The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Ratings385
Average rating3.9
I was neglecting to read this book series for a long time. I don't know why. It was a great book filled with excitement and fantasy.
I love the adventures of the Dawn Treader. The sea voyage is a great structure for new encounters at each island. And it ultimately builds to some really lovely faith imagery and imagination. Definitely one of my favorites of the Narnia series.
This was one of my fave of the Narnia books as a kid and it felt so pleasingly nostalgic returning to it.
I love this installment. When I was younger I was always so sad that Peter and Susan wouldn't be a part of the story anymore, because I just loved Peter so much as a character. Right now we follow the youngest Pevensies, Edmund and Lucy (whom I love as much as the elder children) on their third adventure in Narnia. And tagging along is their cousin Eustace who is an insufferable brat for a decent amount of time in this book, but you'll learn to appreciate him (maybe even like/love him).
The story is full of adventure and great moments. This definitely is one of my favourite books in the series <3.
Asking 7 year olds to review this book resulted in reviews such as “SOOOO GOOOOD!”, “Reepicheep is the best!” and “The bit with the Sea Monster was amazing.” Which pretty much matches my memories of how I thought about it as a child.
So, after reading this innumerable times as a child, does it stand up to a reread as an adult?
Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: Yes with a very few niggles.
OK what were the niggles?
1: Towards the end they meet “Ramandu's Daughter” who reminds me of Galadriel. She seems pretty awesome, standing up to this ship load of heavily armed strangers (and a deadly mouse) without batting an eyelid and confidently explains stuff to them. Caspian thinks she's pretty awesome too, marries her and she “becomes a great Queen”. Brilliant. What's her name exactly?
1.5: Caspian and Queen Nameless return to Narnia - I so wish we could read of their further adventures.
2: Everyone talks of the religious allegory of Narnia, something that has soared gloriously over the heads of generations of delighted children. The thing about the allegory is that the story works just as it is. An adult with an understanding of the Christian concept of substitutional atonement can read about Aslan and the Stone Table and nod wisely - but the children are just bouncing around because Aslan beat the White Witch. The story works without the allegory. The ending of Dawn Treader with the lamb handing out fish and turning into the lion works well for someone looking for allegory, but for anyone else it is just really weird. It feels like a really odd dream. I felt that as a child, and having read it to children myself I get questions such as:
“How did the lamb light the fire?” (it's a magic lamb)
“How did it catch the fish?” (it's a magic lamb)
“But if Aslan was the lamb he was lying to them!” (erm, it was a surprise!).
In short it doesn't really work as just a story, unless you are looking for Christian symbolism.
Let's be honest, most readers are looking for adventures with talking animals and dragons. This book provides that and it's great fun. If you happen to want a symbolism aperitif , the book provides that too. For everyone else - enjoy the story and turn a blind eye to the baby sheep incident.
This may me my favorite in the series. This was like Pilgrim's Progress for me in my youth. There are many concepts illustrated in what the heroes face on the journey. It gets me thinking deeply. Whether this is the intention of Lewis or not, it has this affect on me. For that I will always love this book. Plus, Reepicheep the Mouse!
Enjoyed this book so much more than Prince Caspian. Voyage of the Dawn Treader had adventure throughout and Prince Caspian felt like a prologue that never got to the actual story. This is definitely on par with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe although still not as good as that first book.
Also, for anyone curious, I'm reading these in the order of publication, not chronologically so the next book Jack and I will be reading is The Silver Chair, followed by The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, and, finally, The Last Battle.
I don't know if it was my mood or what, but this was my favorite of the Narnia books so far. Reepicheep is the best.
How embarrassed I feel to admit that I haven't read this book before now? Very embarrassed. It's been recommended to me a million times. But the truth is that sequels often disappoint me; it's hard for a sequel to live up to the original book.
VDT lives up to the original book. I would even say (gasp!) that it surpasses the original book. Crazy.
Action. Adventure. Bad guys. Good guys. Good guys who are a little bad. Bad guys who are a little good. Great plot. And all aboard a ship. Fabulous.
6/10
It was OK, I don't find the adventures that interesting though. Eustace is a great character and his growth saves the book for me.
The Chronicles of Narnia series was another one of my likable books reading growing up. I read through this entire series in one month and definitely liked it. There were many things that definitely dragged on about these but overall I liked it but wouldn't say I'm a die hard fan.
I love the Chronicles of Narnia as a whole, but this is probably my favorite. There's no part of it that I don't care for, every line is a treat. I think that the undragoning of Eustace is a beautiful illustration of salvation.
again, movie before the book– blah, blah, blah. and again, i was surprised at how different the book is from the movie. there were similar things, but in different orders and as separate adventures. overall, i did like the book, but i found it the hardest to get through of all of them so far. it was a tedious read because there didn't really seem to be a point for their adventure. there wasn't any character development, nor was there really any character interaction to begin with. it all seemed to be about the plot which seemed unfinished from the get go. other than having Caspian and the Pevensies meet again, i couldn't understand why they were trying to find the seven missing lords. at least they were trying to make it to the end of the world, but really, why? Eustace had some character development, but really just told us this rather than showing it through the actions. there was too much tell and not enough show in this book. also, why have Caspian want to go with Reepicheep without some sort of reason. he just seemed to act like a brat which doesn't seem to fit his nobility. also, everyone's goodbyes were so trivial. i just feel like, they've built such a strong bond from Prince Caspian to Dawn Treader, why wouldn't they have made the goodbyes more reflective. as a whole, it was a good book, but it left me wanting more compared to the others.
