Book #184: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

 

The Chronicles Of Narnia:

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

C.S. Lewis

 Released: September 15th, 1952

My 50th book for 2026 was C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader.  

Another book in the series where I felt at times like The Rock going "What in the blue hell is this?"

This one held my attention a bit more than Prince Caspian did, but still not a great deal.  I literally got lost at points as they pinball from one island to another in search of his father's missing friends.

The two youngest Pevensie children, Edmund and Lucy, return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace.  They arrive on board the Dawn Treader which belongs to King Caspian X This time, 3 years have passed, and King Caspian is working to fulfill a promise to avenge his father's death by seeking out the whereabouts of his father's missing friends.  Trumpkin the dwarf has been left in charge of Narnia.  The group hops around from island to island, healing various groups of people, removing spells, getting sold into the slave trade before banishing it, and encounter a moment where they must leave someone behind.  After a dispute, King Caspian sends an entourage to the World's End.  A sacrifice is made, and Aslan appears, informing Edmund and Lucy that they are no longer able to return to Narnia.  He comforts a grieving Lucy by telling her that he exists in the Earth world too, but is known by an alternate name.  Eustace returns to Earth as well as a changed person.

Again, it's tough to comment on this one because I just felt lost.  I got the drift (get it?) that they were going from island to island doing different things.  I know there were sacrifices, and the slave trade was ended.  But I had to read a summary to fully get the picture.

It's strange because the first book was excellently written.  I followed it smoothly.  But these last 2 have been difficult to process.  I've been reading 20-30 pages a day so the processing shouldn't be an issue.  It's strange.

This one introduces us to a new character in Eustace.  He takes the Narnia reigns from cousins Edmund and Lucy from the first 2 novels.  The siblings certainly go out in style, with a wild deepseas adventure.

We also meet a magician, which I feel alludes to the book The Magician which is coming up as well.

We'll see what's in store.

Here is what I learned:

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• To Geoffrey Barfield.
• Eustace Clarence Scrubb is a boy goes by Scrubb.
• His parents are Harold and Alberta.
• His parents were up-to-date advanced people.
• His parents are vegetarian.
• Scrubb is a cousin of the Narnia children.
• The children’s last name is Pevensie.
• Edmund and Lucy’s father got a job lecturing in America for 16 weeks.
• Alberta has not been on holiday in 10 years.
• Peter is being coached by Professor Kirke in the English house.
• Lord Drinian is King Caspian’s captain.
• One Earth year has passed since Caspain’s coronation.  3 years have passed in Narnia.
• On Caspian’s coronation day, he swore an oath that if he established peace in Narnia, he would set sail himself for a year and a day to find and avenge the deaths of his father’s friends.
• Their names were the Lord Revilian, the Lord Bern, the Lord Argoz, the Lord Mavramorn, the Lord Octesian, the Lord Restimar, and the Lord Rhoop.
• Drinian and Caspian have sailed more than 400 Leagues from Narnia.
• Caspian’s ship is the Dawn Treader.
• Eustace is a Republican.
• Governor Grumpas is the Governor of the Lone Islands with a Sufficiency at Narrowhaven.
• The prisoners on the slave ship were mostly Galmians and Terebinthians.
• The Sufficiency sells slaves to Calormen.
• Gumpas is relieved of duty for not ending the slave trade.
• Lord Bern is promoted to Duke to replace Gumpas.
• A Minim is the fortieth part of a crescent.
• Eustace is turned into a dragon.
• Some of the sailors masturbate.
• Edmund reads detective stories.
• The Duffers’ Island is property of a great magician out of time.
• He grew angry that they disobeyed him so he cast a spell making them ugly.
• “An infallible spell to make beautiful her that uttereth it bring the lot of mortals.”
• Lucy finds Aslan.
• The Magician is referenced.
• The Magician turned the Duffers into Monopods.
• The Magician fixed the stern of the Dawn Treader.
• Lucy is risky at chess.
• Lord Rhoop was a Telemarine of Narnia.
• The island of World’s End is the “beginning of the end”.
• The Old Man has been to the islands east of the World’s End island.
• Ramandu is a star at rest.
• Caspian married Ramandu’s daughter.

—————

Overall, better book, but still lost my attention.  Hoping as the story rounds out, I'll get a better concept of it.  Furthers the Narnia storyline.

Recommended.

On to Book #185: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis.

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Need to catch up?  See previous blog post: Prince Caspian.

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Want to read more of the Chronicles of Narnia series?  See also:

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Horse and His Boy

The Magician's Nephew

The Last Battle