C.S. Lewis Books: What Reading Order Is Best?

For C.S. Lewis, I propose the following reading order.

1. The Chronicles of Narnia in chronological order (not publishing order)
2. then, The Space Trilogy
3. the Stand-alone Novels after that
4. and then Short stories / Collections if you are a super-fan

Chronological order for The Chronicles of Narnia

This is the place to start if you are new to C.S. Lewis, and it’s also important to read these books in this chronological order, not publishing order.

The reason is that this is a better order because the story progresses through time. Publishing order jumps back and forth in time too much.

1. The Magician’s Nephew (1955) [Amazon]
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) [Amazon]
3. The Horse and His Boy (1954) [Amazon]
4. Prince Caspian (1951) [Amazon]
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) [Amazon]
6. The Silver Chair (1953) [Amazon]
7. The Last Battle (1956) [Amazon]

Publication Order For The Chronicles of Narnia

Do not read this series by publishing date! Chronological order is much better.

• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) [Amazon]
  • 9th best selling book in the world with 85 million copies sold (Source: Wikipedia)
• Prince Caspian (1951) [Amazon]
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) [Amazon]
• The Silver Chair (1953) [Amazon]
• The Horse and His Boy (1954) [Amazon]
• The Magician’s Nephew (1955) Amazon]
• The Last Battle (1956) [Amazon]

C.S. Lewis Space Trilogy

1. Out of the Silent Planet (1938) [Amazon]
2. Perelandra (aka Voyage to Venus) (1943) [Amazon]
3. That Hideous Strength (1945) [Amazon]

C.S. Lewis Stand-Alone Novels

• The Pilgrim’s Regress (1933) [Amazon]
• The Screwtape Letters (1942) [Amazon]
• The Great Divorce (1945) [Amazon]
• Till We Have Faces (1956) [Amazon]
• Screwtape Proposes a Toast (1961) [Amazon]
  • An addition to The Screwtape Letters
• The Dark Tower (1977) [Amazon]

C.S. Lewis Short Stories / Collections

• Ministering Angels (1958)
  • Short Story, Fantasy and Science Fiction
• Boxen: The Imaginary World of the Young C. S. Lewis (1985) [Amazon]
  • Collection of short stories. Published posthumously. Edited by Walter Hooper

A Brief Note About C.S. Lewis Non-Fiction

Did you know the bulk of C.S. Lewis’s writing was Non-Fiction?

It’s true! Here is the Non-fiction bibliography of C.S. Lewis on Wikipedia.

Your Thoughts?

Are you a huge fan? Have you just begun reading the books?

Which order is best?

Have your say in the comments below.