Prince Caspian (1951)

I've read this so many time I suppose I should write a review eventually. So here's my thoughts after my 2019 re-read:

This time around I would rate the book 4 stars, but since I've loved it for so long it would still average to 5. There are a few reasons for this lowered rating. First, I tend to get bored during the Caspian-flashback-as-told-by-Trumpkin. Second, I get so mad at the way C.S. Lewis wrote Susan in this book. Some of her comments and suggestions were quite reasonable, but nearly everything she says was dismissed as "too like a grown-up," and forgetting the fact that they were grown-ups in Narnia before. Also, Susan acting like a grown-up was bad, but Peter and Edmund were expected to be grown-up (aka "more like kings") and that was good.

Still. Even with the things I get mad at about this book, I still enjoy it. I just don't think I'll be re-reading it as frequently as I might otherwise. ( )

For me, "Prince Caspian" isn't one of the highlights of the Narnia series. Although it continues the journey of the Pevensie children, it seems like relatively bog-standard fantasy fare, with new characters who I actually find don't enhance the story that much. "The Magician's Nephew" suggested there were so many worlds out there, and this - while not a bad story, by any means - doesn't take much advantage of Lewis' imagination, beyond a few funny incidents. Perhaps I'm just not interested in the more standard fantasy tropes that appear here. ( )

Genealogical Research; Reference; Family History Guides

interesting ( )

This novel in the Narnia series did not particularly do it for me. It seemed a bit forced, stoic, and unmoving. For this reason, I am not giving it a high rating.

2 stars. ( )