Fantastic full-audio cast production of an amazing series
"Focus on the Family" is always a bit tough for me, because while I strongly disagree with their political stance, I dearly love their Radio Theater productions. Along with groups like the ZBS Foundation's Jack Flanders and Ruby: The Adventures of a Galactic Gumshoe series, FOTF is one of the few producers of high quality radio drama in the US. There is the dilemma that purchasing their product puts money in their coffers to further their political agenda, but in the end I am buying the product, not the point-of-view. This complete "Chronicles of Narnia" is just an amazing production, and an incredible deal. For the low price you get all seven books in the Narnia series, done in full-cast audio productions. Each book has between 2-3 CDs depending on the length. That is an astounding twenty-two hours of audio adventure for less than twenty dollars. I actually owned the FOTF production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe separately which I bought for about the same price as this entire series. FOTF did everything right with their adaptation, including hiring British actors for the children There have been some complaints about the choice of David Suchet for Aslan, and his way of portraying the character, but I personally thought he was an excellent match, with a deep imperious voice. His intonation is rhythmic, which I think adds to the supernatural nature of the character as opposed to the human children. Each episode is given an introduction by Douglas Gresham, CS Lewis's stepson, who talks about his personal memories of each story and gives delightful background of their creation and publication. I really enjoyed his introductions, and felt that this "special feature" added quite a bit to the whole production. I realize when I got this set that, while I love several of the books in "The Chronicles of Narnia," I had never actually read the entire series. Somehow I made it through childhood without reading "The Horse and His Boy," "The Silver Chair" and "The Last Battle," although I devoured the other books multiple times. It was nice to revisit the land of Narnia again, and to get all the stories this time. Listening to this excellent radio production has made me want to go back and read the books again, and this time read them all. On a side note: I am impressed that FOTF does not take the opportunity to sell a political message with this series. The text is true to the author, which includes Christian themes, but they are not overly emphasized nor to Douglas Gresham's introductions touch on these points. The stories are presented as the classics they are, enjoyable by everyone regardless of politics or religion. Read more
