Pastor Tracy Reads | The Narnia Code: C.S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens by Michael Ward

March 25, 2025 | Pastor Tracy Troxel

If you have never read C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia please stop reading this review immediately. Then, order the books and start reading the series. And, when you start reading the Chronicles of Narnia please read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first. Later, you can read The Magician’s Nephew, which serves as a prequel to the whole series. There are seven books in all. The series is great for children ages 8-12 and every parent should read these books to their children. Adults, you will enjoy these amazing stories as well.

Let us get back to the review. One of the debated aspects of this series is the way in which Lewis introduces a ‘hodgepodge’ of historical references and characters that upon a first read do not appear very well-coordinated. Literary critics have asserted all kinds of ‘imaginative plans’ that underly the books. Critics have attempted to demonstrate that Lewis was trying to link each book with the seven classical virtues of faith, hope, love, justice, prudence, temperance, and courage. Others have tried to show that each book focuses on one of the seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony,  greed, sloth, anger, envy, and pride. The author, Michael Ward, had at one time considered that the books related to various Shakesperean plays.

This book is the story of how Michael Ward believes he discovered the ‘imaginative plan’ that lies beneath each of the seven books. At Cambridge one evening, Michael Ward reads C.S. Lewis’s poem, ‘The Planets,’ and all at once the mystery of the Chronicles of Narnia begins to unfold. C.S. Lewis never revealed his ‘imaginative plan’ for the Chronicles of Narnia. Yet, Michael Ward makes a compelling case for what drives the themes of each of the seven books.

For those of you who love the Chronicles of Narnia and for those of you who will come to love the Chronicles of Narnia (once you read them) this is a stimulating book that will enhance your enjoyment of this great series.