The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
by C. S. Lewis , illustrated by Pauline Baynes
DETAILS: Series: The Chronicles of Narnia, #3 Publisher: HarperCollins Publication Date: July 1, 1994 Format: Paperback Length: 248 pg. Read Date: December 2, 2025
I have a very distinct memory of the day I bought this book (well, my first copy, anyway). I was finished with a 1-2 week thing at a local liberal arts college one summer (I think it was after 4th grade–it might have been after 3rd), and my mother said we could look at the book store there. I got a textbook about the Supreme Court (yes, my 8 or 9 year-old-self had ambition–wasted, I should note) and this book. I could’ve picked any of the 7, but I’d watched parts of the cartoon version of Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a few months earlier, and wasn’t that interested in it. But his had a cool looking ship on the cover. So I went with it.
In the years since, it remained my most-read of the series (followed closely by Prince Caspian, with Wardrobe coming in third). And it’s the one I have the hardest time being objective about. I also didn’t take as many notes for this post as I read it. I just go swept up in the reading. Still, I do have a few things to say.
There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.
Is possibly the best sentence Lewis ever wrote. It’s one of my all time favorites.
The rest of the paragraph isn’t too shabby, either:
His parents called him Eustace Clarence and masters called him Scrubb. I can’t tell you how his friends spoke to him, for he had none. He didn’t call his Father and Mother “Father” and “Mother,” but Harold and Alberta. They were very up-to-date and advanced people. They were vegetarians, nonsmokers and teetotalers and wore a special kind of underclothes, In their house there was very little furniture and very few clothes on beds and the windows were always open.
This book features my all-time favorite portal fantasy depiction of someone from “our world” going to another. This may come from it being the first that I remember. But I don’t think so.
[Lucy] spent a good deal of time sitting on the little bench in the stern playing chess with Reepicheep. It was amusing to see him lifting the pieces, which were far too big for him, with both paws and standing on tiptoes if he made a move near the center of the board. He was a good player and when he remembered what he was domg he usually won. But every now and then Lucy won because the Mouse did something quite ridiculous like sending a knight into the danger of a queen and castle combined. This happened because he had momentarily forgotten it was a game of chess and was thinking of a real battle and making the knight do what he would certainly have done in its place. For his mind was full of forlorn hopes, death-or-glory charges, and last stands.
In case it wasn’t clear from the get-go (and it absolutely was), Eustace swinging Reep around by his tail tells you everything you need to know about the lad–to paraphrase Linda Ronstadt, “He’s no good, he’s no good, he’s no good, Eustace, you’re no good.”
In Chapter 6, “The Adventures of Eustace,” we’re told twice that reading the wrong books (or not reading the right books) keeps you from knowing anything about dragons. Fantasy readers, take heart!
After Eustace is transformed into a dragon, say what you will about the kid, he figures out his situation far quicker than his cousins did theirs in Prince Caspian–and they’d read the right books!
I will just never not love Chapter 6. Whether it’s just on the story front, or if you want to go deeper with an exploration of Sanctification…it doesn’t matter. This one chapter in the Chronicles stands out above all others.
If you’d asked me who my favorite characters in the Chronicles were, Reepicheep would’ve been at the top of my list. But getting to read about him over these last two books reminded me just how much I enjoyed him.
Aslan isn’t overthrowing malevolent kings or queens this time, he largely shows up for little things–a quick morality lesson here and there to keep his people in-line. It’s a different way to see him.
That spellbook that Lucy browses is just cool. Hogwarts wishes it has something cool, Madam Pince would have so many people breaking into the restricted section to get a look at it.
I will defend a lot of what Lewis does in this series–but only referring to Caspian’s eventual bride as “Ramadu’s daughter” is not one of those things. (or pretty much anything about their relationship–the last paragraph of the novel helps a little bit)
Speaking of the last paragraph–nice parting shot at Eustace’s mother.
This is probably the most blatant (pre: The Last Battle or maybe The Magician’s Nephew) time we are told that Aslan is known by a different name in our world. Lewis has apparently decided he should stop being subtle and make it clear who Aslan is to us. I don’t mind this a bit (even if I do have some third commandment-related questions)
Really, we learn more about Aslan in this book than we do any other (with the possible exception of The Magician’s Nephew, I need to revisit that one before I know for sure).
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allysonyj
“Dawn Treader” is also one of my favorites of the series. Now I’ll have to re-read it again.
HCNewton
Almost always a good idea.
(I throw in the “almost” just to be safe…but it’s probably not necessary)
KWHR
Great write up! Interestingly, while I would think it would be “Wardrobe,” I believe this book is the one I have seen most consistently quoted by different authors I’ve read and speakers I’ve heard. (Silver Chair and The Horse’s Boy are the least I’ve seen quoted).
HCNewton
Very little from Wardrobe gets quoted, I think outside of “Safe? No he’s not safe, but he’s good.” (loose paraphrase)
The Horse and His Boy and Magician’s Nephew would’ve been my guesses for the least (Although I wonder about Prince Caspian, too)–but I can see Silver Chair being in the running, too.