to show someone Star Wars, I would definitely show them by release date for these reasons:

A) I don't want to put them to sleep with George Lucas trying to market to little kids (a guy slices open an animal to use as a shelter, cuts a snow creature in half after showing it feasting on flesh, has a beheading sequence, a guy getting his hand cut off, a guy getting cut in half, a man getting his neck broken with one hand, countless people being shot, a man being eaten by a Rancor, a Rancor getting crushed by a door, a giant slug being asphyxiated with a chain, people being devoured by a giant oriface in the sand, people being electrically tortured, another guy getting his hand chopped off albeit mechanical, and I could go on but according to him they've always been kids movies).

B) If you watch Revenge of the Sith and then A New Hope, the special effects contrast might not look very chronological.
 
You probably know this by now, but the Chronicles of Narnia is being made into a movie/movies.
 
Carthage, are you aware that C.S. Lewis is considered to have been on of the 20th Century's great Christian thinkers and that his "Chronicles of Narnia" are extended Christian parables? I have read them several times and love them, but I am a Christian and enjoy the themes, but I have met those who have objected to this aspect of the books. This is not so much a warning as a notice.

I am curious as a magpie to see how they handle the Christian themes in the movie version. How do they handle Aslan, for example?
 
I have read most of the Clancy books (the Jack Ryan ones, as others have mentioned) and read the Narnia books years ago. I would not suggest to anyone that they sit down and read nothing but Clancy books one after the other. They are good books but a lot of them are very repetitive and IMO they are less enjoyable if read all in a row. I suggest this because I read the first 4 or 5 in a row and by the 3rd or 4th book I was having trouble keeping up my enthusiasm. After I took a break, I enjoyed them more. Maybe it's just me.

The Narnia books are much shorter and would take much less time to read. Though there is Christian allegory in the books, they are well written and can be enjoyed by Christians and people with other beliefs as well.
 
The Chronicles of Narnia should be a fast read. They're short, and move fast-read one a day, and you're done in a week. Didn't know they were making movies of them-that might be pretty cool.
I love Clancy books. The nonfiction ones sometimes drag, but are (or because they are) detailed and informative.
Gotta agree with Paul about not reading a bunch of them back to back, though. Ludlum, Koontz, Clancy...it's not like there's a shortage of good action/suspense books out there, but they all get a little repetitive and predictable when you read the same author over and over.
Without Remorse is my favorite, too. I'd love to see it as a movie, and at the same time would hate to see how they chop it up making it into one.

"Your heart rate is 195."
"What's the record?"
"Zero."
:D
 
FullerH said:
Carthage, are you aware that C.S. Lewis is considered to have been on of the 20th Century's great Christian thinkers and that his "Chronicles of Narnia" are extended Christian parables? I have read them several times and love them, but I am a Christian and enjoy the themes, but I have met those who have objected to this aspect of the books. This is not so much a warning as a notice.

I am curious as a magpie to see how they handle the Christian themes in the movie version. How do they handle Aslan, for example?
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Thanks. I am very aware of Lewis' Christianity. If I'm not mistaken, Tokein had quite a bit to do with Lewis' conversion. So far, the only fiction I have read of Lewis is The Screwtape Letters which I thought was fascinating.
Mere Christianity changed my life and A Grief Observed may be the best book I've ever read about dealing with death and dying.
I too am curious how Hollywood handles Lewis. I think that the allegory of LOTR was handled fairly well, and if attempted, I think The Chronicles of Narnia could also be well done.
 
Carthage said:
Thanks. I am very aware of Lewis' Christianity. If I'm not mistaken, Tokein had quite a bit to do with Lewis' conversion.
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Tolkien is said to have had some influence on Lewis' "return to Christianity." Also of importance is that Tolkien and Lewis were foundng members of a group of writers called 'The Inklings,' which met at a local pub on Tuesday evenings to discuss ideas, philosophy, theology and writing in general over "a pint or two." Many of Lewis' and Tolkiens' ideas about their famous books were hashed out at these informal meetings. It seems to have done a lot of good. :)
 
Paul Davidson said:
I have read most of the Clancy books (the Jack Ryan ones, as others have mentioned) and read the Narnia books years ago. I would not suggest to anyone that they sit down and read nothing but Clancy books one after the other. They are good books but a lot of them are very repetitive and IMO they are less enjoyable if read all in a row. I suggest this because I read the first 4 or 5 in a row and by the 3rd or 4th book I was having trouble keeping up my enthusiasm. After I took a break, I enjoyed them more. Maybe it's just me.
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I can see how that could be a problem. I was always sitting around forever waiting for the next installment to come out, so I never got bored, except by the waiting, of course. I read tons of other stuff in between, so It was always fresh reading for me.
 
Tolkien and Lewis were dons at Oxford together and were drinking buddies. When Lewis' beloved wife died, Lewis had a deep faith crisis, as you probably know. Tolkien, a devout Roman Catholic, helped his Anglican friend through that crisis and the result was C.S. Lewis, the great Christian thinker. Lewis had a chance to return the favor in the 1950s(?) when Tolkien could not find a publisher even willing to read the manuscript of his epic fantasy trilogy and Lewis sent a copy of the manuscript to his agent with a letter praising it. This was enough to get Tolkien a fair reading at a major publishing house and the rest is history.

BTW, I have had a copy of The Screwtape Letters since my teen years and have loved it all this time. It is delightful and thought-provoking, both at the same time.
 
Clancy's best book, by far, was The Hunt for Red October, in which Jack Ryan played a minor role. His next best are, equally, Red Storm Rising, not a part of the Jack Ryan canon, Clear and Present Danger except for the idiot concept of landing an MH-53J Pave Low helicopter on a Coast Guard cutter during a Class III hurricane, and Sum of All Fears which has a lesson that is especxially appropriate today. His more recent fiction, since Debt of Honor is too long, too pompous, and too self-important to be enjoyable.
 
FullerH said:
BTW, I have had a copy of The Screwtape Letters since my teen years and have loved it all this time. It is delightful and thought-provoking, both at the same time.
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FullerH, I've never liked 'The Screwtape Letters' much, But, I literally have a book shelf full of Lewis' work, including probably all of his essays, novels and stories. All of it is fascinating. He was a brilliant writer and thinker.
 
I've not read the Narnia books yet although I have read Lewis's "cosmic Trilogy"
consisting of "Out of the silent Planet", "Perelandra" and "That Hideous Strength". The trilogy is a great read, even if you don't share Lewis's philosophical/theological outlook. :thumbup: :) .
As to the Clancy books, not read 'em all, but I did enjoy "The Sum Of All Fears" and "Rainbow Six".
 
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