The matter of the reading order of the Narnia series, in the context of the change in their publication order—from its original (beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) to the later adopted, now pervasive chronology-of-events order (beginning with The Magician's Nephew)—has been a matter of extensive discussion for many years.[33] The Lion... was originally published as the first book in the Chronicles, and most reprintings of the novels reflected that order, until departure with the Collins' "Fontana Lions" edition in 1980.[33]: 42 Change, however, had begun earlier—the listing of the books in the English Puffins editions as early as 1974 presented a list as a suggested reading order that placed Magician's first—and with the Collins' edition, the move to the chronological order, and the series opening with Magician's was formalised.[33]: 42 Walter Hooper, for one, was pleased with this, stating that the books could now be read in the order that Lewis' himself "said they should".[34] When HarperCollins presented its uniform, worldwide edition of the series in 1994, it also used this sequence, going so far as to state that its "editions of the Chronicles... have been numbered in compliance with the original wishes of the author, C.S. Lewis."[33]: 42–43
In a work of literary criticism, Imagination and the Arts in C. S. Lewis, scholar Peter J. Schakel calls into question the clarity and simplicity of these conclusions, citing a variety of evidence that oppose a singular view of a correct viewing order, pieces of evidence that include Lewis' own words. Laurence Krieg, a young fan, wrote to Lewis, asking him to adjudicate between his views of the correct sequence of reading the novels; he held to reading The Magician's... first, while his mother thought The Lion... should be read first. Lewis wrote back, stating support for the younger Krieg's views, but called rigid conclusions into question, stating: "I think I agree with your order... [but] perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone reads them."[33]: 42–43
"I think I agree with your order for reading the books more than with your mother's. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion, I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage, I felt quite sure it would be the last, but I found I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone reads them. I'm not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published."
—C. S. Lewis to Laurence Krieg, an American fan[35]
Schakel's writings go on to pointedly question the revised order in literary critical analyses that recognise the view of Hooper, documents such as the Krieg letter, as well as the commercial inclinations behind the creation of later editions of works in a unique order, but nevertheless argue strenuously with regard to the change in the "imaginative reading experience" in the later revised arrangement—the key difference being that, in the original publication order, the land of Narnia is carefully introduced in The Lion... (e.g., the children hearing the term and having to have it explained), whereas in The Magician's..., with its original publication second, has Narnia's mention appearing on the first page, without explanation; a similar disconnection in experience is noted with regard to how the central character Aslan is experienced in the two reading orders.[33]: 46–48 Schakel argues the matter through repeated further examples (e.g., the appearances of the lamppost, the delineation of the characters of the White Witch and Jadis, etc.), concluding that, "the 'new' arrangement may well be less desirable that the original".[33]: 49, 44 Writer Paul Ford likewise cites several scholars who have weighed in against the decision of HarperCollins to present the books in the order of their internal chronology,[36] and continues, "most scholars disagree with this decision and find it the least faithful to Lewis's deepest intentions".[37]
Critically, the reissue of the Puffin series in England, which was proceeding at the time of Lewis' death in 1963 (with three volumes out beginning with The Lion..., and the remaining four soon due) maintained the original order, with contemporary comments ascribed to Lewis—made to Kaye Webb, the editor of that imprint—suggesting he yet intended "to re-edit the books... [to] connect the things that didn't tie up".[33]: 44 [38] Regardless, as of January 2022, the publication order placing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe second in the series continues—in accord with Walter Hooper's perception of Lewis' intent, whether intended with or without further series changes—such that it remains the production design for the series as it is distributed worldwide.[33][39]
