A few minutes after the bike race had ended, James asked Lily, "Lily would you be willing to do a book review with me on my YouTube channel, James Sirius's Playhouse? I would like us to review the first Narnia book, The Magician's Nephew on my channel. As we've already both read the book, we can dive straight into it."
"I would love to review the Magician's Nephew with you, James, " smiled Lily.
"Then let's go up to my room and do it then, " said James eagerly.
James and Lily went up to James's room and began recording the video.
"Hello, everyone, " said James fondly, "This is James Sirius Potter along with my favorite sibling, Lily Luna Potter and today we are going to be doing a book review of the first Narnia book, The Magician's Nephew."
"So, James?" asked Lily, "What was your favorite part of The Magician's Nephew?"
"Getting to learn about the creation of Narnia, " said James in a voice that oozed wonder, "There aren't many stories in which you get a see a world start from it's very beginning. And the way Aslan sang Narnia into existence gave me goosebumps. Not to mention a freaking living growing lamppost."
"Yeah, seeing the creation of Narnia from the start was super cool, " agreed Lily fondly, "My favorite part was the pools in the Wood Between the Worlds. How cool would it be if we could travel to other universes and other realties by pool."?
"Another really neat thing was seeing Strawberry become Fledge, the first Talking Horse of Narnia, " piped up James, "The cabby was right. That horse did have more sense than most humans."
"I also really enjoyed the friendship between Digory and Polly, " added Lily, "I'm a big fan of non romantic friendships between boys and girls so the relationship between Digory and Polly was right up my alley."
"And ten rounds of applause for the fact that there was no romance, sex, or sexuality in The Magician's Nephew, " said James approvingly as he stopped and clapped his hands ten times.
James then continued, "Digory was a great character for exploring development. Remember that Digory caves to the minor temptation of striking the bell early on but has enough discipline later on not to eat or steal an apple despite the witch's temptations."
"I also liked that Polly was forgiving and remained loyal to Digory even after he hadn't treated her particularly well. Jolly decent sums up Polly Plummer in a nutshell, " said Lily happily.
"I agree, " said James, "Perhaps the biggest curiosity is what's going to become of the wardrobe Digory Kirke made at the end of the story. It kind of teases that that wardrobe plays a role in comings and goings to Narnia in future books, but I wonder how?"
"Well, we'll have to read the rest of the books to find out, " smiled Lily, "I suspect, given the title, that the book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will tell us loads about that."
"You're almost certainly right about that, sis, " said James, "Either way, I'm glad that Digory found a way to keep the wood of that apple tree alive."
"That tree sprang from the apple that saved Digory's mother's life, " said Lily matter of factly, "I totally understand how gut wrenched he would have felt when that storm blew it down. All the same, it's awesome that the wood from the tree met a kinder fate that being used for firewood."
"To be honest, " said James clearly, "I think The Magician's Nephew is a great story but I'm not sure it's great writing. The writing feels a bit rough at times and the storytelling doesn't always flow as naturally as it should."
"I agree, " said Lily in a businesslike voice, "At times it felt like the book was written under duress."
"I know that they maintained a friendship after Digory moved, " said James, "But all the same, "I'd have liked to have seen a goodbye scene between Digory and Polly before Digory moved."
"The ending as a whole felt rushed, " added Lily, "I'd have liked to have seen more about Digory and his mother after his mother healed."
"The final chapter felt more like a summary than a chapter, " agreed James, "Overall though, pretty damn good. It's a positive sign that we do want to carry forward and read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, "
"I have a great feeling that book will be better than this one, " smiled Lily.
"Overall, " said James clearly, "The Magician's Nephew is a fantastic story with excellent world building, good characters, some fun objects, and an engrossing story. So, despite some issues with the writing itself, The Magician's Nephew receives an 8 out of 0 10 from me."
"For me it's on the 7-8 border, sort of like how Cincinnati is right on the Kentucky border, but I'll go with an 8 due to the strong non romantic boy girl friendship between Digory and Polly. That gets it up to the eight in my mind."
"So, there you have it, " said James, "For my favorite sibling, Lily Luna Potter, this is James Sirius Potter for James Sirius's Playhouse. Until next time. Potters out!"