I had vague recollections of reading this when I was a kid, and vague recollections of everyone thinking it was really great. I tend not to be drawn in by the recent vogue of children’s books as novels for adults (i.e. I read the first Harry Potter book but nearly fell asleep), however I chose to read this classic because of its physics bent and its strong female protagonist.

I liked it, I didn’t love it. I appreciated the character development. I didn’t like those things that make it a kids book (hey, I know, not its fault!), like pedantic, over-simplified motives and somewhat predictable fantasy mechanisms. I also didn’t have much love for the religious overtones. C.S. Lewis, however, proves that religious allegories don’t have to ruin a perfectly fun kids’ book, and here, again, they don’t. I had fun with this book and could see myself reading the rest of the series, just maybe not right away.

Rating: ***1/2 (out of *****)