The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe finishing the first novel. He completed the sequel by end of 1949, less than a year after finishing the initial book. "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" had few readers during 1949 and was not published until late in 1950, so his initial enthusiasm did not stem from favourable reception by the public. While Lewis is known today on the strength of the Narnia stories as a highly successful children’s writer, the initial critical response was muted. At the time it was fashionable for children's stories to be realistic; fantasy and fairy tales were seen as indulgent, appropriate only
The Chronicles of Narnia book: Lewis's interest in the literary symbolism of medieval and Renaissance astrology is more overtly referenced in other works such as his study of medieval cosmology "The Discarded Image", and in his early poetry as well as in "Space Trilogy". Narnia scholar Paul F. Ford finds Ward's assertion that Lewis intended "The Chronicles" to be an embodiment of medieval astrology implausible, though Ford addresses an earlier (2003) version of Ward's thesis (also called "Planet Narnia", published in the "Times Literary Supplement"). Ford argues that Lewis did not start with a coherent plan for the books, but Ward's book answers this