Book Review: The Chronicles of Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Ok, busy reviewing couple of days as I finished Dawn Treader before I went to sleep last night and The Mentalist and Once Upon a Time are both back.
I might actually take my time in reviewing The Mentalist, just because I can.
But enough waffling. I want to have commented on this book before I start watching The Mentalist.
Did Edmund even have a role in Dawn Treader, beyond agreeing with almost everything that Caspian did and accompanying Eustace and Lucy into Narnia again? Beyond jealousy at the lake which turned one of the 7 men into gold, it seemed like everything he did was in reaction to something. Then, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It means Lucy gets more to do, and it's clearly setting up Eustace for the next book - as it's already stated that Eustace will be 'welcome' in Narnia whereas the Pevensie children are now 'too old'.
I think being separated from Narnia distresses Lucy the most out of all four of the Pevensie children. She's the first one to discover it exists, she's the first one to meet Aslan and she clearly has the closest bond to the great lion. I especially enjoyed the fact she went into the Magician's room to read his book, in spite of the fears of Caspian and Edmund. Okay, it's not sword-fighting or anything like that, but it shows another form of bravery - overcoming the fear of the unknown. It's actually nice to see that she's not being cast aside in favour of the men in the book - of which there are many. Too many, really, as Lucy is the only female traveller on the Dawn Treader (beyond the hens, of course).
Reepicheep's back history and drive for this story is probably the strongest out of all the characters. It's hard for the Pevensies to have such a driving force because they never knew when - or if - they would end up in Narnia again. (Except at the end, where Lucy and Edmund are explicitly told they won't be able to return.) In a way, it explains why he is brave to the point of recklessness, especially for a mouse. It explains why he is so determined that the Dawn Treader must keep going onwards towards the Far East. It also 'completes' his story by allowing him to continue into Aslan's country.
I still don't feel like Caspian has done anything to earn the role of King, and I don't think he ever will. This probably comes down to the fact that being King was his birthright whereas the Pevensie children had to overcome trials before their coronation. That being said, he had more of a presence and more authority than he did in the previous book, and justifiably so, as I'd have been worried if he hadn't. I did find it interesting how desperately he wanted to continue with Reepicheek and that he needed others to put him in his place and I liked the fact it showed he had something in common with Miraz. By blood, he's still his nephew after all - and the man had essentially brought him up as his own. There were also some nice scenes when he brought down the slave trade on one of the islands and such.
But of course, a chunk of the story was for the redemption of Eustace and him 'earning' his right to visit Narnia. This wasn't a total transformation and I found that, after he had been turned into a dragon and back again, he got sidelined in favour of Caspian/Edmund/Lucy. That being said, I did appreciate his learning that his behaviour wasn't entirely acceptable and learning how to become a team player quite sweet. It'll be interesting to see how he is next time he is in Narnia.
The thing that amused me most in the book was playing on the fact that people once thought the Earth was flat, by having Narnia in a 'flat' world. But then, I would...
I might actually take my time in reviewing The Mentalist, just because I can.
But enough waffling. I want to have commented on this book before I start watching The Mentalist.
Did Edmund even have a role in Dawn Treader, beyond agreeing with almost everything that Caspian did and accompanying Eustace and Lucy into Narnia again? Beyond jealousy at the lake which turned one of the 7 men into gold, it seemed like everything he did was in reaction to something. Then, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It means Lucy gets more to do, and it's clearly setting up Eustace for the next book - as it's already stated that Eustace will be 'welcome' in Narnia whereas the Pevensie children are now 'too old'.
I think being separated from Narnia distresses Lucy the most out of all four of the Pevensie children. She's the first one to discover it exists, she's the first one to meet Aslan and she clearly has the closest bond to the great lion. I especially enjoyed the fact she went into the Magician's room to read his book, in spite of the fears of Caspian and Edmund. Okay, it's not sword-fighting or anything like that, but it shows another form of bravery - overcoming the fear of the unknown. It's actually nice to see that she's not being cast aside in favour of the men in the book - of which there are many. Too many, really, as Lucy is the only female traveller on the Dawn Treader (beyond the hens, of course).
Reepicheep's back history and drive for this story is probably the strongest out of all the characters. It's hard for the Pevensies to have such a driving force because they never knew when - or if - they would end up in Narnia again. (Except at the end, where Lucy and Edmund are explicitly told they won't be able to return.) In a way, it explains why he is brave to the point of recklessness, especially for a mouse. It explains why he is so determined that the Dawn Treader must keep going onwards towards the Far East. It also 'completes' his story by allowing him to continue into Aslan's country.
I still don't feel like Caspian has done anything to earn the role of King, and I don't think he ever will. This probably comes down to the fact that being King was his birthright whereas the Pevensie children had to overcome trials before their coronation. That being said, he had more of a presence and more authority than he did in the previous book, and justifiably so, as I'd have been worried if he hadn't. I did find it interesting how desperately he wanted to continue with Reepicheek and that he needed others to put him in his place and I liked the fact it showed he had something in common with Miraz. By blood, he's still his nephew after all - and the man had essentially brought him up as his own. There were also some nice scenes when he brought down the slave trade on one of the islands and such.
But of course, a chunk of the story was for the redemption of Eustace and him 'earning' his right to visit Narnia. This wasn't a total transformation and I found that, after he had been turned into a dragon and back again, he got sidelined in favour of Caspian/Edmund/Lucy. That being said, I did appreciate his learning that his behaviour wasn't entirely acceptable and learning how to become a team player quite sweet. It'll be interesting to see how he is next time he is in Narnia.
The thing that amused me most in the book was playing on the fact that people once thought the Earth was flat, by having Narnia in a 'flat' world. But then, I would...