The Magician's Nephew

The Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe. Thus it is an early example of a prequel. The novel is initially set in London in 1900. The principal characters are two pre-adolescent children, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer. Digory also appeared as Professor Kirke from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by which time he was a grown man in his sixties. The pair have adventures after being transported to other worlds by the sorcerous experiments of Digory's Uncle Andrew. It features the genesis of Narnia and the introduction of Jadis (aka The White Witch), antagonist of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, into the newly created Narnia. While begun shortly after The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it took Lewis nearly six years to complete, and includes several autobiographical elements from Lewis's own life. It explores a number of themes with general moral and Christian implications including atonement, original sin, temptation, and the order of nature.