Narnian78, I don't have a particular interest in Carl Sagan and I've never seen either show, but thanks.

@Lady-Merian,

Fellow NarniaWebbers,

I am delighted to share that I am the proud owner of my very own boxed set of the Chronicles of Narnia, at long last! Unfortunately when I moved out on my own I had to say goodbye to my family's boxed set.  My sister surprised me by finding a second-hand but unopened set just like it! Best. Christmas. Ever.

Can't wait to do a read-through very soon!

Did anyone else here order the new edition of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?  I ordered it with a gift card that I received during the holiday season.  I didn’t think the price was too bad considering that the book has color illustrations by Pauline Baynes, and it looks like it has a very nice binding.  Of course it is only one of the seven books, but it looks like it is a very good quality edition. It will be interesting when it is published in June, although it is a long time to wait for a Christmas present!  🙂

https://www.narniaweb.com/2025/12/harpercollins-announces-new-deluxe-edition-of-the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe-for-2026/

Posted by: @narnian78

Did anyone else here order the new edition of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

No, but I am very tempted by this 75th anniversary edition with Baynes' Aslan on the cover rather than a modern lion graphic. I think it's lovely. 

I decided to hop on and plug one of my most favorite books and share a special book I got for Christmas. 

I think lovers of Narnia (which we all are, obviously) would love the book Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery. 

The Amazon blurb says this: British airman Dym Ingleford is convinced that the young German prisoner, Max Eckermann, is his brother Anthony, who was kidnapped years before. Raised in the Nazi ideology, Tony has by chance tumbled into British hands. Dym has brought him back, at least temporarily, to the family he neither remembers nor will acknowledge as his own. As Tony keeps attempting to escape, his stubborn anger is whittled away by the patient kindness he finds at the White Priory. Then, just as he is resigning himself to stay with this English family, a new chance suddenly opens for him to return home-to Germany!"

The cool part is that it is a contemporary WWII story written by a British author. It was written in the time in which it was set, though the plot is fictional, it is authentic in it's dipiction of WWII England, the rationing, air raids, evacuees, and threat of invasion. The author knew firsthand what she was writing about, so it is authentic and genuine in depicting what our beloved Pevinsies were also going through.

Like many other beloved stories, it has beautiful prose about life, love, and the beautiful English countryside. It is very Christian in the idea of being pursued relentlessly by love. I can't praise it enough. 

Now on to the special Christmas gift, I have read one other book by the above author, The Reb and the Redcoats. Unfortunately, these two are her only books currently in print (thanks to the publisher, Bethlehem Books). I have been wanting to read more, specifically the one called "Emeralds for the King." The British publication, called simply "Green Emeralds", was largely lost due to a warehouse fire caused by WWII bombing, and is very difficult to find. The American edition shows up occasionally. I told a friend about the book, and she set up a notification on a used books site to let her know if it ever became available. It finally did, and she bought it for me! I am so excited to read it. The really cool part? It was published in 1945 and contains a notice: "This complete copyright edition is produced in full compliance with the Government's regulations for conserving paper and other essential materials." It is the first time I have owned a book with that WWII notice in it. I would really like to own a first edition of "Enemy Brothers" with the same. 

Some people see theology in the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery:

https://medium.com/the-new-counterculture/the-theology-of-anne-of-green-gables-963bcb81773e

This is a unique point of view but an intriguing one. They are very wholesome books which every child should read. The books are unique in children’s literature.

@narnian78 

thanks for sharing - that was really uplifting 🙂 

Tomorrow I will visit Hatchards Book Shop in central London. I was referred to it, two years ago, when looking for a nice hardback set of LOTR.
Now I'm looking for a good hardback set of the Chronicles of Narnia. I do have four books that are reproductions/facsimiles of the first editions (2x LWW, 1 PC and something else). But I have no other hardback ones. If I find ones I like, I'll have them posted to my home. (My suitcase is heavy enough) 

@davidd 

You’re very welcome. I had never thought of theology being in the Anne of Green Gables books so the article was a revelation to me.  🙂

Congrats on getting your own set of CoN, @Glenwit! Which covers are they?

@Anfinwen, there are at least a few of us who have read and enjoyed some of Constance Savery's works! I'm glad you were able to finally get a copy of Emeralds for the King - I was able to borrow a copy via ILL years ago, but have never seen one for sale (actually, I don't think I've seen any of Savery's books for sale in-person before). I've read all three you mentioned, but Enemy Brothers is my favourite of them. I hope you enjoy Emeralds for the King!

@coracle, was your bookstore visit successful?

@valiantarcher I didn't find a set of hardbacks, although there were some separates with very heavy covers!

I'll try to find it on Amazon.

Posted by: @anfinwen

I think lovers of Narnia (which we all are, obviously) would love the book Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery. 

I have been wanting to read more, specifically the one called "Emeralds for the King." 

 

Emeralds for the King was the first Constance Savery book I ever got.  My copy is not an original edition (or maybe it is, but I don't think so) and heavily water damaged, but since I read for content, not condition, it doesn't really matter. I've been fortunate enough to have collected all of her available works, with Enemy Brothers and Up a Winding Stair (another WWII story) being two of my favourites.  Except it's hard to choose a favourite, because each of the books has its own merits. (Almost as bad as having to choose a favourite author: What! choose one author?)

Some of you will have found the site constancesavery.com, which has a very thorough and exhaustive bibliography. I find it almost too much, though, reading the synopses of all the manuscripts that didn't get published, because they look so interesting.  Maybe one of these days I'll make it down to Oregon, where most of these are held at the university. (Savery's literary heir was American.)

@aileth I have used that website a lot to find out about her other books! I don't think I remember noticing "The Winding Stair." I'll have to keep a lookout for that one! I didn't know the manuscripts were in Oregon, so that is cool information too. I am keeping an eye out for "Dark House on the Moss" because it sounds intriguing. If you have any other favorites, I'd love to hear them.

@anfinwen

Yes, Dark House on the Moss is really good.  There's a certain wistful quality, as I'd call it, to Savery's writing, and this one also has some of her classic themes: a stern but misunderstood guardian, longstanding alienation of family members, and a difficult moral decision that haunts the orphaned child protagonist.  It doesn't contain the other common element--twins or triplets.

It might be easy enough to find copies of Meg Plays Fair and Young Elizabeth Green, in my opinion the very best of the younger children's fiction she wrote, as well as The Reb and the Redcoats (mentioned earlier). Scarlet Plume (religious persecution in France) and Rebel Jacqueline (fille du roi sent to Canada) are both period fiction also.  And then there's Nicholas Chooses White May, and.... Rats! there's too many to mention all the ones I like!

There is one more that's readily available--Emma, by Charlotte Brontë and another lady. Brontë wrote a fragment (the first two chapters, I believe) and the other lady was Constance.  Quite enjoyable, and published fairly recently.

@aileth You just named most of the ones I want to read 😀 along with "The Good Ship Red Lily." I have found a lot of those on eBay, but mostly coming from the UK with a large shipping fee. I didn't know about the Bronte connection, how fascinating!

Edit: I couldn't help myself. I hopped on Ebay and grabbed Jacqueline, Elizabeth and Meg, lol.

"Dark House on the Moss" still doesn't seem to be available anywhere. 😢 

"Scarlet Plume" runs rather expensive. 

Posted by: @anfinwen

@aileth You just named most of the ones I want to read 😀 along with "The Good Ship Red Lily." I have found a lot of those on eBay, but mostly coming from the UK with a large shipping fee.

"Dark House on the Moss" still doesn't seem to be available anywhere. 😢 

"Scarlet Plume" runs rather expensive. 

The Good Ship Red Lily is the same story as Flight to Freedom.  Or at least, much the same.  Apparently Tenthragon and Forbidden Doors are the same also, except with a significant change to the ending.  I have the former, but would like to find a copy of Forbidden Doors, if only to compare them.  Alas, I, too, wince at the cost.

I had to wait some years to get Dark House; it was close to the last on my list.  Fortunately, I got most of my collection before the shipping soared (almost typed soured, which might be appropriate); at the time, it was cheaper to order from England than to ship within Canada.