The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
by C. S. Lewis
In the third book of The Chronicles of Narnia, only two of the Pevensie children are able to make the return journey to Narnia. Sadly, Peter and Susan have outgrown these trips, leaving Lucy and Edmund to travel without them. But they won't travel alone. Their cousin Eustace is scheduled to go with them — much to their chagrin. He isn't, after all, the most pleasant company one could want. He's pretty sulky, and snobbish, and just an all round irritating kid.
But perhaps a trip to Narnia might change that?
Well, interestingly, Eustace doesn't exactly make it into Narnia. Instead, he gets to take a voyage around other countries within the same world as Narnia, all aboard a Narnian vessel, The Dawn Treader, with a Narnian crew. King Caspian leads the way, but one might argue that the real star of the show is Reepicheep, who we also met first in Prince Caspian.
Seeing the stories of these well-loved characters continue on, and getting to know one new little brat, is all pretty fun, as is exploring the countries that lie at the end of the world of which Narnia is a part. One of the most moving scenes in the entire series is in this volume, where Eustace has an adventure all his own.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader takes us to new extremes in the parallel world that the Pevensie kids first brought us to. Sadly, it also marks the end of that family's journey into that world. For them, their adventures with Aslan will continue in our own world. Eustace, on the other hand, has more yet to come.
Reviewed by Shelly Bryant © 2010