Forum: scifi.stackexchange.com
Tags: <lev-grossman><the-chronicles-of-narnia><the-magicians>
Title: What is the relationship between Fillory and Narnia?
Question: I've recently started reading the book  The Magicians  by Lev Grossman. There is considerable mention of a land known as Fillory, which seems to be related to  Narnia , from C.S. Lewis's series.. Is there an intentional relationship, and if so, what is it?

Answers:
sents: text: Yes.
text: From an interview with Grossman: The funny thing is, Lewis was notoriously sloppy as a world-builder.
text: He liked to drag in whatever was handy — nymphs, fauns, wizards, Father Christmas, whatever — without much regard to internal consistency.
text: For Christ’s sake, Mrs. Beaver has a sewing machine!
text: It drove Tolkien crazy.
text: Part of the joke of The Magicians is that I’m taking a Narnia-style fantasy world and forcing it to behave consistently.
text: It turns out that you have to bend it and distort it and break it to make it fit.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/2679/Mark S.
score: 33
sents: text: The Magicians essentially takes a re-look at two of fantasy's most popular tropes - the magic boarding school and the children off to fantasy land.
text: The latter is exemplified by Narnia, and Grossman seems to have based Fillory off Narnia.
text: So you have a bunch of children who go to Fillory, and fulfill the quests provided by the god-sheep.
text: However, as you read further you will find that though Fillory does resemble Narnia on the surface, it is given a much more adult treatment.
text: People still die, and they seem to have more realistic personalities etc.
text: The biggest difference is that unlike the books that follow the two tropes in a traditional manner, happiness is not guaranteed, and magic does not automatically make people happier or better.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/947/apoorv020
score: 8
sents: text: Fillory plays the same role in the characters' childhoods and imaginations as Narnia does in our world, but it doesn't have a bunch of copyright lawyers potentially issuing cease-and-desist notices to authors who write about it.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/23/Mike Scott
score: 6
sents: text: To add to "Mark S."'s excellent answer, The Magicians was intentionally meant as a deconstruction of the fantasy genre, using both Narnia and Harry Potter as main fodder for deconstruction.
text: See, for example, reviews: [1] , [2] .
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/976/DVK-on-Ahch-To
score: 3
sents: text: I believe The Magicians borrows a lot of fantasy ideas from Narnia:
text: The magic wardrobe --
text: > The magic clock.
text: The white witch, not native to Narnia but bent on controlling it -->
text: The Beast/Mothra, not from Fillory but bent on controlling it.
text: The "land between lands" comprised of pools that act as portals to different worlds --> the fountains.
text: The concept of 2 kings and queens of Narnia, sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve (high king Peter, etc) --> 2 kings and queens of Fillory, both human also but without alluding to Christian themes as C.S. Lewis did.
text: The first to enter and explore Narnia is a young girl and boy, primarily the girl, Lucy, followed by her brother Edmund.
text: --
text: > the first in Fillory is likewise a girl and boy;
text: Jane then Martin Chatwin.
text: Also siblings, similar ages to Lucy and Edmund.
text: In both, time passes differently in the real world and in the Fantasy, and the similarities go on.
text: Therefore, it's safe to say several parts of "fillory" were based on Narnia.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/94160/Rene
score: 1
sents: text: In my view, The Magicians essentially combines the ideas of Alice and Wonderland as well as Narnia and takes a Grimm Fairy Tales spin on it, at least in regard to Fillory plots.
text: This is done by symbolism and similarity.
text: The first book of the Narnia series actually does start with a magician, two children, and a series of pools.
text: Within the Narnia settings the pools are muddy and spread amongst a forest, but each pool led to another world...
text: much like the pools leading to Fillory and other such places.
text: The God Ember is a satyr much like Mr Tomnus in book 2.
text: Later in The Magicians , the fairies appear and they are not unlike the white witch and followers within Narnia.
text: The 4 rulers from Earth.
text: The list goes on.
text: And like Alice in Wonderland , there are rabbits which serve as messengers between worlds.
text: The air is opium, referring to the fact that Lewis Caroll was said to have written alive in wonderland based on drug induced hallucinations.
text: They dig at Lewis Carolls rumored paedophilia in regard to Alice by doing the bit with Martin Chatwin and the author of the Fillory books.
text: What's nice about this is that you can interpret what happens however you'd like and it would still be correct.
text: You can take everything at face value, that this is about magicians where magic happens and there is a magical land with it's own lore and secrets, and it is enjoyable.
text: Or you can look into it and interpret meaning from the objects and story lines, and it is easily just as enjoyable.
answer_details: author: scifi.stackexchange.com/users/127448/user127448
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Grossman seems to have based Fillory on Narnia. Fillory plays the same role in the characters' childhoods and imaginations as Narnia does.
Yes there is a relationship between Fillory and Narnia. Officialy Grossman has based Fillory off of Narnia and many of it's characters and laws seem to be similar, if not, the same.