the lion book review

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Review: (The) Lion by Conn Iggulden

• September 30, 2022
• Roelia Reads

About the book

(via Penguin Books SA )

After the Gods.

After the Myths and Legends came the world of Men.

In their front rank stood Pericles. The Lion of the Golden Age.

Experience the epic battlefields of Ancient Greece with the master storyteller Conn Iggulden

My thoughts

I decided to pick up this book, because I have a friend who is a huge Conn Iggulgen fan. With an interest in historical fiction, and knowing that Conn is one of the “OGs” of the genre, I was keen to read this new release. And, bonus, it is the first in what is set up to be a two-book series.

There is some discussion about the title as well – it is noted at “The Lion” on some websites, but I’ve listened to a fascinating interview with the author on the “ Aspects of History ” podcast where he noted the title to be “Lion”.

This book follows, Pericles, who is also referred to “The First Citizen of Athens”, from a young man for the period of about a decade. Being eager to please and impress his father, Xanthippus, we see him grow into a reputable leader and strategist. He is a complex and flawed character, so to watch his development is quite exciting.

It also gives you a fascinating insight into the day-by-day activities during that period in history. As it should be, the author’s attention to detail and research is seriously impressive.

“It was not that authority came without crushing weight, just that the alternative was living at another’s whim.”

This will be an enjoyable read for anyone with an interest in history, military strategy, and the ancient world!

Read an extract here: The Lion by Conn Iggulden (Penguin Random House SA)

RRR (Roelia Reads Rating) 4/5

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Series or standalone: Series (book one of two)

Format: Paperback

About the Author: Conn Iggulden (Goodreads)

Thank you to Penguin Random House SA for the opportunity to read this book.

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A Summary and Analysis of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , published in 1950, was the first of the seven Chronicles of Narnia to be published. The book became an almost instant classic, although its author, C. S. Lewis, reportedly destroyed the first draft after he received harsh criticism on it from his friends and fellow fantasy writers, including J. R. R. Tolkien.

How should we analyse The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe : as Christian allegory, as wish-fulfilment fantasy, or as something else? Before we embark on an analysis of the novel, it might be worth briefly recapping the plot.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe : summary

The novel is about four siblings – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie – who are evacuated from London during the Second World War and sent to live with a professor in the English countryside. One day, Lucy discovers that one of the wardrobes in the house contains a portal through to another world, a land covered in snow.

Soon after arriving there, she (quite literally) bumps into a faun (half-man, half-goat) named Mr Tumnus, who takes her to his house and gives her tea while he tells her about the land she has wandered into. Its name is Narnia, and it is always winter (but never Christmas) ever since the White Witch cast a spell over the land. Indeed, Tumnus confesses to Lucy that he should report Lucy’s presence in Narnia to the White Witch, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he helps her find her way back to the portal so she can return home.

When Lucy gets back and tells her three siblings about her adventure in Narnia, none of them believes her – although Edmund, intrigued, follows her into the wardrobe when she goes back there and finds himself in Narnia, where he meets the White Witch. She gives him Turkish Delight and he tells her about himself and his brother and sisters. She tells him she will make him a prince if he persuades his other siblings to come with him to Narnia.

However, when Edmund talks to Lucy about where they’ve been, and he learns that the White Witch is bad news, he denies that Narnia even exists when Lucy is telling Peter and Susan about it. He accuses her of lying. But eventually all four of them go through the wardrobe into Narnia. When Lucy takes them to visit Mr Tumnus, however, they find that he has been arrested.

The children are befriended by Mr and Mrs Beaver, from whom they learn more information about Narnia. There is a prophecy that when two boys and two girls become Kings and Queens of Narnia, the White Witch will lose her power over the land; this is why the White Witch was so keen to lure the children to Narnia, with Edmund’s help, so she can destroy them and ensure the prophecy does not come true. The Beavers also tell the children that Aslan, the great lion, is on the move, and that he is due to return.

Edmund slips away from them and goes to the White Witch, telling her everything he knows. She takes him to the Stone Table, where Aslan is due to reappear, and orders her servants (wolves) to track down Edmund’s siblings and kill them so the prophecy cannot come true. Mr and Mrs Beaver take the other three children to the Stone Table to meet Aslan.

The snow in Narnia is melting, and Father Christmas appears: proof that the White Witch’s spell over the land is losing its power. Father Christmas gives Lucy, Peter, and Susan presents which will help them in their quest. They arrive at the Stone Table and meet Aslan. The White Witch’s wolf captain Maugrim approaches the camp and attacks Susan, but Peter, armed with the sword Father Christmas gave him, saves his sister and kills the wolf.

The White Witch arrives, and she and Aslan discuss her right to execute Edmund for treason, invoking ‘Deep Magic from the Dawn of Time’. Edmund is spared, but that night the children witness the White Witch putting Aslan to death on the Stone Table. Aslan has gone willingly to his death, in order to save Edmund.

However, the children are surprised and relieved when, the following morning, Aslan comes back to life, citing ‘Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time’, which means that a willing victim who sacrificed himself in place of a traitor can be brought back from death. Aslan and the children march to battle against the Witch, with Aslan raising additional troops for his army by breathing on the stone statues in the White Witch’s castle courtyard: traitors she had turned to stone with her magic.

Many years pass. The four Pevensie children have grown into young adults, and have been Kings and Queens of Narnia (reigning jointly) for many years. One day, while they are out hunting the White Stag (which, when caught, can grant wishes), they ride to the lamppost where Lucy first met Mr Tumnus: the location of the portal leading to and from their (and our) world.

Without realising this, the four of them pass through the portal and find themselves back in the wardrobe in the professor’s house. They are children again, as they were before they left all those years ago: time hasn’t passed in our world while they have been away.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe : analysis

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a classic children’s novel which looks back to both earlier fantasy fiction by Victorian writers like William Morris and George MacDonald (the latter a particular influence on C. S. Lewis) as well as pioneering children’s novels by E. Nesbit.

Indeed, the Pevensie children were partly inspired by Nesbit’s Bastable children, who feature in a series of her novels, including The Story of the Treasure Seekers . Nesbit, however, had also written portal fantasy novels (as had George MacDonald, such as his 1895 novel Lilith ) involving children leaving our world behind for a fantastical other world: see her novel The Magic City , for example.

Say ‘ Chronicles of Narnia ’ or ‘ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ’ and many people will say, ‘Oh, the C. S. Lewis book(s) that are Christian allegory, right?’

But C. S. Lewis didn’t regard them as allegory: ‘In reality,’ he wrote, Aslan ‘is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, “What might Christ become like if there really were a world like Narnia, and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?” This is not allegory at all.’

In short, Lewis rejects the idea that his Narnia books are allegory because, for them to qualify as allegorical, Aslan would have to ‘represent’ Jesus. But he doesn’t: he is Jesus, if Narnia existed and a deity decided to walk among the people of that world. We might think of this as something like the distinction between simile and metaphor: simile is like allegory, because one thing is like something else, whereas in metaphor, one thing is the other thing.

Aslan is not like Jesus (allegory): he is Jesus’ equivalent in Narnia. Perhaps this is a distinction without a difference to many readers, but it’s worth bearing in mind that if anyone should know what allegory is, it’s C. S. Lewis: he wrote a whole scholarly work, The Allegory of Love , about medieval and Renaissance allegory.

Readers might quibble over Lewis’s categorisation here, and decide that what he is outlining is a distinction without a difference (perhaps clouded by his Christianity, and his unwillingness to see his children’s books as ‘mere’ allegory for Christianity, but instead as something more direct and powerful).

But if we stick with mid-twentieth-century fiction and animals for a moment, we can find an example of unequivocal allegory: George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945), which we have analysed here . Certainly, there are subtle differences between Orwell’s novel in which animal characters ‘stand in’ for human counterparts, and what Lewis is doing with Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia .

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is, nevertheless, a novel in which Lewis draws on the Christian story of salvation through a godlike figure (Aslan’s sacrifice on the Stone Table, and subsequent resurrection, are clearly meant to summon the Crucifixion and subsequent Resurrection of Jesus Christ), in order to promote the Christian story. But what if we aren’t ‘sold’ on the Christian aspect of the story? Does the novel’s only value lie in its power as an allegory – or whatever term we might employ instead of allegory?

Part of the reason for the novel’s broader appeal, even in an increasingly secular age, is that it provides escapism and wish-fulfilment aplenty. The whole idea of a portal to another world symbolises the children’s literal escape from a dreary wartime world (where the danger of being bombed during the Blitz has given way to a rather dull life in the countryside with a professor) into a world of crisp snow, magic, and adventure.

Although The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was published five years after the end of the Second World War, children in the early 1950s were still living through a time of rationing and austerity. Even that Turkish Delight that Edmund is given – his thirty pieces of silver to betray his siblings, of course – must have seemed like an almost unattainable treat to Lewis’s original readers.

Even the device with which the novel ends, by which the four children learn that during the years they have spent in Narnia, no time has passed back home, recalls the force of a powerful dream whereby we feel we have ‘lived’ an intense, and intensely long, experience only to wake up and discover it’s only the next morning after all.

5 thoughts on “A Summary and Analysis of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis”

Fascinating post. Curious that a modern counterpart Philip Pullman loathes and detests the works of C S Lewis.

Read it as a kid, and remains a favorite. As a kid, I never saw the Jesus connection, it wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized it. I love Turkish delight and can understand why Edmund was so tempted. I enjoyed this post.

I think this story must have combined with The Stream that stood Still and Alice in Wonderland to give me the inspiration for my new “Penny ” books as these are also a portal to another land stories with a time slip. Instead of a Christian background I have an ecological one but hope children will find them just as exciting.”Penny down the Drain” is out now and “Penny and the Poorly Parrot,” ( inspired by the pandemic) will be followed by “Penny and The Creeping Weed.” Amazon seem determined to ignore a self published author but I shall renew my marketing efforts with book 2 after the lockdown.

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You’re absolutely right to point out that this isn’t allegory. It is a fictional story featuring Jesus in another world setting which is exactly what Lewis does with the ‘Out of the Silent Planet’ trilogy too – where he attempts to move the traditional Earth-centric ideology of the Christian world into our solar system. How would Christ behave with aliens, is the question Lewis poses there.

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Book Review: The Lion’s Gate, by Steven Pressfield

The Lion’s Gate: On the Front Lines of the Six Day War , by Steven Pressfield, Sentinel, New York, 2014, $29.95

One of the great ironies of modern warfare is the Israel Defense Forces’ admiration of the decisive tactic employed by Nazi German forces as they blew past mainland European defenders during World War II. Given Israel’s small size and lack of depth, it makes perfect sense.

In June 1967 Israel was surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned by Arab forces looking to destroy it. Yet its dedication to blitzkrieg and its own concept of en brera (“no alternative”) produced decisive victory on multiple fronts in six days.

The story, author Steven Pressfield acknowledges, has been told and retold. Pressfield’s new book, The Lion’s Gate , takes the reader through the war in a new and unusual fashion, cobbling together a patchwork of first-person accounts into narratives that offer insight as to what participants were thinking as well as doing. Early scene-setting passages drag in spots, but once the action begins, the author sets a nimble pace. The recollections, presented in historical present tense, have a vivid immediacy, and you’ll find the book impossible to set down.

“To pull the crew out of a burning tank, a man must go in face-first,” recalls Tani Geva, a recon trooper. “He reaches in with his hands and arms. The tank crewmen are screaming in pain and out of their minds with fear. The interior burns like a furnace. High-explosive shells are cooking half a meter from their face. When you witness this, when you do it yourself, you cannot believe it.”

Pressfield doesn’t only quote participants who survived the conflict. In a controversial tack he also blends some recollections with speeches and passages from the published works of his subjects. He takes greatest license with Israel’s central figure in the war, Lt. Gen. Moshe Dayan, who became the country’s minister of defense on the eve of the fighting. Pressfield never interviewed Dayan, who died in 1981. Instead, employing the general’s writings, speeches and interviews with family and contemporaries, Pressfield has created a fresh narrative that boils down and captures the essence of what the author imagines Dayan saying, as if the author had been there to record them.

Pressfield acknowledges the leap. “I have made every effort to be as true to the historical Moshe Dayan as my limitations of knowledge and imagination permit,” he writes at the outset. Yet, he adds, “I have at some points crossed the line into pure speculation.” Pressfield terms it “hybrid history.”

Purists will blanch. But the result is a highly readable and illuminating story that doesn’t pretend to be a blow-by-blow account. It is a series of moments in time that provide an often-gripping account of what it was like to be leading and fighting during the Six-Day War—both as a professional combatant and as an Israeli citizen fighting to preserve the young nation.

—William H. McMichael

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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia | Book Review

Book Review of  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia The Children’s Book Review

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia

Written by C.S. Lewis

Ages: 8+ | 206 Pages

Publisher: HarperCollins | ISBN-13: 978-0060234812

What to Expect: Fantasy, Classic Literature, Adventure, Mythical Creatures, and Enchanted Landscapes.

C.S. Lewis’s timeless classic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , is a captivating tale that weaves together the magic of a hidden world, the trials of courage, and the ultimate triumph of good over evil. Initially inspired by the wartime circumstances that brought three young girls into Lewis’s care, the narrative unfolds as a fantastical escape into the enchanting land of Narnia.

The story revolves around four siblings – Peter, Edmund, Lucy, and Susan – who stumble upon a mysterious wardrobe in the professor’s old country house. What begins as a simple exploration transforms into a grand adventure as the wardrobe reveals itself to be a portal into the mystical realm of Narnia. Here, they encounter a world gripped by the icy reign of the malevolent White Witch, setting the stage for a timeless battle between good and evil. Lewis masterfully crafts an immersive experience, seamlessly blending fantasy elements with a touch of reality. The juxtaposition of the ordinary and the extraordinary enhances the story’s appeal, inviting readers of all ages into the magical escapade.

As each sibling grapples with their unique challenges and discovers inner reservoirs of strength, the character development is both poignant and relatable. Tension escalates as the plot unfolds, reaching a crescendo when the White Witch accuses Edmund of treachery, leading to a fateful encounter with the majestic lion, Aslan. A symbol of courage and nobility, Aslan becomes the linchpin in the siblings’ quest to liberate Narnia from the grips of eternal winter. Lewis skillfully imbues the narrative with moral lessons, seamlessly interwoven with the unfolding events laden with suspense, offering a gripping climax that leaves readers on the edge of their seats.

The enduring appeal of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe lies in its ability to resonate with readers on multiple levels—the narrative not only entertains with its magical escapades but also imparts timeless wisdom about the triumph of virtue over vice. Profound themes and well-crafted characters make it a literary gem that continues to captivate readers across generations.

In conclusion, C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe stands as a testament to the enduring power of storytelling. Its seamless blend of fantasy and reality, coupled with rich character development and moral depth, ensures that the tale remains a cherished classic. Whether it’s your first journey into Narnia or a nostalgic return, this enchanting narrative promises an unforgettable adventure that transcends time and captivates the heart.

Buy the Book

About the author.

Clive Staples Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably one of the most influential writers of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English Literature at Oxford University until 1954 and was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement.

Lewis wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include Mere Christianity , Out of the Silent Planet , The Great Divorce , The Screwtape Letters , and the universally acknowledged classics The Chronicles of Narnia . To date, the Narnia books have sold over 100 million copies and have been transformed into three major motion pictures

What to Read Next if You Love The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia

• Prince Caspian: The Chronicles of Narnia , by C. S. Lewis
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: The Chronicles of Narnia , by C. S. Lewis
• The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread , by Kate DiCamillo
• The Indian in the Cupboard , by Lynne Reid Banks

Bianca Schulze reviewed  The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia . Discover more books like  The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia by reading our reviews and articles tagged with Fantasy , Classics , Fairy Tales , Folklore , and Myths .

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Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

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Book Review: “The Lion King: The Novelization”

By now the word is out that the live-action version of The Lion King  closely adheres to the original animated feature. For that reason, it might seem superfluous that Disney Press released The Lion King: The Novelization   by Elizabeth Rudnick. While it’s true that if you’ve seen the original film you know the story, it doesn’t mean that there’s no point to reading it.

Novelizations like this are usually in the works before the film is in the can, often based on some iteration of a script that may not be final. For that reason, fans of the live action film will notice at least one entire scene that isn’t in the film, in addition to some altered dialogue or different jokes. This is often because the actors improvise when they’re working on the film and sometimes the Director chooses their moment of inspiration for the final cut over what the writers originally intended.

Elizabeth Rudnick pens the majority of Disney’s novelizations and always handles them with great care. She expands on the settings and feeling of each moment, allowing readers to linger in them. And if you didn’t know that some of the scenes featured iconic songs, you wouldn’t know that any of the story is adapted from a musical. For example, a chapter in the book features Simba and Nala trying to evade Zazu at the watering hole. In the film, this happens through the song “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.” In the book, it’s expanded into a bigger game of chase.

The Lion King  has touched the hearts of millions for over two decades and I believe the secret to its enormous success is because it talks about life and death in such a simple, yet profound way. This novelization is no different and while the story may be in a different format, it’s no less touching. Reading through it makes it almost more of a spiritual experience.

Before the first Harry Potter  book, I was a fairly unmotivated reader as a kid. When I was inspired to read a book, it was usually the novelization of an upcoming movie I was really excited for, or a movie I loved so much that I wanted to “See” it again and didn’t want to wait for it to come to Blockbuster. If your kids are similar to the way I was, I encourage you to help them access whatever books interest thiem, even if its a novelization of a remake of a film they know so well. At first glance, The Lion King: The Novelization  seems pointless, but it recaptures the magic of the film and gets kids reading, which is win-win.

Libraries are full of books about great cats. This one is special.

Caleb carr’s memoir, ‘my beloved monster,’ is a heart-rending tale of human-feline connection.

Over the years, my wife and I have been blessed with 15 cats, three rescued from the streets of Brooklyn, three from barns near our home in Vermont, one from a Canadian resort and the others from the nearby shelter, where my wife has volunteered as a “cat whisperer” for the most emotionally scarred of its feline inhabitants for years. Twelve of our beloved pets have died (usually in our arms), and we could lose any of our current three cats — whose combined age is roughly 52 — any day now. So, I am either the best person to offer an opinion on Caleb Carr’s memoir, “ My Beloved Monster ,” or the worst.

For the many who have read Carr’s 1994 novel, “The Alienist,” an atmospheric crime story set in 19th-century New York, or watched the Netflix series it inspired, Carr’s new book might come as something of a surprise. “My Beloved Monster” is a warm, wrenching love story about Carr and his cat, a half-wild rescue named Masha who, according to the subtitle of his book, in fact rescued Carr. The author is, by his own admission, a curmudgeon, scarred by childhood abuse, living alone and watching his health and his career go the way of all flesh.

What makes the book so moving is that it is not merely the saga of a great cat. Libraries are filled with books like that, some better than others. It’s the 17-year chronicle of Carr and Masha aging together, and the bond they forged in decline. (As Philip Roth observed, “Old age isn’t a battle; old age is a massacre.”) He chronicles their lives, beginning with the moment the animal shelter begs Carr to bring the young lioness home because the creature is so ferocious she unnerves the staff — “You have to take that cat!” one implores.

Interspersed throughout Carr’s account of his years with Masha are his recollections of all the other cats he has had in his life, going back to his youth in Manhattan. And there are a lot. Cats often provided him comfort after yet another torment his father, the writer Lucien Carr , and stepfather visited upon him. Moreover, Carr identifies so deeply with the species that as a small child he drew a self-portrait of a boy with a cat’s head. He knows a great deal about cats and is eager to share his knowledge, for instance about the Jacobson’s organ in the roof of their mouths that helps them decide if another creature is predator or prey. His observations are always astute: “Dogs tend to trust blindly, unless and until abuse teaches them discretion. … Cats, conversely, trust conditionally from the start.”

Carr, now 68, was a much younger man when he adopted Masha. Soon, however, they were joined at the hip. As the two of them bonded, the writer found himself marveling at what he believed were their shared childhood traumas, which move between horrifying and, in Carr’s hands, morbidly hilarious: “I began to accept my father’s behavior in the spirit with which he intended it … he was trying to kill me.” Man and cat shared the same physical ailments, including arthritis and neuropathy, possibly caused by physical violence in both cases. Carr allowed Masha, a Siberian forest cat, to go outside, a decision many cat owners may decry, but he defends it: “Masha was an entirely different kind of feline,” and keeping her inside “would have killed her just as certainly as any bear or dog.” Indeed, Masha took on fishers and bears (yes, bears!) on Carr’s wooded property in Upstate New York.

But bears and dogs are humdrum fare compared with cancer and old age, which come for both the novelist and his cat. Carr’s diagnosis came first, and his first concern was whether he would outlive Masha. (The existence of the book gives us the answer he didn’t have at the time.) Illness adds new intensity to the human-feline connection: “Coming back from a hospital or a medical facility to Masha was always particularly heartening,” Carr writes, “not just because she’d been worried and was glad to see me, but because she seemed to know exactly what had been going on … and also because she was so anxious to show that she hadn’t been scared, that she’d held the fort bravely.”

Sometimes, perhaps, Carr anthropomorphizes too much and exaggerates Masha’s language comprehension, or gives her more human emotion than she had. But maybe not. Heaven knows, I see a lot behind my own cats’ eyes. Moreover, it’s hard to argue with a passage as beautiful as this: “In each other’s company, nothing seemed insurmountable. We were left with outward scars. … But the only wounds that really mattered to either of us were the psychic wounds caused by the occasional possibility of losing each other; and those did heal, always, blending and dissolving back into joy.”

Like all good memoirs — and this is an excellent one — “My Beloved Monster” is not always for the faint of heart. Because life is not for the faint of heart. But it is worth the emotional investment, and the tissues you will need by the end, to spend time with a writer and cat duo as extraordinary as Masha and Carr.

Chris Bohjalian is the best-selling author of 24 books. His most recent novel, “The Princess of Las Vegas,” was published last month.

My Beloved Monster

Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me

By Caleb Carr

Little, Brown. 435 pp. $29

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The Old Lion: A Novel of Theodore Roosevelt

Written by Jeff Shaara Review by Marlie Wasserman

Even those lovers of history who have read the many wonderful biographies of Theodore Roosevelt will enjoy Jeff Shaara’s novel, written from the point of view of Roosevelt himself. Shaara has focused on key moments and events in TR’s life, including the personal tragedies he faced, his time as a cattleman, his adventures in the Spanish-American War, and his dangerous trip to Brazil. Shaara divides the book into five parts, beginning each with a scene in the winter of 1918/1919 as TR lies on his deathbed in great pain, remembering both his victories and his limitations. Those limitations include his attitudes toward race, his ineptness with finances, and his tendency to prioritize his enthusiasms over the people around him.

Although Shaara often includes letters and documents from the historical record, he uses dialog and internal meditations—skillfully imagined—to drive the book forward, adding excellent and needed emotional texture to a well-known story. Although a few times Shaara adds more information in the dialog than is likely in daily speech—necessary to fill in the background for readers—on the whole the novel can serve as a case study for the power of dialog.

Readers will find no surprises in the plot of the novel, but they will come away with a greater understanding of Roosevelt and his place in history. Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and those interested in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

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The lion of mars, common sense media reviewers.

Tween sci-fi adventure shows value of community.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Some conversational phrases in French are translat

We need other people in order to survive and thriv

Bell is a great role model for empathy, curiosity,

Narrator Bell discovers a dead body. All the adult

Parents need to know that The Lion of Mars is a tween science-fiction adventure about the first people from Earth to colonize Mars in 2091. There's some sadness from two settlers dying, one in the past and one who was a grandfather-figure to the narrator. All the adult settlers come down with a mysterious,…

Educational Value

Some conversational phrases in French are translated. Author's Note explains some of the real science and technology behind planning a settlement on Mars. A short bibliography offers websites and books for learning more about settling on Mars.

Positive Messages

We need other people in order to survive and thrive. Left on our own, we wouldn't last very long. Working and playing together, sharing ideas and resources, can make life better for everyone. Holding on to hurtful and angry feelings from the past will cause you to miss out on a lot of life's rewards and pleasures. Make sure you understand all the facts before you judge someone else's actions. Bravery is keeping going, doing what needs to be done, even when you're scared.

Positive Role Models

Bell is a great role model for empathy, curiosity, bravery, and teamwork. He's very thoughtful and helpful to others, and likes to make other people happy. Everyone works hard and contributes to the settlement's success. Bell describes the Americans as having a range of skin tones from pale to dark, and he falls somewhere in the middle. Other settlements on Mars are from Finland, Russia, China, and France. A couple of adults are gruff but all are good, responsible role models and caregivers who love the kids.

Violence & Scariness

Narrator Bell discovers a dead body. All the adult settlers come down with a serious, contagious, viral illness. A past accident caused the death of an American settler. A pet mouse has to be exterminated. It's put out on the surface of Mars, with a brief comment that it was like he just fell asleep. Characters are in danger from a rover-driving accident and from being stuck outside the settlement. Someone breaks a collarbone and pain is mentioned. There's also a long, dark, scary tunnel where the narrator sees glowing green eyes.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Lion of Mars is a tween science-fiction adventure about the first people from Earth to colonize Mars in 2091. There's some sadness from two settlers dying, one in the past and one who was a grandfather-figure to the narrator. All the adult settlers come down with a mysterious, contagious, viral illness that causes hardship and worry but has a safe resolution. Tween narrator Bell sees teens kiss once, and adults kiss once. There's a rover-driving accident that causes a broken bone, and some scariness from a long, dark tunnel and green, glowing eyes. "Fart" is used a couple of times. A pet mouse has to be exterminated and is described as going right to sleep.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (2)
• Kids say (1)

Based on 2 parent reviews

My son I and love this book so much!

Great all around, what's the story.

THE LION OF MARS is the story of 11-year-old Bell, the youngest kid in the American settlement on Mars in the year 2091. Keeping a new settlement going takes a lot of hard work, but there are chances for fun, too. Until all the adults in the settlement come down with a mysterious illness one by one. The kids try to keep things going as best they can, but the burden eventually becomes too much for them. Their only hope is to somehow make it to the nearest settlement from France and ask for help. But the Americans cut off communication with all other settlements because back on Earth, several of the countries are on the brink of war. If Bell can even make it to the French settlement, will they turn him away?

Is It Any Good?

Tween science fiction fans will enjoy this realistic-feeling adventure that has humor, warmth, and lots of food for thought about what it would be like to actually live on Mars. Veteran middle-grade author Jennifer L. Holm balances emotions, adventure, and the day-to-day in an engaging and sometimes funny way. Bell is a likable narrator for The Lion of Mars, and kids will easily relate to his feelings as he learns about community, friendship, weird teens, and what bravery really feels like. Other characters are well developed, and Holm creates a solid sense of place that readers will enjoy picturing in their minds. Overall the tone is gentle and heartwarming, ending on a feel-good note.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the importance of community in The Lion of Mars . How does life improve for the American settlers once they start communicating with the other settlements? How does your community help you, and what can you do to help others in your community?

Do you think one day we'll send people to Mars? If you had the chance to go, do you think you'd want to? Why, or why not?

Why is science fiction so popular in books, movies, TV, and games? What do we love about it? What can it teach us about ourselves and our planet?

Book Details

• Author : Jennifer L. Holm
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Topics : STEM , Adventures , Friendship , Great Boy Role Models , Space and Aliens
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Random House Children's Books
• Publication date : January 5, 2021
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
• Number of pages : 272
• Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Kindle
• Last updated : January 5, 2021

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Today's Paper | April 20, 2024

Book review: the lion king.

You may have seen the trailer of the upcoming film The Lion King, which is based on the evergreen animated Disney classic that was released 25 years ago. Disney Wonderful World of Reading also offers the print version of that very classic that may not have the songs, but the impact is more or less the same.

What’s more, you don’t need anything from DVD, TV to YouTube, to relive the Disney classic because this print version takes you into the kingdom of Mufasa the moment you open the book.

The story begins in the Pride Lands where King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi celebrate the birth of their first-born cub Simba, in front of all the animals in their kingdom and under the supervision of Rafiki the Baboon. Simba joins the Circle of Life and is fortunate enough to learn from his father who is a popular king.

The cub’s uncle Scar, on the other hand, is the exact opposite of his elder brother and want the throne for himself. It is his scheming ways that see Mufasa die and Simba run away thinking that it is his fault that his father is dead. Scar uses the death of Mufasa and the absence of Simba to become the King ... until Simba’s return many years later.

How Simba survives all those years away from his family, his friends and above all, with his saviours Timon and Pumbaa make this book a must-read.

Although most of us know the story of Lion King, even then this book teaches you a thing or two. At least it tells young readers what the animated film misses, such as the facts that Timon was a meerkat, Pumbaa a warthog and Zazu a hornbill, while the hyenas were named Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.

Furthermore, it narrates the story in a better way, one that is suited for bedtime reading or reading with friends.

The illustrations have been taken from the animated film, yet the attention to detail is amazing and worth your time.

The presence of all kinds of animals in a book will attract new readers as well those who are more into reading than watching. Many of you may have already read a different edition of the book and may be familiar with its content, but a new edition always has a few surprises.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 22nd, 2018

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LION & LAMB

by James Patterson & Duane Swierczynski ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 14, 2023

Great storytelling. Patterson’s fans will love it.

PI rivals combine their wits to solve a spectacular murder case.

Just after leading his team to a win in the NFL playoffs, Philadelphia Eagles star quarterback Archie Hughes is found shot to death in his powder-blue Maserati, putting the City of Brotherly Love in freak-out mode. Archie was their GOAT, or Greatest of All Time; fans, bettors, and bookies had been counting on him to deliver a Super Bowl win. The police are all over the murder investigation, but the district attorney asks private investigator Cooper Lamb to help. Lamb doesn't want to work with the DA, so he recommends his rival, Veena Lion, whom he considers to be the second-best PI available. So Lion works for the city while Lamb works for the superstar’s widow, the much-beloved entertainer Francine Hughes. The two PIs find that they have one goal in common, which is to learn the truth. As they dig into the case, they learn disturbing facts about Archie Hughes that suggest Francine may have had a motive for his murder. Through all of this, the happily divorced Lamb cracks wise with his young son and daughter and brings his year-old associate, a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Lupe, with him to important meetings. The kids call the pup Loopy. The PIs’ names are a perfect setup for silly jokes, with occasional utterings of “ Rowrr ” and “ Baaaaa ” by children and investigators alike. The two adults like each other, by the way. Though generally rivals, they aren’t competing on this case, and their main tension is sexual. He cheerfully suggests sleepovers, and she cheerfully deflects said propositions. Will they, or won’t they? This fast-moving yarn replaces noir with humor—if only the world could do the same. The authors are apparently noodling with the idea of making this enjoyable read the first of a series. Go for it, guys.

Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2023

ISBN: 9780316404891

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023

MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | THRILLER | DETECTIVES & PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS | SUSPENSE | CRIME & LEGAL THRILLER | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann with Chris Mooney

by James Patterson & Mark Seal

by James Patterson & Mike Lupica

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | THRILLER | DETECTIVES & PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS | SUSPENSE | GENERAL & DOMESTIC THRILLER

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EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE

by Benjamin Stevenson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 17, 2023

This book and its author are cleverer than you and want you to know it.

In this mystery, the narrator constantly adds commentary on how the story is constructed.

In 1929, during the golden age of mysteries, a (real-life) writer named Ronald Knox published the “10 Commandments of Detective Fiction,” 10 rules that mystery writers should obey in order to “play fair.” When faced with his own mystery story, our narrator, an author named Ernest Cunningham who "write[s] books about how to write books," feels like he must follow these rules himself. The story seemingly begins on the night his brother Michael calls to ask him to help bury a body—and shows up with the body and a bag containing $267,000. Fast-forward three years, and Ernie’s family has gathered at a ski resort to celebrate Michael’s release from prison. The family dynamics are, to put it lightly, complicated—and that’s before a man shows up dead in the snow and Michael arrives with a coffin in a truck. When the local cop arrests Michael for the murder, things get even more complicated: There are more deaths; Michael tells a story about a coverup involving their father, who was part of a gang called the Sabers; and Ernie still has (most of) the money and isn’t sure whom to trust or what to do with it. Eventually, Ernie puts all the pieces together and gathers the (remaining) family members and various extras for the great denouement. As the plot develops, it becomes clear that there’s a pretty interesting mystery at the heart of this novel, but Stevenson’s postmodern style has Ernie constantly breaking the fourth wall to explain how the structure of his story meets the criteria for a successful detective story. Some readers are drawn to mysteries because they love the formula and logic—this one’s for them. If you like the slow, sometimes-creepy, sometimes-comforting unspooling of a good mystery, it might not be your cup of tea—though the ending, to be fair, is still something of a surprise.

Pub Date: Jan. 17, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-06-327902-5

Page Count: 384

Publisher: Mariner Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022

MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | DETECTIVES & PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

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The Culture Warriors Are Coming for You Smart People

In Lionel Shriver’s new novel, judging intelligence and competence is a form of bigotry.

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By Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a books and culture columnist for Slate and the author of “The Magician’s Book: A Skeptic’s Adventures in Narnia.”

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MANIA , by Lionel Shriver

As a novelist, Lionel Shriver has made her strongest impressions selecting some hot issue of the day — school shootings, the American health care system, the ballooning of the U.S. national debt — and working it into a well-paced drama about its effects on one family. When this formula works, as it did best with “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (2003), the result can be riveting and also very popular. The intimacy of domestic politics moderates Shriver’s polemical side, which, when given free rein — as during an infamous 2016 speech she gave on cultural appropriation while wearing a sombrero — usually turns out to be smug, crude and obtuse.

In Shriver’s tiresome new novel, “Mania ,” the balance is off. “Mania” is the story of Pearson Converse, an untenured academic who lives with her tree-surgeon partner and three children in a Pennsylvania college town. Most of the novel takes place during an alternate version of the 2010s, when a social-justice fad has been ignited by a best-selling book titled “The Calumny of I.Q.: Why Discrimination Against ‘Dumb People’ Is the Last Great Civil Rights Fight.”

Pearson’s son gets sent home from school for using “the D-word,” now considered a slur. Lawn signs appear in the neighborhood announcing “We support cognitive neutrality.” Student “predators” haunt the literature course Pearson teaches at the local liberal arts college, hungrily searching for any slip-up suggesting that she thinks some people are smarter than others, so they can report her to the administration and get her sacked. Worst of all, Pearson’s best friend from girlhood, Emory Ruth, boosts her TV career by taping editorials endorsing the new ideology known as Mental Parity.

In real life, partisan rancor typically fuels culture-war initiatives like this; in Shriver’s imaginary America, it barely exists. The new ethos gets rapidly and improbably adopted by everybody in every walk of life, regardless of political affiliation. Mental Parity not only borrows from the left’s obsession with egalitarianism, safetyism and language hygiene but also draws on the right’s mistrust of expertise and credentialism; it could have bipartisan appeal if it weren’t so patently absurd.

Soon, Barack Obama is out of favor for being “outstandingly astute, eloquent and well informed,” and replaced by Joe Biden, who makes a point of installing a Treasury secretary who’s “not only an imbecile but an imbecile who was recognizably an imbecile — someone whose speech and affect were conspicuously vacuous.” Similar incompetents are ordered to take out Osama bin Laden, a failed mission that leaves him free to bomb the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum.

Pearson’s partner, Wade, is forced to hire an assistant who knows nothing about arboriculture and drops a branch on him. Because medical degrees are “now handed out as carelessly as shopping fliers,” a young surgeon botches the ankle surgery his injuries require. Then Wade nearly dies after untrained nurses administer the wrong medication and is saved only by a doctor in his 50s, a relic from the good old days who has the temerity to know what he’s doing.

It goes on and on. Cars blow up because they’re built by idiots. Shrewd consumers import their food from overseas to avoid poisoning from unsafe American goods. Any word or phrase ever used as a synonym for “intelligent” (“quick,” “deep”) or stupid (“meatball,” “simple,” “dense”) must be purged from daily usage even when denoting a different meaning. If you want to order a wooden board at a hardware store, you have to ask for one that’s “two inches fat.” Mensa is “the kind of cerebral-supremacist organization” deemed “the greatest threat to American civic order” by no less than the F.B.I. Most fantastically, a child protective services investigator arrives at Pearson’s home because her youngest child reported her mother describing her as less intelligent than her siblings. “Use of language of such a derogatory character with minors,” this pious emissary states, “is classified as child abuse” and “potentially grounds for removing a child to foster care.”

As parody goes, this is ham-fisted stuff. Ironically, “Mania” lacks the discernment required to make it work. Satire demands precision, and Shriver applies an ax to a job calling for a scalpel. Although Shriver has made writing unlikable protagonists into a sort of cottage industry, Pearson is something more, a preeningly self-righteous didact swathed in false modesty about her own supposedly mediocre brain. Like many of Shriver’s narrators, Pearson often speaks or narrates with the sort of affected, antiquated vocabulary of a stock character from a 1930s movie, the portly gentleman in a white three-piece suit, up to no good and puffing on a cigar, played by Sidney Greenstreet. She has an odd, unexplained penchant for alliteration: “At the antediluvian argot, I nearly dropped my mask of stony stoicism.” She is not so much unlikable as simply insufferable.

Pearson’s past as an apostate of the Jehovah’s Witnesses makes her the sworn enemy of cant, and the only language she speaks is invective, so inevitably, she runs ruinously afoul of the new dispensation. Meanwhile, Emory’s star rises. She proves herself the ideal apparatchik on camera while privately snickering with Pearson and Wade over the silliness of Mental Parity, at least at first. The most — really the only — intriguing aspect of the novel is the relationship between these two friends and Pearson’s growing realization that Emory lacks a moral center. Emory herself remains a cipher. Is she a sociopath? Or just an opportunist? If only she were the unlikable narrator to tell this story. That would constitute a stretch for Shriver, imagining the interiority of a character who’s not basically an avatar of herself. That would be a truly daring choice, and dare I say it, a smart one.

MANIA | By Lionel Shriver | Harper | 277 pp. | $30

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