Which Magician's Nephew recording should you buy?
Kenneth Branagh reads the whole book; an abridged reading and a BBC radio play share its name. The read edition also calls itself "the first in the series", which needs a word of explanation.
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C.S. Lewis · 3 Audible UK recordings compared
Short answer
Kenneth Branagh for the book: complete and solo, titled "The Magician's Nephew: Unabridged". Sir Michael Hordern's edition has "Abridged" in its title and is a cut text. The BBC Radio 4 production with Maurice Denham, Robert Eddison and Stephen Thorne is a play, not a reading. About "the first in the series" in the read edition's description: that is the publisher's story-order numbering. This is where the story of Narnia begins, but it was written later and leans on things you are meant to know already, so our Narnia page still suggests hearing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe before it.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenneth Branagh Our pick | 3 hrs 55 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Listed as "The Magician's Nephew: Unabridged". |
| Sir Michael Hordern | 2 hrs 15 mins | Abridged | Abridged, and labelled so in the title: 57% of the length of the shortest complete reading here. |
| Maurice Denham, Robert Eddison, Stephen Thorne and a full cast | 1 hr 53 mins | BBC full-cast dramatisation | A radio play, not a reading. The line beneath the title reads "A BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation". |
