Title: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Author: C. S. Lewis
Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, book 5
Major Themes: Allegories, Fantasy, Adventure
Synopsis: When Lucy, Edmund, and their cousin Eustace return to Narnia, they find themselves on a voyage of adventure and discovery with King Caspian.
A year or two ago, I decided to read The Chronicles of Narnia aloud to my siblings. I’d been wanting to read through the series for several years by then, but never quite got around to doing that. This way, I got to read the books, and had the bonus of being able to experience it with my siblings, too. We just finished The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and while it might not be my favorite of the series, I thoroughly enjoyed the read, all the same. It was lots of fun to return to King Caspian’s era; with all the other Narnian books being spread apart across hundreds of years, it was nice to stay in relatively the same time period for once. And of all the books in this series, perhaps besides The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, this book arguably had the most adventure so far!
Publisher’s description:
Lucy and Edmund, with their odious cousin Eustace in tow, journey on board the gallant ship the Dawn Treader to the Eastern Islands in search of the seven lost friends of King Caspian’s father. And what an amazing voyage of discovery it is. Not only do they meet a dragon, a sea serpent, a band of invisible people and a magician, but also the Great Aslan himself who gives them a very special promise.
My thoughts:
It was a lot of fun to be back with Lucy and Edmund again for a third Narnian adventure with them. And at first, I didn’t know what to make of this Eustace fellow—he was such a mean-spirited grouch! But as the story went on, I was impressed at C. S. Lewis’ ability to take an intriguing storyline and inject Biblical truth into the story. I don’t want to give away spoilers, but this book had some solid allegories in it, and I found the results of what transpired incredibly encouraging.
As I mentioned before, this book was possibly the most adventurous of the series. It seemed like the characters were barely out of one kind of danger before they dove headlong into the next, and that was rather fun to read about. From unusual (and sometimes vicious) animals to apparently rather cranky people, and some rather unique settings, this book has it all.
Many years ago, I remember reading a blog post about books that Christians should avoid that use ungodly magic and/or could be gateway books that lead people into the occult. One of the books on that list was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, so as we came to this book, I was curious to see what I thought about it. I can kind of see where the blog’s author was coming from, but I disagree with their application regarding this book. In chapters 9 and 10, characters come across people who are under a spell. A character then has to say a spell to break the spell the people are under, and in the process of finding the right one to say, looks through a book that has many other spells in it, and tries at least one other. This is never explicitly condemned in the story, but the story does illustrate what happens when we take power that is not rightfully ours into our own hands, and how destructive that can be. As far as the spells/magic itself, that was no worse in this book than in any of the other books in the series, so if you’re fine with the amount of magic in the other books in the series, you’ll probably be fine with this, as well.
Overall, I enjoyed The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It’s humorous and playful, and I especially enjoyed the character growth in this story. For lovers of adventure and a little danger, this book would be perfect, and the allegory gives it that extra little “something” that makes it even more worthwhile. I enjoyed reading it aloud to my siblings, and am looking forward to reading the rest of the series when we have the chance!
WARNING: Chapter 1: for heaven’s sake. Chapter 2: by Jove. Chapter 3: blasted (twice), blimey, by heaven, some lying. Chapter 5: heaven knows. Chapter 6: that blighter, infernal, a dragon dies. Chapter 7: by Jove, hurts like billy-oh. Chapter 8: by Aslan, a boat is almost crushed and people are almost eaten. Chapter 9: by Jove. In chapters 9 and 10, there is some talk about spells, and a character says a couple of spells (one to break a previously said spell). Chapter 12: be blowed. Chapter 13: by heaven. Chapter 14: golly, Aslan’s mane. Chapter 15: the little blighter, good gracious, drat, by the mane of Aslan.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 8 – 12, 10 – 12, Family Friendly
Reading Independently—Ages 10 – 12, 12 – 15
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Hardcover | Audible Audiobook (unabridged) | Audio CD (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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