Voyage of the Dawn Trader Review

Voyage of the Dawn Treader is the third book in the Narnia Series (The Lion,The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian being the other two) that I have read to my son Noah.  Well technically it’s the fourth since we started A Boy and His Horse but after about 40 pages we put that down because neither one of us had any idea what the heck was going on.  As always the book contains hidden and not so hidden christian references and morals but I believe for the first time this book eludes to Aslan being GOD.  Eustace is by far the best character in this book.  He is so annoying and petty in the beginning that he feels like the only real person in the book.  His diary entries are very funny and I wish there had been more both before and after his transformation.  I thought this book was ok. I enjoyed some parts and others I felt where boring.  Noah was just bored to tears. The Lion,The Witch, and The Wardrobe so far has been my favorite.  I think we will take a break from Narnia for while before we come back for one of the other books.

Voyage opens with Edmund and Lucy spending the summer with their Aunt , Uncle, and annoying cousin Eustace. Edmond, Lucy, and Eustace find themselves pulled into Narnia through a picture where they join Prince Caspian on his ship the Dawn Trader. Caspian is off on an adventure to find the 7 lords his Uncle Miraz sent away in Prince Caspian. They find the first Lord alive after he rescues them from Slave Traders in The Lone Islands. At their next stop Eustace is in typical form and ends up being turned into a Dragon.  Aslan saves the day as usual and helps Eustace shed the outer layers of his skin and after this he becomes a much more enjoyable and better person. Dragon Island is also the end place of the 2nd of the seven lords. The gang survive brushes with a sea serpent and a mysterious lake that turns to gold anything that touches the water.  Their 3rd lord is discovered at the bottom of the lake and in the hope of keeping other people from the same threat they name the island Deathwater. In the Island of voices we meet up with strange and invisible creatures who hold them hostage until Lucy sneaks into the mysterious magicians house and preforms the spell to make them visible again.  Lucy does this for them but finds herself to attracted to the book and its hidden possibilities to avoid performing a spell for herself and ends up spying on a friend and hears things she would never have wished to know.  As a result this friendship will never be the same. Afterwards she meets up with the magician and learns why the strange creatures (which she names Dufflepuds) came to their fate. Once they set sail again they come upon a strange land they name the Dark Island. A place where all light has been removed and where dreams come true.  Not your hopes and dreams but the dreams you dream at night...or nightmares.  While in this strange land they rescue their 4th lord. Finally, they find the final 3 lords asleep at a table. Here they meet Ramandu and his daughter and discover that they must sail to the end of the world and leave one of their own to never return and then the 3 lords will wake.  Reepicheep volunteers to be the one to stay since he believes it is his calling to go to Aslan’s country which is at the end of the world.  They set sail again for their final destination and  on the way see great underwater lands and sea-people and reach the Last Sea where the water is no longer saltwater but fresh with special properties. When they sail through the Liliy Field and the Dawn Trader can go no further Caspian has a little temper tantrum when he wants to go on to Aslan’s country but is overruled by the others and ultimately Aslan himself.  Reepicheep, Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace go on in the little row boat until it can go no further.  Here Reep ventures of on his own to Aslan’s country and the children head in another direction until they find them selves on land and meeting up with Aslan himself, who sends them back into their own country.