Just Finished Reading Prince Caspian (Again)

I never did see the film adaptation to C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia story Prince Caspian, but I have read the book three times.  I suppose that I might want to see if Netflix has it and see for myself how the movie stacks up against the book...and how much they changed it to make it look better on the screen.  Prince Caspian was originally the second book released in this series, although chronologically the events place it as the fourth book...and that's the order I'm using to reread this series.

It's been centuries since the legendary Narnian Golden Age of the Two Kings and Two Queens.  But Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy have only aged one year since their return to the planet Earth after their The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Horse and His Boy adventures.  The four are about to board a train together when they are summoned back, out of thin air, to Narnia by Prince Caspian, who is fleeing for his life from his cruel, usurping uncle.  Caspian, you see, is the legitimate heir to the kingdom of Narnia...his supporters refer to him already as "King Caspian".  Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy find themselves suddenly back at the castle from which they reigned earlier...and it's in ruins now and is on an island, separated after so many years from the mainland and reputed to be a haunt for ghosts.  Then they rescue a dwarf from execution, after which he fills them in on Caspian's plight.  From this point the story forks into two narratives: Caspian's tale as told by the dwarf and the efforts of the Four to reach him and aid in fighting back. 

As in all of the Chronicles of Narnia stories, the great lion lord Aslan makes his indispensable appearance...first to ever-faithful Lucy and then to the other doubting three.  Aslan leads them all to victory over the oppressors, who as it turns out are not native to Narnia in the first place.  The peculiar life forms, such as talking animals and dancing trees, that had been driven into hiding by the usurper, are once again welcomed back into the kingdom as full citizens. But although Aslan expects the "good guys" to put in the effort and be willing to make the necessary sacrifices in this struggle, ultimately it is he who determines victory.  And as in The Horse and His Boy, at the end he delivers his own special brand of justice to the vanquished.

I felt that the story Prince Caspian was the weakest of all the Narnia tales as far as the plot was concerned.  Lewis seemed instead to be much more interested in describing the world of Narnia and its special creatures in great detail.  I'm not sure how this translates to film, but I'm looking forward to finding out.  Speaking of Narnian film adaptations, the book Voyage of the Dawn Treader has also been made into a movie.  And it also happens to be the next book in the series I'm going to read...