Prince Caspian is the second Chronicles of Narnia book written by C.S. Lewis and the fourth chronologically after The Horse and His Boy, opening with the Pevensie siblings at a train station who find themselves suddenly transported back to Narnia, supposedly on an island, where they encounter ancient stone ruins and find familiar treasures. They rescue a dwarf named Trumpkin from Telmarines, an antagonistic race of humans, the halfling proceeding to tell about his master, the eponymous Caspian, over the course of the next few chapters, his uncle and aunt, the King and Queen of Telmar, having him in their care.
King Miraz and Queen Prunaprismia are the current monarchs of Telmar, essentially a conquered Narnia, with Trumpkin telling about the Prince’s lessons by the diminutive Doctor Cornelius, Caspian fleeing on the occasion of the birth of his cousin who consequentially becomes heir to the Telmarine throne, the Prince ultimately encountering Old Narnians, a group largely consisting of intelligent talking animals, with other Narnian races such as the Dryads and Naiads being in deep slumber since the conquest by the Telmarines. Trumpkin eventually reaches the “present” in the storyline, and leave the alleged island once the Pevensies demonstrate their skills.
Lucy claims to see Aslan the Lion a few times during the company’s trip to meet Prince Caspian, with a battle between King Miraz and Peter climaxing the story and accounting for a satisfactory ending, plenty of continuity nods to The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe present throughout the story, particularly in the beginning when the Pevensies return to Narnia, some semblance of how much time has elapsed in the otherworld given as well. Lewis also eventually gives some backstory on the Telmarines, although the ultimate fates of such characters such as Miraz’ son he leaves unresolved. Even so, regardless of whether one reads the series chronologically or in the author’s order of writing, it’s a fun story.
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