Book Review: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

This third book of Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia (I refuse to use that destestable re-numbering of the books) had long been my favorite. I don't think can say that any longer. While re-reading the series for the first time in five years (I'm halfway through The Silver Chair.), I found The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to be consistently the best.

I do not mean to denigrate Dawn Treader in any way. The first sentence is absolutely priceless:

There once was a boy called Eustace Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.

More importantly, the period from the exploration of Ramandu's island to the end of the book is simply superb. Far superior to anything else Lewis wrote in the Narnia books. I am especially moved by the scene of the Telmarine lords arguing over their next course of action, though perhaps my conception of what the scene should be replaces what Lewis actually wrote. I would not quite place this scene on a par with Ransom's conversation with the Voice in Perelandra, Mark's conception of objectivism in That Hideous Strength, or Orual's partial sighting of the god's castle in Till We Have Faces; but it is undoubtedly one of Lewis' best.

Lucy's encounter with the merfolk is one of those scenes that shows the applicability of fantasy to the real world--even the real world as held by Gopnik (See the two previous posts if you don't catch the reference.). Lucy's slow realization of what she sees enables the reader to behold the world he inhabits in a new light. Lovely.

I would describe this book as a great read with the final chapters bordering on the sublime. For almost any author this designation could only attach itself to his greatest book; for Lewis, however, this signifies only the second best in just one series.