Matthew Hunter wrote: > > Ender's Game seems clean to me too. The later books are a little > more arguable, and certain of Card's work is very explicitly > religious. > > As for Narnia, no denying the allegory, but it's a good story > nonetheless. It's not a book that tries to convert you, it's > just told from an explicitly Christian viewpoint. > Well, there actually is denying the allegory. In the absence of Dorothy Heydt on this list, let me point out: the Narnia books are not allegory. Lewis was an _expert_ on allegory. His first serious book was about it. He wrote a true allegory (_Pilgrim's Regress_). The Narnia books do not have the defining characteristic of an allegory -- they do not carry through two or more layers of continuous story using one set of representations. They don't even have allegorical elements. They are set in a multiverse in which Christianity is true; Aslan does not allegorically stand for God the Son -- he _is_ God the Son, straight out, although the identity is not shoved in one's face. In addition, Lewis was very thoroughly influenced by _The Golden Bough_ when he was young; the item which most people see as allegorical -- the dying and rising god theme in TLTWATW -- is almost certainly one of the ones he would have pointed out was not by any means specifically Christian, but reflects Attis, Osiris, et al. as well. -- James Burbidge jamesandmary.burbidge at sympatico.ca